Some community-oriented/UGC startups nowadays seem to prefer modest growth, at least for a while, to make sure the right standards/user-expectations can be maintained. (Hypergrowth can mean a change in community makeup faster than desireable norms can be maintained, which can spoil the dynamics in a way that's hard to un-spoil.)
Compare HN's own revealed preference for limiting certain surges of new users. (Corollary: HN is not a 'startup'.) In a way, even Facebook's initial campus limitations served this purpose, getting certain mechanics (and corporate practices right) before facing the challenges of a larger userbase.
I wonder: have YC companies had to face an explicit decision: grow faster or defend/consolidate the culture of the existing userbase, and if so what advice would PG and the other partners be likely to give?
Compare HN's own revealed preference for limiting certain surges of new users. (Corollary: HN is not a 'startup'.) In a way, even Facebook's initial campus limitations served this purpose, getting certain mechanics (and corporate practices right) before facing the challenges of a larger userbase.
I wonder: have YC companies had to face an explicit decision: grow faster or defend/consolidate the culture of the existing userbase, and if so what advice would PG and the other partners be likely to give?