Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg Speaker Series Features Y Combinator President

In the inaugural Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg speaker series, president of startup incubator Y Combinator Sam Altman was interviewed by Tom Giles, executive editor of Bloomberg Media’s global technology team before an audience of current and prospective Cornell Tech students.

Following opening remarks from Mike Bloomberg, Altman and Giles discussed a variety of topics including Altman’s views on tax breaks on venture capital gains, how Y Combinator is helping to improve diversity in tech and common mistakes of first time founders Bloomberg reports:

Addressing the pitfalls many of them face primary, Altman said, was how some founders spend too much time on socializing, networking and trying to raise money, as opposed to actually focusing more energy and time on building the best possible product and company. Founders often confuse networking for actual work. Altman called this a “high class problem” — but one that ruins companies. “We try to intervene whenever we see this occurring,” he stated. “But sometimes it is too late.”

Find more coverage of the event on Bloomberg.