Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook • Hacker News Board

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#11

Post by ry0ohki » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:09 AM UTC

thematt wrote: post #8

I find it surprising that Heroku was the breakeven point. There have been other (what I consider) rather high-profile exits, such as Cloudkick, Reddit, Etherpad, 280 North, etc. These were good companies and were acquired for significant amounts; it seems like YC would have realized some significant gains on them.

I'm wondering if "break-even" in this case means "typical VC 10X expected profit on investments"

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#12

Post by pdaviesa » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:15 AM UTC

barista wrote: post #9

Loved this quote from the article: "This is the Harvard, so to speak, of entrepreneurship" Says something about YC.

Shouldn't it be the Stanford of entrepreneurship :)

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#13

Post by plainOldText » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:15 AM UTC

I believe the title is a bit misleading. Nowhere in the article was the name Facebook mentioned except in title.

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#14

Post by dnsworks » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:21 AM UTC

It doesn't seem that YCombinator really does have to answer to investors. The amount of money invested into YCombinator is trivial compared to the profits those same investors made (and will make) off of the exits that YC helped generate. VCs look at YCombinator as an efficient sales pipeline.

"Who do we invest in next quarter? Whoever we can from this quarter's graduating YC class".

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#15

Post by idoh » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:26 AM UTC

plainOldText wrote: post #13

I believe the title is a bit misleading. Nowhere in the article was the name Facebook mentioned except in title.

The people who write the articles are different from the people who write the headlines.

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#16

Post by bfe » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:26 AM UTC

I think it's inaccurate about the deal with SV Angel and DST, isn't it SV Angel and Yuri Milner as an individual?

As for breakeven, I wonder whether that's accurate, but considering the low percentage of shares YC takes I wouldn't be surprised if lots of successful but not blockbuster spawn could still leave them without huge returns.

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#17

Post by onewland » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:29 AM UTC

redthrowaway wrote: post #7

alexophile wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I interpreted that look as "You're going to put some really lame headline above me aren't you?"

His prescience knows no bounds.

I hate to derail, is that ripped from Greg Proops?

If you're going to steal, he's a great source for material :)

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#18

Post by curiouslurker » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:32 AM UTC

Rather short and disappointing article given the headline. I took a long sip of my coffee, reclined and looked forward to reading something much longer and better...but alas it wasn't to be!

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#19

Post by jarek » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:40 AM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #10

(Think MTV's Real World, but for geeks.) Oh, boy... The idea of some TV executives out there, champing at the bit to create a reality TV show about entrepreneurs is either f!#@ng scary or LOL funny. I can just see it now... " Survivor: YC " or " The Entrepreneur: Paul Graham Edition ." Even better: " Entrepreneur Death Match: Paul Graham v. Steve Case ." And the inevitable " VC Revenge Stunts, hosted by Sean Parker .…

It exists and is called Dragons' Den.

Re: Paul Graham's Search for the Next Facebook

#20

Post by mlinsey » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 1:46 AM UTC

jarek wrote: post #19

mindcrime wrote: post #10

(Think MTV's Real World, but for geeks.) Oh, boy... The idea of some TV executives out there, champing at the bit to create a reality TV show about entrepreneurs is either f!#@ng scary or LOL funny. I can just see it now... " Survivor: YC " or " The Entrepreneur: Paul Graham Edition ." Even better: " Entrepreneur Death Match: Paul Graham v. Steve Case ." And the inevitable " VC Revenge Stunts, hosted by Sean Parker .…

It exists and is called Dragons' Den.

American version is called Shark Tank, and based on the deals the investors offer, it's aptly named.

Mark Cuban has signed on to be part of the next season!