I didn't tell my Y Combinator batchmates I had a kid. I worried they'd think I wasn't hardcore enough.
Nicholas Charriere said the parents in his YC batch kept their kids "hush-hush." Nicholas Charriere Nicholas Charriere had a kid before entering Y Combinator. He kept his kid mostly a secret. "I don't want people thinking I'm not as hardcore," he said. Charriere said that talking about having a kid was "not the vibe." This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nicholas Charriere, the 36-year-old cofounder of Mocha, an AI app builder. He lives in the Bay Area. It's been edited for length and clarity. I grew up in France. I studied math and physics. Then I discovered Hacker News, and I started learning all about entrepreneurship. I decided: I want to be in technology, and I want to be a founder. I moved to San Francisco after my studies with that goal. It took six years to sort out visa issues. After that, I didn't really have a cofounder, and I got a great offer from Cruise, so I took that. I spent four years there. Then, when I was 29, I joined another startup where the founder had an amazing pitch. I waited really long to start my own company, and that's a big source of regret. By the time I went into Y Combinator at 33, my daughter had been born. I deeply wish I had do
Nicholas Charriere said the parents in his YC batch kept their kids "hush-hush." Nicholas Charriere Nicholas Charriere had a kid before entering Y Combinator. He kept his kid mostly a secret. "I don't want people thinking I'm not as hardcore," he said. Charriere said that talking about having a kid was "not the vibe." This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nicholas Charriere, the 36-year-old cofounder of Mocha, an AI app builder. He lives in the Bay Area. It's been edited for length and clarity. I grew up in France. I studied math and physics. Then I discovered Hacker News, and I started learning all about entrepreneurship. I decided: I want to be in technology, and I want to be a founder. I moved to San Francisco after my studies with that goal. It took six years to sort out visa issues. After that, I didn't really have a cofounder, and I got a great offer from Cruise, so I took that. I spent four years there. Then, when I was 29, I joined another startup where the founder had an amazing pitch. I waited really long to start my own company, and that's a big source of regret. By the time I went into Y Combinator at 33, my daughter had been born. I deeply wish I had do
