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Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

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Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#31

Post by jarsin »

kamikazeturtles wrote: post #3

It seems the first few batches of YC were VERY successful. But, the number of successful YC companies I can think of from the last 10 years of batches is very minimal despite them investing in thousands of companies. Makes you wonder, does the funding landscape need a new YC level disruption because YC seems to have peeked, return wise (not hype wise). Maybe AI might be their saving grace if everything works out

> Maybe AI might be their saving grace if everything works out

Most of their recent communication is going all in on AI. Saying stuff like this batch prefers hiring devs that use AI, and 95% of their codebases are all AI generated.

Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#32

Post by tasn »

kamikazeturtles wrote: post #3

It seems the first few batches of YC were VERY successful. But, the number of successful YC companies I can think of from the last 10 years of batches is very minimal despite them investing in thousands of companies. Makes you wonder, does the funding landscape need a new YC level disruption because YC seems to have peeked, return wise (not hype wise). Maybe AI might be their saving grace if everything works out

Companies take time to become successful, so the verdict is still out on most of the companies that started in the last 10 years. Time will tell.

Though there are already quite a few successrul YC companies from the last few years. Full list of top YC companies: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies (filter by "top companies")

Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#33

Post by flaque »

kamikazeturtles wrote: post #3

It seems the first few batches of YC were VERY successful. But, the number of successful YC companies I can think of from the last 10 years of batches is very minimal despite them investing in thousands of companies. Makes you wonder, does the funding landscape need a new YC level disruption because YC seems to have peeked, return wise (not hype wise). Maybe AI might be their saving grace if everything works out

Of course? On average, companies that are still standing after ~15 to 20 years are going to be a lot larger than the companies who started more recently.

Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#34

Post by astonex »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #26
astonex wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think all the recent AI slop dominated batches will be their downfall in 2-3 years time when they all become junk and the AI-hype is over.

Ya that is my fear. Just like the whole crypto dominated batches. My fear is Garry Tan is leading YC and he falls for every single "the current thing" in the book. I remember when he was pushing for so much of the crypto stuff and all of that evaporated to nothing.

Yep, since Garry took over YC has fallen off drastically in my opinion

Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#36

Post by ant6n »

Invictus0 wrote: post #4
kamikazeturtles wrote: post #3

It seems the first few batches of YC were VERY successful. But, the number of successful YC companies I can think of from the last 10 years of batches is very minimal despite them investing in thousands of companies. Makes you wonder, does the funding landscape need a new YC level disruption because YC seems to have peeked, return wise (not hype wise). Maybe AI might be their saving grace if everything works out

You might find this blogpost eye opening: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/pulling-back-the-curtain-...

Wow, there's so few solo founders, and so few non-US companies. I bet nowadays, there's very few non-AI companies. So if you aren't a US-based AI-startup with multiple founders, perhaps ycombinator is not for you.

Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#37

Post by Invictus0 »

ant6n wrote: post #36
Invictus0 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might find this blogpost eye opening: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/pulling-back-the-curtain-...

Wow, there's so few solo founders, and so few non-US companies. I bet nowadays, there's very few non-AI companies. So if you aren't a US-based AI-startup with multiple founders, perhaps ycombinator is not for you.

If you have a cofounder it forces you to get in the habit of delegating really early on. Prolific solo founders like pieter levels just do everything themselves, which is great for their ego but not enough to build a venture scale business.

Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#38

Post by ant6n »

Invictus0 wrote: post #37
ant6n wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, there's so few solo founders, and so few non-US companies. I bet nowadays, there's very few non-AI companies. So if you aren't a US-based AI-startup with multiple founders, perhaps ycombinator is not for you.

If you have a cofounder it forces you to get in the habit of delegating really early on. Prolific solo founders like pieter levels just do everything themselves, which is great for their ego but not enough to build a venture scale business.

Solo founders can have employees.

Re: Happy 20th birthday, Y Combinator

#39

Post by [deleted] »

Invictus0 wrote: post #37
ant6n wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, there's so few solo founders, and so few non-US companies. I bet nowadays, there's very few non-AI companies. So if you aren't a US-based AI-startup with multiple founders, perhaps ycombinator is not for you.

If you have a cofounder it forces you to get in the habit of delegating really early on. Prolific solo founders like pieter levels just do everything themselves, which is great for their ego but not enough to build a venture scale business.

[deleted]
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