Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin • Hacker News Board

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#21

Post by pg » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 8:35 PM UTC

edanm wrote: post #20

pg wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can handle about 20 startups per (full-time) partner. Maybe 25. So with 10 partners advising startups we could get up to 200-250 startups simultaneously. Not that we expect to anytime soon; the point is just that if there is a limit, it's not immediately in front of us.

Have you considered taking on far more teams? You're growing from batch to batch, but if you could reach 200 startups by your estimates, why not grow even faster? Is it just a matter of "slow and steady"?

Our growth is entirely a function of the growth in applications. So we don't have much choice about our growth rate. To grow faster we'd have to fund people we thought would fail, and to grow slower we'd have to reject people we thought would succeed. Either would be painful.

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#22

Post by Jun8 » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:00 PM UTC

edanm wrote: post #20

pg wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can handle about 20 startups per (full-time) partner. Maybe 25. So with 10 partners advising startups we could get up to 200-250 startups simultaneously. Not that we expect to anytime soon; the point is just that if there is a limit, it's not immediately in front of us.

Have you considered taking on far more teams? You're growing from batch to batch, but if you could reach 200 startups by your estimates, why not grow even faster? Is it just a matter of "slow and steady"?

But wouldn't that also "dilute" the YC brand?

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#23

Post by dgunn » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:04 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #17

dgunn wrote: post #12

It seems that with each session, YC takes on more and more companies. Will this extra help continue to make this a YC norm? Has there been an upper limit defined?

We can handle about 20 startups per (full-time) partner. Maybe 25. So with 10 partners advising startups we could get up to 200-250 startups simultaneously. Not that we expect to anytime soon; the point is just that if there is a limit, it's not immediately in front of us.

I think I expected the number to be in that range, It just seems large so I just didn't want to seem crazy. But that being the case, should I expect to be 1 of 65 in the next batch? 1 of 70? ;) Ok. That was tricky. I'll ask it in a less loaded form. Should we expect 65 to 70 to be the cut off for the winter session?

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#24

Post by indyT » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:07 PM UTC

justin wrote: post #7

indyT wrote: post #3

This move seems to indicate that the startups are having issues getting access/undivided attention from the 'senior' partners. It is great that ycombinator has become so successful but the value prop of it seems to be diminishing as it grows. If I wanted to collaborate with other founders there are plenty of meetup groups I could attend without giving up a large share of my company.

Ouch! ;) I'm probably biased but a big part of the value we've received from YC has been from access to alumni -- for example, when going out for our series A Sam was actually the most helpful out of anyone we spoke to, having just gone through the process himself (and done a killer job!). I think the view we can bring as alumni going through later stage startups is that we have immediate relevant operational experie…

that wasn't intended to diminish your personal value or expertise. I think there is a general concern that future YC batches will have less personal involvement from the people that made YC compelling.

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#25

Post by spydertennis » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:11 PM UTC

indyT wrote: post #3

This move seems to indicate that the startups are having issues getting access/undivided attention from the 'senior' partners. It is great that ycombinator has become so successful but the value prop of it seems to be diminishing as it grows. If I wanted to collaborate with other founders there are plenty of meetup groups I could attend without giving up a large share of my company.

Getting advice from these guys has always been a smart thing to do and YC startups have been doing it for years.

This just makes it easier, which is fantastic.

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#26

Post by indyT » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:13 PM UTC

zaidf wrote: post #14

indyT wrote: post #3

This move seems to indicate that the startups are having issues getting access/undivided attention from the 'senior' partners. It is great that ycombinator has become so successful but the value prop of it seems to be diminishing as it grows. If I wanted to collaborate with other founders there are plenty of meetup groups I could attend without giving up a large share of my company.

but the value prop of it seems to be diminishing as it grows Just some of the things that have become better as YC has grown... - guaranteed convertible debt money waiting for you after YC - meetings with the best VCs - tailored advice from (more and more) folks who have done it again and again So even in the worst case scenario where your point re: access turns out true(I do not think it is), there are many, many th…

- guaranteed convertible debt money waiting for you after YC

- meetings with the best VCs

These could easily dry up if the yc batches do not maintain their perceived high quality. I'm not saying it will happen but it must be a concern?

- tailored advice from (more and more) folks who have done it again and again

This is my point, you can get this advice easily outside of YC.

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#27

Post by pg » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:17 PM UTC

dgunn wrote: post #23

pg wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can handle about 20 startups per (full-time) partner. Maybe 25. So with 10 partners advising startups we could get up to 200-250 startups simultaneously. Not that we expect to anytime soon; the point is just that if there is a limit, it's not immediately in front of us.

I think I expected the number to be in that range, It just seems large so I just didn't want to seem crazy. But that being the case, should I expect to be 1 of 65 in the next batch? 1 of 70? ;) Ok. That was tricky. I'll ask it in a less loaded form. Should we expect 65 to 70 to be the cut off for the winter session?

Depends how much applications increase. Between w2011 and s2011 they increased 84%, but that was faster than usual. 10-20% seems more likely. So maybe we'll end up with 70-75.

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#28

Post by tomsaffell » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:31 PM UTC

indyT wrote: post #24

justin wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ouch! ;) I'm probably biased but a big part of the value we've received from YC has been from access to alumni -- for example, when going out for our series A Sam was actually the most helpful out of anyone we spoke to, having just gone through the process himself (and done a killer job!). I think the view we can bring as alumni going through later stage startups is that we have immediate relevant operational experie…

that wasn't intended to diminish your personal value or expertise. I think there is a general concern that future YC batches will have less personal involvement from the people that made YC compelling.

As s2009 alumni and current class (s2011) member I don't see any trend to support that concern.

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#29

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:33 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #27

dgunn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I expected the number to be in that range, It just seems large so I just didn't want to seem crazy. But that being the case, should I expect to be 1 of 65 in the next batch? 1 of 70? ;) Ok. That was tricky. I'll ask it in a less loaded form. Should we expect 65 to 70 to be the cut off for the winter session?

Depends how much applications increase. Between w2011 and s2011 they increased 84%, but that was faster than usual. 10-20% seems more likely. So maybe we'll end up with 70-75.

[deleted]

Re: Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin

#30

Post by dgunn » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 9:34 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #27

dgunn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I expected the number to be in that range, It just seems large so I just didn't want to seem crazy. But that being the case, should I expect to be 1 of 65 in the next batch? 1 of 70? ;) Ok. That was tricky. I'll ask it in a less loaded form. Should we expect 65 to 70 to be the cut off for the winter session?

Depends how much applications increase. Between w2011 and s2011 they increased 84%, but that was faster than usual. 10-20% seems more likely. So maybe we'll end up with 70-75.

Great. Thanks.