Graham, who sold a company to Yahoo in the '90s, had become microfamous for Y Combinator, which provided both a social club and seed-stage funding. The summer (and winter) camp for young entrepeneurs spun off any number of companies, which then got venture-capital financing, and then a quick exit courtesy of Google or Yahoo's shareholders.

In the bubbly years when Yahoo and Google were snapping up startups freely, Y Combinator's offspring thrived, or appeared to thrive. Got an online PowerPoint clone? Google will buy it! Graham still seems to be living in his someone-will-buy-it dreamland; he recently proposed that companies hire "chief acquisition officers," to specialize in consuming the fare he dishes out. But the giants of the Web have put acquisitions on hold, and few others are stepping up to the plate.

Is Scribd, once described as Graham's "greatest success," in trouble? We don't know that for sure. We do know that hiring 20 people to create software that lets people post PDF documents to the Web always seemed silly. Having a cocky 20something Harvard grad as CEO may work for Facebook, but we don't think Trip Adler is the next Mark Zuckerberg. But Scribd itself isn't the real story. It's whether Paul Graham's magical startup machine is grinding to a halt.

Statistically it's almost certain there will be startups in this batch that go on to be highly regarded. It's a rare skill to be able to judge startups at 10 weeks. I know because I've spent the last 3 years trying to acquire it. Most people who attempt to perform this feat are, like the cranky attendee (and 200 TechCrunch trolls), doomed by not even realizing they lack this skill. But the fact is, most people who'd seen Google at 10 weeks would have thought they were lame too.

1. Two things are broken: record labels and movies.
2. Simplified browsing. The space between a digital photo frame and a computer running Firefox.
3. New news. PerezHilton and TechCrunch, Reddit and Digg are just the beginning.
4. Outsourced IT.
5. Enterprise software 2.0 for smaller companies.
6. More variants of CRM: make interactions with customers much higher-res.
7. Something your company needs.
8. Dating.
9. Photo/video sharing services.
10. Auctions. EBay is doing a bad job.
11. Web Office apps.
12. Fix advertising.
13. How can you teach kids through the web?
14. Tell who the most productive people are in large organizations.
15. Off the shelf security. Stitch together alternatives out of cheap, existing hardware and services.
16. A form of search that depends on design. Google has no sense of design.
17. New payment methods.
18. The WebOS.
19. Application and/or data hosting. Start by writing Basic for the Altair.
20. Shopping guides. How do you decide what you want?
21. Finance software for individuals and small businesses.
22. A web-based Excel/database hybrid.
23. More open alternatives to Wikipedia.
24. A buffer against bad customer service: a wrapper around common bad customer service experiences.
25. A Craigslist competitor.
26. Better video chat.
27. Hardware/software hybrids: iPod/iTunes.
28. Fixing email overload.
29. Easy site builders for specific markets. What's the best way to make a web site if you're a lawyer?
30. Startups for startups. We're one; TechCrunch is another.

And no, hiring a girl who is so brazenly branded with sex-shorthand like "BBBJ" is not a safe idea, as much as I don't want to lose these ladies any business. Girls, discretion — and getting your own blog — is advised.

How would you do it without causing problems (ie people thinking you're up for sale)?

Congratulations, you crazy kids! Mazel tov! The two were reportedly affianced back in October, though it's not clear if a date has been set for the nuptials. Apparently most everyone at Y Combinator knows already, but the couple has otherwise worked to keep it a secret. So, um, guess we're not invited.

(Personal to "Jimmy Wales" on TechCrunch: We'd be happy to send you a milkshake any time, Jimbo).

(Photos by Gabor Cselle)

Husband of a friend works in management over at Yahoo. She says the word is around the water cooler, that Yahoo's looking for around $36 a share, and then will sell.

The commenter continues:

He's hoping it happens so he can cash out his stock, and then bail. He worked 18hr days x 1 yr to get a big project out the door, thinking he'd be a big promotion or raise... he got a trophy, a pizza dinner and a $1000 check. His team got bupkiss.

Sounds like morale is pretty low, and sound like there's going to be a lot of engineers looking for new jobs soon. Or, a lot more startups rising [from] Yahoo's ashes.

The lifecasting site could learn to accept all that is natural about life from its Y Combinator sibling. Of course, Scribd doesn't have to comply with laws requiring extensive verification of the age of porn actors — a requirement that Justin.tv apparently believes applies to its volunteer broadcasters. And Scribd's founders may not be the best role model in other aspects of business. This is, after all, a company that foolishly promised a future management role to all of its early employees. But at least they know what their users want.

The Y Combinator guys may be acting starstruck, but maybe its MC Hammer who's playing the fanboy here. Y Combinator's coterie of entrpreneurs could easily return the favor by providing the rapper with real video services. Everyone, including MC Hammer, knows they can. Why would the startuppers reduce the Hammer to begging for volunteers — if not to subtly put him in his place?

(SnapLayout Demo Video by Dan Veltri)

Email startup Xobni ("inbox" spelled backwards) has released a short film aimed at recruiting new engineers to join their team. Filmed with a clear nod towards Reservoir Dogs and Office Space, the clip includes an efficient German manager, gratuitous toilet humor (the bathroom stall is labeled "Outbox"), an Indian-accented sock puppet, and an appearance by Y Combinator guru Paul Graham, who bought the cameo, in a sense, by providing Xobni's seed round.

They’ve been around forever, have raised tons of money, rented a ginormous office in a historic building in the financial district, but have yet to release a product.

• Weebly: It has a head start, so let's see if we can push them back down!
  
• ING Direct: A boring bank, but its fees are low, so vote it up.
  
• StumbleUpon: Take pity on the StumbleUpon guys: They just got bought by eBay, so they could use some cheering up.
  
• Bix: How meta — voting for Yahoo's online version of the American Idol vote-a-thon. We're betting this one doesn't come back next week.

If you join Scribd now, you'll have the real startup experience: you'll design the product (not only implement it) and work in a tiny group that accomplishes big things. You'll also get a big equity stake now and a management role later on (unless you don't want it). At the same time, Scribd has raised money from top-tier venture capitalists, so you won't have to live on Ramen...