2. Founders were surprised how harsh our feedback was at times. We may be able to be more diplomatic. But I think the fundamental problem is that this is a domain where, so far at least, many participants fail. So if you're truthful, you're often going to be delivering bad news.
Disclaimer: I don't have YC experience.
In school, my classmates and I too often experienced the opposite kind of feedback: pat on the back, great job, I thought it was fantastic, etc. What little criticism was given usually came in the format of a "compliment sandwich."
Although praise is nice, in general I find that being nice to avoid confrontation or to prevent hurt feelings only promotes complacency and lack of (personal) growth. Not to mention if you tell me something was great when I know it sucks, you've lost all credibility with me.
Don't sugar coat it - I have a pretty good general idea of what's working. I find honest feedback more helpful.
I agree completely. One of the biggest problems for anyone, anywhere, is the culture of praise that has developed. Nobody gets told their work is crap anymore, and when it is, it's in a compliment sandwich as you say.
There are many instances where I could have done with someone calling me out on something instead of fence sitting or bland agreement masked as praise.
The other problem is praise inflation : if everyone gets a 'good job' then it's difficult to know whether you're ahead of the pack or just middling.
As long it's not bullying, vindictive or just plain mean, negative criticism is worth 10x positive. It's also better to be drip fed negative feedback from trusted people, so when you get out into the real world, chances are you've heard any negative feedback before and are prepared for it.
In a strong individual hurt feelings are going to produce better outcomes. I'm sure that's why the military has boot camp.
The problem is that a lot of techies default to doing this to other people, without understanding the others' conventions. Hence the stereotype of the insensitive hacker.
I agree completely. Positive feedback has very little worth to me, more often then not. I'd love to sit down with the YC team and hear everything "negative/harsh" (aka useful/constructive) they could tell me about my startup.
I agree that there is too much cheesy positive feedback. If both parties are being honest with themselves and reality, negative feedback should be a driver and something that brings about positive change.
Disclaimer: I don't have YC experience.
In school, my classmates and I too often experienced the opposite kind of feedback: pat on the back, great job, I thought it was fantastic, etc. What little criticism was given usually came in the format of a "compliment sandwich."
Although praise is nice, in general I find that being nice to avoid confrontation or to prevent hurt feelings only promotes complacency and lack of (personal) growth. Not to mention if you tell me something was great when I know it sucks, you've lost all credibility with me.
Don't sugar coat it - I have a pretty good general idea of what's working. I find honest feedback more helpful.