You invent some shtick, and then technically it's called a signature style. So you paint with this special shtick. You have to be in the 1920s were good enough to make painting like Cezanne fashionable. Why can't we build good British country homes anymore? Or do you think we can? There's nothing stopping you. Except the planning people. It's one of the worst countries. If they had America's zoning rules here, the entire countryside would be plastered with houses. The difference in value between agricultural and building land is 100 X or something like that. And this place is small.
Tyler and Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham sat down at his home in the English countryside to discuss what areas of talent judgment his co-founder and wife Jessica Livingston is better at, whether young founders have gotten rarer, whether he still takes a dim view of solo founders, how to 2x ambition in the developed world, on the minute past which a Y Combinator interviewer is unlikely to change their mind, what YC learned after rejecting companies, how he got over his fear of flying, Florentine history, why almost all good artists are underrated, what's gone wrong in art, why new homes and neighborhoods are ugly, why he wants to visit the Dark Ages, why he's optimistic about Britain and San Fransisco, the challenges of regulating AI, whether we're underinvesting in high-cost interruption activities, walking, soundproofing, fame, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
Recorded July 15th, 2023.
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Photo credit: Dave Thomas