Mckinsey and 'consulting' companies like this have the best hustle going on on the planet. Get some b-schoolers, collect some stats, put them into Power Point and state the obvious. Collect large check. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Don't forget, pay your "consultants" $50K per year and bill them out at $250/hr. Margins that would make Microsoft weep.

They pay a lot more than $50k per year and charge a lot more than $250 per hour.

You could pay McKinsey $500K for a bunch of BS or you can get real insight from pg for free:

http://paulgraham.com/gh.html

Your choice.

Joel's "Hitting the High Notes" should be part of the boxed set.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/HighNotes.html

I bet Paul Graham could make a lot more working for McKinsey than at Y Combinator. These folks have one hell of a racket.

Falsest,

Know anyone who works there or has any stories about the place?

No. I am too young to know any McKinsey consultants personally. (As a rule they hold MBAs and I am only an undergraduate.) Although, many of my friends from back home seem to be eying the prize.

I am peripherally familiar because my father has done business with them and has told me a little about it. I do not know enough to evaluate the quality of their work (that hardly matters anyway). I can only speak to the ridiculous magnitude of their compensation.

You can read a little more about their compensation at http://www.careers-in-business.com/consulting/mcsal.htm and http://fisher.osu.edu/fin/opler/salary.htm .

I suspect Paul Graham could reliably earn several million dollars a year. But, I am sure, Y Combinator is more fun.

Have you ever been tempted to sell your soul and go to the dark (MBA/money route) side?

No I have not been (which disappoints my father greatly).

That's probably my single favorite article (by pg). He makes every word count. It's also available as mp3: http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/audio/download/itconvers...