So you've shown that you have some (impressive) academic achievements, but have you had any business success? Just because you're book smart doesn't mean you will have a successful start up.
Many times people think that they can transfer great success from one domain into other domain. Michael Jordan and his short baseball stint is the first thing that comes to mind.
You're quite right, and if I do fail I entirely expect it to be due to a lack of business experience. But on this topic I'm working entirely based on what Paul says -- that being able to build something which people want is far more important than being able to sell it.
One personal tip, you come off as an arrogant prick because of your "I am holier than thou" statements. These kind of behaviors will drastically reduce the amount of people that will want to work with you or help you.
I work with MDs and PhDs on a daily basis, analyzing their technologies for their start up companies. By far, I am much more willing to put in extra hours for friendly people than those that cram down my throat how much better they are than me.
Again you're right, and I'm sorry about the attitude. Over the past year I've started to get rather defensive when people have suggested that I'm wasting my time on this project...
I get a whole lot of that (even from my family: my sister told me "So, mom and I were talking in the car, and it's great that you're doing this startup, but honestly I don't think you'll succeed.") When I gave notice today, I had to listen to my boss go on about how I was too young to start a startup (I'm 26), how he spent about 15 years after getting his Ph.D learning about business and working in the industry, how my technical skills were too weak (nevermind that I wrote two of his products, and he's never seen me program in a language other than Java), and how if my idea was any good at all, I'd have been able to secure funding for it (nevermind that we're not interested in outside funding until we have some traction).
I've found that the best response is to sit there, listen carefully, take note of any valid points, and ask followup questions if you need more information on one. You may learn something: despite the overall negativity of the conversation, my boss had many points that I'm going to want to keep in mind as we move forwards.
Understand, there is a lot of self-justification going around when it comes to entrepreneurship. As long as rich people are the distant Bill Gateses and Warren Buffets, people can put them up on a pedestal or say "Oh, they got lucky." But if someone you've grown up with or someone who used to work for you gets rich, you have to ask yourself "Why them and not me? Are they just smarter than me?"
Many smart people will do just about anything to avoid admitting that others are smarter than them, so they instinctively say "Oh, he's just going to fail." And when you succeed, they'll say "Oh, he just got lucky." If you succeed again they'll start saying "The game is rigged!".
But if you stoop to their level and say "Oh, look how smart I am, of course I'm going to succeed," you're just engaging in self-justification yourself. And that's a dangerous mental attitude to get into, because it blinds you to details. The reason you're smart in the first place is because you pick up details that other people don't; you can easily become stupid by believing yourself smart. This comes from experience: I did precisely this in high school and college, and then found that when I actually tried to get something done, the results were much more disappointing than I would've liked.
(Therapy for myself: I think you're smarter than me, I think you will succeed, and I think that if you do succeed, it will be because of skill. But keep what I say in mind anyway. It may be useful.)
I have a friend who (years ago) told me "Damn you're lucky! You have a horseshoe stuck up your [butt]. But you seem to work really hard for it..."
I never forgot that, and in the intervening years I've attributed the majority of my success to luck, rather than skill. Luck, however, that I work hard to create.
The reason is this: If you believe that your success is due to your own skill, you become lax. Complacent. Entitled. You've succeeded so far, so clearly you're da man and you should succeed going forward.
If, on the other hand, you ascribe it to luck, you acknowledge that there's little that you did to make it work. And so you have to keep working hard and scrambling to make the next project successful. Because your previous successes have little bearing on future performance.
But if you stoop to their level and say "Oh, look how smart I am, of course I'm going to succeed," you're just engaging in self-justification yourself. And that's a dangerous mental attitude to get into
Good god, the amount of useful and practical advice in this comment is astounding. I hope you get 20 karma points. If you follow that advice you're 90% to success, because it says a lot about your personality. No wonder YC wants people to participate in YC News.. If I had any money I'd invest it in you.
Were these people questioning your ability to pull off the technical challenges? If they were questioning the business potential of the idea, your impressive credentials in math and programming are besides the point.
That is entirely the wrong way to respond: you will get a lot of that (from VCs, prospective clients, etc.) and dealing with it like that is guaranteed to lead you to failure, simply because everyone will come to see you (rightly or wrongly) as a complete prick.
A crucial part of making something people want is finding out what people want. Intelligence is an advantage, of course, but is no guarantee. For one thing, it may make it harder for you to understand the needs of the less gifted and educated.
Friend, if you don't mind taking more of Paul's advice, read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. That, combined with your impressive record, will make you an unstoppable force at whatever you pursue.
Many times people think that they can transfer great success from one domain into other domain. Michael Jordan and his short baseball stint is the first thing that comes to mind.