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Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

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Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#21

Post by jrudolph »

Is it just me or does anyone else think that many of the startups from Day 1 and Day 2 are well beyond the "seed" stage that YC claims to target? I get that YC is a perfect program to prepare a company for raising significant investment, so it makes perfect sense for the startups to join even at a later stage. Also derisks YCs investment on the standard terms (i.e. 7% of a later-stage company for 120k$ is a better deal than 7% for 120k$ at an entirely unproven company).

Example: Ohmygreen claims it's a logistics company (which implies CapEx unless they rent, which eats margins) and already has 800k MRR. Doesn't quite fit my definition of "seed" stage.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#23

Post by hackuser »

ryandamm wrote: post #19
source99 wrote: post #2

Can someone explain why their are so many startups concentrating on India? Is it in part due to the overall expansion of the internet and economy?

Large population, favorable demographics (entering its 'demographic surplus' phase), lots of untapped potential? Also: English-speaking, personal and professional ties to SV? Solid educational system, history of in-sourcing US-based IT and tech development? Or maybe it's just a big love-fest for Narendra Modi. I have no idea.

> Solid educational system

My impression is the opposite, but maybe I'm misinformed ?

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#24

Post by tyre »

jrudolph wrote: post #21

Is it just me or does anyone else think that many of the startups from Day 1 and Day 2 are well beyond the "seed" stage that YC claims to target? I get that YC is a perfect program to prepare a company for raising significant investment, so it makes perfect sense for the startups to join even at a later stage. Also derisks YCs investment on the standard terms (i.e. 7% of a later-stage company for 120k$ is a better de…

This is a good question, and, as a YC founder presenting today, I can give an answer.

"Seed" has shifted. In the early days of YC, you came in with an idea and tried to build something people want. Note that it is called "Demo Day", because you would literally demo your product.

Today, it's just so much easier to start a company. You can try out an idea in a weekend, so the 3-month program of YC is focused on growth. As you said, they are preparing companies to raise seed capital, and the bar for that has risen considerably.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#25

Post by EazyC »

jrudolph wrote: post #21

Is it just me or does anyone else think that many of the startups from Day 1 and Day 2 are well beyond the "seed" stage that YC claims to target? I get that YC is a perfect program to prepare a company for raising significant investment, so it makes perfect sense for the startups to join even at a later stage. Also derisks YCs investment on the standard terms (i.e. 7% of a later-stage company for 120k$ is a better de…

I'm wondering the exact same thing. And also, I am wondering if all these companies that are clearly later than seed stage get the exact same offer of 7% for 120k. Is there somewhere in YC terms that says that is the only deal they offer to new companies, or are we to assume they potentially are recieving more diversified deals?

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#26

Post by WalterSear »

ryandamm wrote: post #17
dimdimdim wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very same time it is trivial to update the drones of today to use a secure mutual authentication mechanism which the "drone defender" cannot break into. So, even if there is a spectrum DoS (which might be illegal to do for anyone apart from law enforcement) its not that the defender will take over the drone. This is a cat n mouse game where the drone creator always has an advantage.

Yeah, but GPS isn't a handshake, and most commodity drones rely on it. You can't take it over, but you can probably blind it.

Iran claims to have captured drones by spoofing the GPS.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#27

Post by sidlls »

tyre wrote: post #24
jrudolph wrote: post #21

Is it just me or does anyone else think that many of the startups from Day 1 and Day 2 are well beyond the "seed" stage that YC claims to target? I get that YC is a perfect program to prepare a company for raising significant investment, so it makes perfect sense for the startups to join even at a later stage. Also derisks YCs investment on the standard terms (i.e. 7% of a later-stage company for 120k$ is a better de…

This is a good question, and, as a YC founder presenting today, I can give an answer. "Seed" has shifted. In the early days of YC, you came in with an idea and tried to build something people want. Note that it is called "Demo Day", because you would literally demo your product. Today, it's just so much easier to start a company. You can try out an idea in a weekend, so the 3-month program of YC is focused on growth.…

Surely you're exaggerating.

You can create a toy program or even a very basic (most likely web-based application) that solves some problem in a weekend, but there really are very few lucrative companies or ideas that can be accurately "tried out" in a single weekend.

If these companies are "seed" stage companies, then I'd argue it isn't that any bar has been raised, but that "seed" has come to mean something entirely different.

Any company that has $800k MRR is (well) past seed-stage.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#28

Post by confiscate »

sidlls wrote: post #27
tyre wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good question, and, as a YC founder presenting today, I can give an answer. "Seed" has shifted. In the early days of YC, you came in with an idea and tried to build something people want. Note that it is called "Demo Day", because you would literally demo your product. Today, it's just so much easier to start a company. You can try out an idea in a weekend, so the 3-month program of YC is focused on growth.…

Surely you're exaggerating. You can create a toy program or even a very basic (most likely web-based application) that solves some problem in a weekend, but there really are very few lucrative companies or ideas that can be accurately "tried out" in a single weekend. If these companies are "seed" stage companies, then I'd argue it isn't that any bar has been raised, but that "seed" has come to mean something entirely…

Yes I have the same question too. The $120k for 7% is meant for seed stage startups where $120k is a Big Deal.

If you already have $800k revenue each month, what is the math behind giving up 7% of your company, permanently, for $120k?

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#29

Post by w1ntermute »

confiscate wrote: post #28
sidlls wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely you're exaggerating. You can create a toy program or even a very basic (most likely web-based application) that solves some problem in a weekend, but there really are very few lucrative companies or ideas that can be accurately "tried out" in a single weekend. If these companies are "seed" stage companies, then I'd argue it isn't that any bar has been raised, but that "seed" has come to mean something entirely…

Yes I have the same question too. The $120k for 7% is meant for seed stage startups where $120k is a Big Deal. If you already have $800k revenue each month, what is the math behind giving up 7% of your company, permanently, for $120k?

You get the YC stamp of approval, which makes selling, recruiting, fundraising (everything, really) much easier. It's like asking why a genius would go to Harvard, when he can just teach himself everything.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#30

Post by netvarun »

The TechCrunch writers seem to have gotten the wrong chat platform under Meesho's description.

Empirically I don't know of any friends in India using WeChat. Let alone selling products through it. WhatsApp, however, is omnipresent.

Just checked Meesho's website (http://meesho.com) It only lists WhatsApp as its supported platform.

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