So, I went to YCombintaor Startup School today. It was a lot better than I imagined. Usually at most startup events, the speakers would talk about some common sense topic. However, I thought it was great because it had such a variety of speakers.

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For example, Jack Sheridan (Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) brought his legal expertise, Greg McAdoo (Partner at Sequoia Capital) talked about why it’s important ride a huge wave, and Paul Graham (Partner at Y Combinator) talked about the importance of just being “benevolent.” Moreover, David Heinemeier Hansson (Creator of Rails and 37Signals) really just forced me to think about the simplicity in charging for your web services and attacking niche markets. People can do surprisingly well targeting a niche market and charging a subscription fee. It might not be hard to find people who will just pay you if you can solve their problem. I also liked Mike Arrington’s speech about getting press to write about you: develop a story. It makes their life a lot easier. You don’t want to give bloggers extra work of thinking about who you are and how your product fits into the whole picture.

Here is the recording of startup school, brought to you by Justin.tv

Another interesting observation was how many people were coding at the event. The crowd was full of true hackers and not people who waste half their days at meetings. It also great just to be around people who are always supportive what you do. Not everyone understand why entrepreneurs think or act the way they do. Community is our best asset at Silicon Valley; let’s always remember that.

More coverage here: TechCrunch, Wired, Kontsevoy, Gabor, MistOne, and PingPlog.