[deleted]
How Y Combinator Started
91–100 of 105 posts
Re: How Y Combinator Started
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because the pension funds want to invest such huge amounts of money that I suspect Y Combinator wouldn't know what to do with it. If a pension fund wanted to invest $250m in YC, they'd have to scale up by so much I doubt it would work the same.
so are you saying there is an upper limit to entrepreneurship? I don't think so. I wonder if pg has written anything about this, if there is some point of diminishing returns in the lean startup scene
I think there's an upper limit to the quality of entrepreneurial mentorship you can give, mostly as a function of (1) the mentors and (2) the mentor-entrepreneur ratio. Right now, YC invests in roughly $20k/company * 60 companies/batch * 2 batches/year = $2.4M per year. If they were forced to invest 50-100x that in a year, it'd be really hard to find 50-100x more mentors on the same level as the existing ones.
Re: How Y Combinator Started
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Wow, that's phenomenal." That's quite a halo effect that has prevented you from seeing the true "success rate". Where are you getting 5 acquisitions from? Reddit, Loopt basically made out. Infogami merged with Reddit. That's essentially a save face maneuver and doesn't exactly signal success. Clickfacts - "YC stake acquired by private investors" doesn't sound like that would be a win but a break even. More like "tak…
I don't know what Reddit sold for, but while Loopt's $40M was far down from its earlier $500M, it's still a hell of a lot more than the ~$300k valuation it would have had when YC invested in it.
Loopt raised $32M in funding [1], so a $40M exit is roughly scratch.
Re: How Y Combinator Started
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was about to suggest the same. I currently live there (and Shenzhen) and it is indeed colorful. I just wish there was a stronger startup culture. The entrepreneurship culture is definitely there but for low-risk, traditional business. I personally prefer Shenzhen to Hong Kong although it is difficult to function in English.
I know some people that try to build kind of YC for emerging markets so maybe time for Hong Kong will come.
Sounds like a good idea for China. However, I wouldn't call Hong Kong an emerging market given it has a highly developed economy and is ranked 5th country in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita (above the US, according to the IMF).
Re: How Y Combinator Started
#95I really enjoyed PGs post for the detailed description of the thought process behind the creation of YC and how they took those initial steps (including getting the funds together and deciding how to run it). A lot of 'this is how I became successful' biographies seldom provide that level of detail. Whilst I still find them interesting, I found PGs writing to be more inspirational (to me anyway) because it's almost l…
I echo that sentiment. :)
Heck, why would anyone down vote a comment which supported a nice comment by someone else? Go figure.
Re: How Y Combinator Started
#96Re: How Y Combinator Started
#97So doing the winter batch in California seemed like one of those rare cases where the self-indulgent choice and the ambitious one were the same. There is nothing more heavenly, more sublime than that rare situation in life in which the self-indulgent choice and the ambitious choice align. There's a keen insight to be had there. Unfortunately, those moments are very rare. For instance, at least, in terms of my persona…
Chile seems like it's doing well lately. Other than that, set yourself up so you can live somewhere you like and work remotely. Also, Italy is very different from north to south. The north is still not a great place to do business, but it's a lot better than the south.
To tell the truth northern Italy alone is one of the most developed, wealthy and productive areas in Europe. The industrial density is extremely high and diversified.
Re: How Y Combinator Started
#98Re: How Y Combinator Started
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Wow, that's phenomenal." That's quite a halo effect that has prevented you from seeing the true "success rate". Where are you getting 5 acquisitions from? Reddit, Loopt basically made out. Infogami merged with Reddit. That's essentially a save face maneuver and doesn't exactly signal success. Clickfacts - "YC stake acquired by private investors" doesn't sound like that would be a win but a break even. More like "tak…
I think he's not just talking about the dollar value of exits, but the value of the founders. The founders of Loopt, the Reddits, and Justin.tv have done a lot for the YC program (and for startups in general) going forward; arguably these 3 moderate successes financially for YC but having very involved alumni might be worth more than a huge financial success which didn't stay involved with YC.
The comment that I was specifically replying to was this:
"Wow, that's phenomenal. In 7 years, out of 8 companies there were 5 acquisitions (and a couple mergers). I'm sure any VC would be ecstatic to have that kind of success rate."
I don't see how that statement has anything to do with the value of the founders.
He said "5 acquisitions" not "2 (or 3) acquisitions and additionally they have very involved alumni.
Re: How Y Combinator Started
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Heck, why would anyone down vote a comment which supported a nice comment by someone else? Go figure.
Now THAT down vote reflects a really vicious temperament!
The downvotes are because you are not adding to the core conversation. The community standard is that if you support a comment then up-vote it, and that's it.
Additionally if you have something to say in response then write a comment.