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A New Standard Deal

blog.ycombinator.com

21–30 of 96 posts

Re: A New Standard Deal

#21

Per the blog post, this is to enable funding more companies in the future. How is YC able to scale funding all these companies? Are the ratios of partners to companies consistent? Does it scale linearly? Or as YC grows do they leverage their outside network more?

We've kept the partner-to-company ratio consistent as we've grown.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#22

I figured the increase to over 100k is when non-technical people started doing it. They hire people to make their MVP instead of the founders themselves. Or am I wrong about that?

most companies in YC have technical founders who build the products still.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#23

I figured the increase to over 100k is when non-technical people started doing it. They hire people to make their MVP instead of the founders themselves. Or am I wrong about that?

$100K won't buy enough professional services to build, launch, and operate an MVP unless the app is very simple. If it's simple enough that anyone can drop $50K-100K on design services and have your business cloned, it's not a very defensible startup idea. There are occasional exceptions, but typically the founding team must have the majority talent and skills required to launch the MVP.

While that's true, it's rare that a YC company at the founding stage is so unique that only the founders can do it. It's not about the simplicity but rather the fact that the founders are basically putting in unpaid labor that provides the moat, because for someone who wants to clone your business, they need to be convinced first that it's worth investing in.

The founders are convinced, and hence are the ones doing the free work.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#24
post #2

A big reason they said they were raising the deal previously was the cost of living in the bay area and increased cost of starting a company today[0]. Are they anticipating that those costs are going to come down now? They suggest that this decreased amount will allow them to fund more companies, and hint that it has to do with economic conditions as well. But, if that amount of money is still needed to live in the b…

If cost of living is so high, I wonder why they wouldn't invest in a dorm-like living space for founders? I'm not familiar with the area, so I imagine there's reasons for it, but being able to focus on work instead of life-maintenance details seems like it would benefit the organization.

From the beginning, YC was opposed to the incubator model, which that idea would be more aligned with. Even having startups share offices was never something they were interested in. That was partly because they had no interest in managing offices, or managing at all (or offices, for that matter). But there were deeper reasons: the sense that great startups develop in environments of their own creation, a suspicion of scenesterism, and ultimately the fact that they wouldn't have liked to work that way themselves. They strongly approved of saving money, but were more the kind of people who would work out of an apartment (as Viaweb indeed had). The incubator model comes more out of a business-managerial way of thinking. Words like 'synergy' come to mind.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#25
post #3

As an outsider, is this for a 6-month very early angel investing, and is a total offering (meaning that's all you get for 6-months for your startup?) edit: Also I have no idea what a 'post-money safe' is.

YC's model has never been to fund startups for long, only to get through the batch and then hopefully raise longer-term funding at Demo Day. When Scott and I were in the Winter 2009 batch, we got $15k. Costs have gone up since then but not by that much. $150k and $125k are both more than enough to accomplish the primary purpose. Actually I wish they'd lower it further. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k

Re: A New Standard Deal

#26
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If cost of living is so high, I wonder why they wouldn't invest in a dorm-like living space for founders? I'm not familiar with the area, so I imagine there's reasons for it, but being able to focus on work instead of life-maintenance details seems like it would benefit the organization.

From the beginning, YC was opposed to the incubator model, which that idea would be more aligned with. Even having startups share offices was never something they were interested in. That was partly because they had no interest in managing offices, or managing at all (or offices, for that matter). But there were deeper reasons: the sense that great startups develop in environments of their own creation, a suspicion o…

One of the first things YC partners say to you when you the program starts is: "We are not your employers, we will let you fail." I think that's a core part of how YC works and things like sharing office space or having dorms would degrade that by helping founders to escape some of the responsibilities of their company.

For people in YC who are looking for places to work though and want to get out of their apartments I highly recommend the public libraries in Mountain View and the surrounding towns. They're quiet, well lit, have fast wifi, comfortable chairs and desks, and lots of nooks and crannies without much distracting foot traffic.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#27
post #3

As an outsider, is this for a 6-month very early angel investing, and is a total offering (meaning that's all you get for 6-months for your startup?) edit: Also I have no idea what a 'post-money safe' is.

No offense, but some quick googling will answer those questions. https://www.ycombinator.com/documents/

I appreciate when someone asks such questions as a post here saves 50 readers googling. Also it might start an interesting discussion.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offense, but some quick googling will answer those questions. https://www.ycombinator.com/documents/

I appreciate when someone asks such questions as a post here saves 50 readers googling. Also it might start an interesting discussion.

Agreed.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#29
What if all the easy stuff has already been done and heavy lifting is necessary for the next wave of impactful startups? This funding model looks like it's going to continue fishing for guppies for the foreseeable future.

Re: A New Standard Deal

#30

> In 2011, Yuri Milner and SV Angel began offering an additional $150k to every startup in YC. What happened to Yuri Milner, haven't heard his name in a while. Is he still actively investing?

FT, June 2020: Instacart raises $225m from Yuri Milner’s DST Global and others: https://www.ft.com/content/da9dfac9-8186-41c4-8a1c-9052c8bef...
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