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On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

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Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#11

Post by mirsadm »

robryan wrote: post #10
cwilson wrote: post #8

As someone who pitched on stage yesterday I have mixed feelings on this subject. I understand that seeing a graph up and to the right on every single slide, 74 times in a row, might get a little repetitive. That said, you're also getting pitched by 74 companies who actually have graphs that are up and to the right. You're being pitched by companies who have been focusing on nothing but acquiring users, talking to use…

I think the issue is that any startup can produce a metric in which they have a nice graph going up and to the right, no doubt some of the 75 companies are likely far more attractive than others but it probably isn't clear without followup which those are. At the same time I am not sure you can do it any other way and still have the time for everyone to see all the pitches. You are right that longer presentations wit…

I imagine it would be frustrating for companies which have actual real revenue and growth as opposed to ones that have grown 800% from 1 to 8 users in 3 months.

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#12

Post by shasta »

cwilson wrote: post #8

As someone who pitched on stage yesterday I have mixed feelings on this subject. I understand that seeing a graph up and to the right on every single slide, 74 times in a row, might get a little repetitive. That said, you're also getting pitched by 74 companies who actually have graphs that are up and to the right. You're being pitched by companies who have been focusing on nothing but acquiring users, talking to use…

It looks like there's room to really stand out by drawing a graph that goes up and to the right, then down and to the right, and then up and to the right again.

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#13

Post by ibdknox »

interestingly, we intentionally didn't show a graph, nor did we actually say any of our numbers when we presented yesterday. Our goal was to tell a story about why what we were doing mattered and I think that resonated really well with investors. Not sure if our presentation works for everyone else, but I do believe being a bit different was immensely valuable.

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#14

Post by cwilson »

robryan wrote: post #10
cwilson wrote: post #8

As someone who pitched on stage yesterday I have mixed feelings on this subject. I understand that seeing a graph up and to the right on every single slide, 74 times in a row, might get a little repetitive. That said, you're also getting pitched by 74 companies who actually have graphs that are up and to the right. You're being pitched by companies who have been focusing on nothing but acquiring users, talking to use…

I think the issue is that any startup can produce a metric in which they have a nice graph going up and to the right, no doubt some of the 75 companies are likely far more attractive than others but it probably isn't clear without followup which those are. At the same time I am not sure you can do it any other way and still have the time for everyone to see all the pitches. You are right that longer presentations wit…

I don't disagree, but I also think this system is a great way for investors to get a quick glimpse of a ton of awesome companies at once, and find the ones they are most interested in and chat more. Someone else in this thread already mentioned this, but the point of the pitch is not to close a deal. That takes multiple conversations, sometimes days, sometimes weeks.

Personally, I only want to talk to investors who are actually interested in our space, or have expertise and connections in the space, especially when there are hundreds in the room (half the conversations would be a complete waste of time otherwise).

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#15

Post by djt »

I think the main problem is the time constraint. None of these solutions can lead to investors figuring out which businesses to follow up on out of 75 businesses in under 3 hours.

Also why have demo booths when it's an online service? Why not try it out from a customers perspective and log onto the website. If you need someone in a booth to step you through it then I would be very surprised.

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#16

Post by robryan »

cwilson wrote: post #14
robryan wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the issue is that any startup can produce a metric in which they have a nice graph going up and to the right, no doubt some of the 75 companies are likely far more attractive than others but it probably isn't clear without followup which those are. At the same time I am not sure you can do it any other way and still have the time for everyone to see all the pitches. You are right that longer presentations wit…

I don't disagree, but I also think this system is a great way for investors to get a quick glimpse of a ton of awesome companies at once, and find the ones they are most interested in and chat more. Someone else in this thread already mentioned this, but the point of the pitch is not to close a deal. That takes multiple conversations, sometimes days, sometimes weeks. Personally, I only want to talk to investors who a…

True. The accelerator that operates out of the space I work at, they emphasised the idea of including a slide about what type of people the startup is primarily interested in working with.

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#17

Post by ibdknox »

djt wrote: post #15

I think the main problem is the time constraint. None of these solutions can lead to investors figuring out which businesses to follow up on out of 75 businesses in under 3 hours. Also why have demo booths when it's an online service? Why not try it out from a customers perspective and log onto the website. If you need someone in a booth to step you through it then I would be very surprised.

How would you try warehouse software, a wireless network, or a developer tool? A number of the companies that presented yesterday are not easily try-able and some that simply wouldn't appeal to this demographic in any meaningful way.

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#18

Post by akldfgj »

smalter wrote: post #5

Part of the power of YC is that it's in some way collective bargaining. There's a similar phenomenon at top law schools (I was a lawyer in a previous life). When law firms come to campus to interview students, the school's goal is to obscure which students are top students and which aren't. Why? To protect the middle and bottom of the class and facilitate everyone getting jobs based on the school's brand. The YC Demo…

Doesn't a law school give everyone an official rank to put on their resume?

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#19

Post by pg »

The goal of a Demo Day presentation is not to convince the audience to invest. It's just to convince them to follow up with you. It's at that second stage where the demos happen-- as they were in fact happening all over the building during the breaks between sessions.

At events like TC Disrupt, where startups demo in booths, few (perhaps no) investors ask for demos from all of them. The startups have posters and investors decide based on those which to approach and talk to further. In effect YC Demo Day presentations are those posters.

Re: On YC Demo Day, and those graphs

#20

Post by blahedo »

WTF with all the title changing? This one was originally posted as "On why Y Combinator Demo Day does its companies a disservice", which is what I clicked on from the main page, but now is retitled to "On YC Demo Day, and those graphs", which is an inferior title for the purpose of, you know, suggesting to the casual reader whether they'll want to read it. The submitted title even made use of the article's actual subhed (reformatting it to remove the question, per guidelines).
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