So at roughly a stake of 6% which YC takes, at a total $3 billion valuation, YC's stake is worth $180 million, from an investment of just $5 million.
Not a bad payoff, surely to make a lot of Angels and VCs very envious.
Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
51–60 of 123 posts
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Birkenstocks with socks is okay: http://www.gq.com/style/style-guy/shoes/200309/birkenstocks
Birkenstocks are never OK.
I use my footwear as a test. If you don't like me simply because I'm wearing comfortable sandals, then I wouldn't have liked you either and I've saved us both a spot of trouble.
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#535 million seems like an incredibly low figure. Just goes to show the power of smart money.
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#54"we’re not looking for people who did what they were told in life.” seems like a useful heuristic beyond just start ups.
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#55Everyone loves to hate on MBA's it seems. Have there been any yc companies started by mbas?
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#56Meh... Y Combinator is a potential source of start-up funding. Just as important, Y Combinator is not exclusive of any other source of funding. The difference between YC and other sources of funding is that YC funds a lot of companies twice a year rather than on an as-needed basis so the whole process is very eventful. As YC funds more companies, the value of the "We're a YC company" branding diminishes faster. Whats…
I know you think you have a better way of running an accelerator and that is fine. At the same time, you can't look at someone who is successful and diminish their success with mere words. If you have a point to prove, do it with your own success and point out the flaws in this model through your model that is contradictory to his, but until such a time, please applause.
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#57This is probably the single most discouraging thing I've ever read about startups, but at least it's honest. Entitlement? "Naughtiness"? I think after Google, the idea got out there that it's possible to succeed by just being good . Technically and morally. This sounds like a return to status quo. Not saying he's wrong. He's almost certainly right, it's just depressing.
I'm not sure what the concern about "naughtiness" here is. There's a difference between being somewhat devious and being evil. I think what Paul is getting at is that you need to be willing to pounce on any opportunity to capitalize for your startup. It is a competition after all. Great article overall.
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#58This is probably the single most discouraging thing I've ever read about startups, but at least it's honest. Entitlement? "Naughtiness"? I think after Google, the idea got out there that it's possible to succeed by just being good . Technically and morally. This sounds like a return to status quo. Not saying he's wrong. He's almost certainly right, it's just depressing.
Google is at least a little naughty. Remember, at the dawn of the Internet, there was quite a bit of ambiguity with regards to IP rights. Many newspapers sent out Cease and Desists just for deep-linking to their articles. There was still quite a bit of presumption about how much control of use copyright gave you. Google walks into this minefield and says "You know, we're going to crawl and cache everything , then exp…
I think you give too much credence to this "ambiguity".The idea that copyright could forbid deep linking was always absurd.
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel 'naughtiness' represents disregard for the status quo, rather than a commitment to immorality. The obedient drone regards law-breaking as immoral, whereas the independent thinker would ask why the law exists.
The thing is that both the status quo and immorality often come down to judgment calls. Is it immoral to gather personal data and then share it on the internet? (Facebook personal profiles going public.) Is it immoral to pay a PR firm to portray a competitor in a negative light if it means highlighting their questionable practices? (Facebook hiring a PR firm to highlight Google Social.) Is it immoral to characterize…
I tend to equate status quo as standing-practices that remain unchallenged. The ethics of defiance would be contingent upon which practices are being violated. Being 'naughty' is an amoral mental state of being, which has no ethical implications until acted upon. Gandhi defied status quo, as well as Hitler. Not much can be drawn from such naughtiness, except that Hitler and Gandhi are both non-conventional and extraordinary.
Re: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: We’re Looking For People Like Us
#60Video: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/14928956
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