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Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

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Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#141

Post by onassar »

I_am_tiberius wrote: post #95
chrisseaton wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I only had 10 minutes, I'd be nervous as hell and it would not give a true representation as me as a person and my project How do you sell your product to customers if you aren't able to pitch it in ten minutes?

True, I guess I'm just not made for being a founder.

I think clearly and effectively presenting yourself and your idea is something you can get better at. Perhaps right now, being a founder is not the right thing for you, just like perhaps later, it will be. I think it can be helpful to be careful with how you internalize things. Thinking "I'm just not made for being a founder" could become self-fulfilling, whereas rephrasing it as "I don't have an interest in being a founder" or "Being a founder isn't right for me right now" might be more accurate.

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#142

Post by i_have_an_idea »

spoonjim wrote: post #104
yawboakye wrote: post #102

YC has been irrelevant since they started admitting more than a handful of companies. It has almost become a rite of passage on to the fundraising circuit. It’s unclear what their admission philosophy is (e.g. p% of all applications?—I doubt). Or perhaps some fear of missing out dominates their thinking now? It would be interesting to know. Hopefully the current economic situation forces them to reconsider and perhap…

Why would they? They are buying into these companies at a $2m valuation which is absurd. It's a no-brainer move and almost nobody can rationally say no since YC is so powerful

> since YC is so powerful

How are they 'powerful'? Right now, it is a conveyor belt accelerator.

I used to be impressed to see a YC company, now that signal means nothing, there are so many of them.

If anything the signal is that the founders were too willing to give up significant equity for not a lot in return.

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#143

Post by sillysaurusx »

mizzao wrote: post #105
yawboakye wrote: post #102

YC has been irrelevant since they started admitting more than a handful of companies. It has almost become a rite of passage on to the fundraising circuit. It’s unclear what their admission philosophy is (e.g. p% of all applications?—I doubt). Or perhaps some fear of missing out dominates their thinking now? It would be interesting to know. Hopefully the current economic situation forces them to reconsider and perhap…

We actually thought about doing YC and demurred because (1) it wasn't a great deal and (2) because the batch size was so big, it wasn't a particularly good signal anymore. I've heard from other founders that they have so many startups no one gets much individual attention. That didn't stop us from launching on HN though :-P https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32266086

No post body was provided.

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#145

Post by analyst74 »

__alexs wrote: post #65
cortesoft wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you think things will look good in 10 years and want to build a company to succeed at that time, you still need the money NOW if you want to invest in a company now, and the availability of money for investment now is completely dependent on the current financial markets. In other words, the amount of money available to invest is independent of the fundamentals of what that money is invested in.

Are VCs funded by debt? I thought the funds would largely have come from existing cash or equities and were only down 15% from ATH on SPY. Is this just people being risk averse right now?

There is only $2 trillion "real money", all the other money in circulation is debt. You can search for the definition of M0/M1/M2 money for more detailed explanation.

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#146

Post by s1mon »

mojuba wrote: post #110
chrisseaton wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I only had 10 minutes, I'd be nervous as hell and it would not give a true representation as me as a person and my project How do you sell your product to customers if you aren't able to pitch it in ten minutes?

Customers usually have more time to make a decision. When it comes to spending our own money, we ask around, we do some research by googling for independent reviews etc. before we buy an innovative product. So yes, I think a 10 minute presentation of any more or less novel/disruptive product is going to be largely a lie. Disruption is a complex process with a ton of important details. It is why as an entrepreneur you…

Many decisions are made in seconds based on an impression from an ad, or walking by a product in a store. Sure some purchasing decisions may linger for days, months or years, but even with such long times to ponder a final decision, there are likely a huge list of options that were thrown out in seconds because some aspect of the product message didn't resonate.

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#147

Post by andy_ppp »

grepfru_it wrote: post #106
andy_ppp wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could sell some of their holdings in these huge companies they have 7% of but basically they are saying everything is screwed right now and they expect a decade or more of depression.

> and they expect a decade or more of depression. Kinda what the 30Y treasure yields are saying (if you believe in recession indicators)

It’s also a self fulfilling prophecy too.

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#148

Post by [deleted] »

cortesoft wrote: post #31
balaselvam wrote: post #20

The emphasis on "downturn" concerns me. Aren't reputed firms like YC supposed to look at a 10+ year horizon? If this is true, it indicates that earlier investments were based on the market than the fundamentals of the founding team, market, and product.

Even if you think things will look good in 10 years and want to build a company to succeed at that time, you still need the money NOW if you want to invest in a company now, and the availability of money for investment now is completely dependent on the current financial markets. In other words, the amount of money available to invest is independent of the fundamentals of what that money is invested in.

[deleted]

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#149

Post by politician »

nequo wrote: post #120
f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or that you expect a downturn that will last more than 10 years. Check out how the 10 year T note has been performing against the 2 year. Markets are not optimistic about the long term.

There was that headline that half of all Americans are expecting a civil war. Or maybe it’s the on-going showdown with the CCP. Or Russia’s disqualification of itself as an energy supplier. Or maybe it is climate change? Seriously, what’s driving these market trends, I don’t know.

Americans are expecting a generation-defining change in the way the world works.

Re: Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding

#150

Post by anuraaga »

yawboakye wrote: post #102

YC has been irrelevant since they started admitting more than a handful of companies. It has almost become a rite of passage on to the fundraising circuit. It’s unclear what their admission philosophy is (e.g. p% of all applications?—I doubt). Or perhaps some fear of missing out dominates their thinking now? It would be interesting to know. Hopefully the current economic situation forces them to reconsider and perhap…

Exactly. Hiring freezes are similar but it seems many places are taking advantage of this year to burst self created bubbles, not because they have to but because they can without seeming like wimps, which in any other year they would.

Ideally a scrappy spot takes advantage of this to dethrone YC completely because who knows how tired we've gotten of these companies. If they don't act fat though YC will succeed in trimming the fact and remaining as the #1 buzzword in silicon valley.

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