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YC Demo Day, the Morning After

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Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#21

Post by gfodor »

pbharrin wrote: post #20

I think what everyone here is missing is that the press is looking for "Tech" companies doing wild, innovative things with technology. -The WSJ article was in the "technology news and insights" section. -TechCrunch has the word Tech in its name. -Demo Day is held at the computer history museum -this is Silicon Valley Sorry I didn't attend demo day, but when I read the summary I felt none of the companies were very hi…

I call bullshit on the claim that there were no tech-oriented companies. One of them is a platform for automating flying drones. Another is a platform for EE circuit design. These are both pretty nerdgasmic if you ask me. edit: oh and how could I forget Thalmic.

Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#22

Post by hojoff79 »

Thalmic Labs I think is the only one that should not be considered a yawn. The applications are endless, if you have not seen it watch the demo video below, shows some very consumer friendly applications which currently have no equal substitute. Only question is how long until it works that seamlessly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWu9TFJjHaM&feature=youtu...

Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#23

Post by d0m »

> founders are tackling “boring” problems that generate cash

And proud of it. "Boring" problems/solutions for you might be a painkiller for someone struggling with it every day.

Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#24

Post by rdl »

I don't think "there were lots of good companies, but no standouts" is related to "there were no social companies".

The companies I considered standouts in previous batches at Demo Day were not the social ones.

(S12: Eligible, Bufferbox, HD Trade, Keychain Logistics, Plivo, BoostedBoards, ...)

W12: Exec, Farmlogs, Matterport, PlanGrid

S11: Clerky, Parse, Aisle50, meteor, MobileWorks, Sift Science, Science Exchange, Rap Genius)

Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#25

Post by pron »

Well, investors bitch and moan because, let's face it, that's how they roll. They also have an incentive to do that in order to lower prices (as long as they all do that, and these guys have a dominant herd mentality gene).

Also, let's not forget that most of them are quite mediocre, to put it mildly, at what they do (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/venture-capitals-slug...).

Now it seems that their problem is one of an efficient market. If startups play it safe (according to the investors), then their performance has a higher expected value but with less volatility, so the VC can't strike rich on the off-chance. I do think, though, that they might miss the volatility in the market size. Very successful products tend to change the market size, and they might get 10x and even 1000x returns yet.

Anyway, sometimes they bitch about too much risk, and now about too little. You just can't please these guys, but, like Danielle says -- neither should you.

Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#26

Post by gfodor »

Say what you will, but this is the first YC class in recent memory that has a product I am going to both remember and use when needed: FlightCar.

Personally I'm glad things are looking like the "bubble" slowly deflated instead of popped. And instead of a crash and destruction of wealth, we're left with an urge to pursue viable business models. I think we can point to FB, GRPN, and ZNGA for this (the stocks, not the companies), thanks guys.

Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#28

Post by inthewoods »

My guess is that about 10-12m from now we'll see the media talking about one of these companies that "you've never heard of" that is "crushing it" on bookings/revenue.

People tend to forget that the media has little to no memory and is usually staffed by people in their 20s who have little idea of what they are talking about. Obviously not always the case, but using the media (or other bloggers) as your measure of success is a very bad idea.

And in case anyone jumps to this conclusion - no, I'm not saying that anyone in their 20s will have no idea what they are talking about. :)

Re: YC Demo Day, the Morning After

#29

Post by pbharrin »

gfodor wrote: post #21
pbharrin wrote: post #20

I think what everyone here is missing is that the press is looking for "Tech" companies doing wild, innovative things with technology. -The WSJ article was in the "technology news and insights" section. -TechCrunch has the word Tech in its name. -Demo Day is held at the computer history museum -this is Silicon Valley Sorry I didn't attend demo day, but when I read the summary I felt none of the companies were very hi…

I call bullshit on the claim that there were no tech-oriented companies. One of them is a platform for automating flying drones. Another is a platform for EE circuit design. These are both pretty nerdgasmic if you ask me. edit: oh and how could I forget Thalmic.

Well they did not convince the "tech press" that they were the next Google.
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