Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 78 posts

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#31

Post by joering2 »

Lordarminius wrote: post #25
WikipediasBad wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always ask this myself. I think like you said, startups are so mainstream now that the traction bar is higher now. But the problem is that YC also seems to be getting less prestigious. As great as these companies are, I am sorry but I don't believe that 100+ a batch is the same YC as what started a decade ago. YC is now a factor, not a family.

> I don't believe that 100+ a batch is the same YC as what started a decade ago. YC is now a factor, not a family. You are not wrong. The batches are of noticeably lower quality. I wont name names out of respect for the founders obviously, but you certainly have to wonder if some have been chosen solely based on their touting the latest cool tech buzzword in their application. My opinion also is that YC has moved fro…

> The batches are of noticeably lower quality.

As a company (YC), as you grow and set aside more $ (or have access to deeper pockets thank to your past success rate), you are willing to take more risk than before.

I actually think its a positive thing, especially for those who apply!

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#32

Post by 0bsidian »

I am a bit puzzled by OneLocal.

It looks like it's a review generation / marketing automation / CRM solution for small businesses.

Just off the top of my mind, i can think of the following venture backed companies that do the same (at least on the reviews / marketing for SMB front):

- BirdEye

- Podium.com

- DemandForce

- Signpost

- Yodle

- Womply

- Broadly.com

- Yext

What am I missing?

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#33

Post by jacquesm »

shubhamjain wrote: post #16

It surprises me how successful these companies are already. I don't think to have more than $20K MRR is any less than having a product-market fit (of a lesser scale, maybe). It's almost as if YC is not taking bets at all because the companies that are applying seem to know well what are they solving. And although it's not obvious from the article, it sounds like they scaled to that revenue pretty quick (comparatively…

It's actually pretty easy to explain.

YC has global reach and is now very well known. That increases the applicant pool and that in turn means there are more quality applications as well. Having a larger pool of quality applications means that it becomes easier to select companies before a batch is considered 'full', lower quality applications will therefore have a much smaller chance of getting selected in a given batch.

So even if YC's first priority hasn't changed at all there is still a very plausible explanation for the effect you are seeing.

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#34

Post by jmstout »

shubhamjain wrote: post #16

It surprises me how successful these companies are already. I don't think to have more than $20K MRR is any less than having a product-market fit (of a lesser scale, maybe). It's almost as if YC is not taking bets at all because the companies that are applying seem to know well what are they solving. And although it's not obvious from the article, it sounds like they scaled to that revenue pretty quick (comparatively…

Makes me wonder how many of these companies are actually offered the "standard deal" of 120k for 7%. Would love for YC to release some stats on this.

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#35

Post by jacquesm »

0bsidian wrote: post #32

I am a bit puzzled by OneLocal. It looks like it's a review generation / marketing automation / CRM solution for small businesses. Just off the top of my mind, i can think of the following venture backed companies that do the same (at least on the reviews / marketing for SMB front): - BirdEye - Podium.com - DemandForce - Signpost - Yodle - Womply - Broadly.com - Yext What am I missing?

And don't forget TeamLeader.

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#36

Post by jacquesm »

mattmanser wrote: post #29
4010dell wrote: post #11

observation: Good: Hardly any entry of "Uber for X". That's a relief considering most "uber for X" are not viable businesses. Bad: we are going after "billion dollar market". How do you even estimate the market size ?? why dream of revenue in billions why not millions. A small company can be a great company. Bad: 50%-60% companies from day 1 or day 2 do not have mission critical business. Their business is finding a…

It's the fundamentals behind investing. Basically, you make no money gambling $10 ten times on 10% chance of success with $100 returns, but you make money if the returns are $10,000. So, for investing in companies, there is no point funding companies aiming for millions as you can't get a good return because of the failure rates. They're basically taking up one of the slots of a potential billion $$$ company. The poi…

It is, but the corollary to that is that nobody knew ahead of time which companies where going to be the $1B and up companies and which were duds, also-rans or simply solid small to mid sized businesses.

No investor ever invested in a billion dollar start-up to be knowing that start-up was going to be a billion dollar company one day.

So those stats are based on one thing only: survivor bias and each and every investor will have to be satisfied with investing in what they believe to be solid performers with potential upside.

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#38

Post by austenallred »

jmstout wrote: post #34
shubhamjain wrote: post #16

It surprises me how successful these companies are already. I don't think to have more than $20K MRR is any less than having a product-market fit (of a lesser scale, maybe). It's almost as if YC is not taking bets at all because the companies that are applying seem to know well what are they solving. And although it's not obvious from the article, it sounds like they scaled to that revenue pretty quick (comparatively…

Makes me wonder how many of these companies are actually offered the "standard deal" of 120k for 7%. Would love for YC to release some stats on this.

I'd be shocked if there are more than one or two (if any) that aren't offered the standard deal

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#39

Post by austenallred »

jacquesm wrote: post #33
shubhamjain wrote: post #16

It surprises me how successful these companies are already. I don't think to have more than $20K MRR is any less than having a product-market fit (of a lesser scale, maybe). It's almost as if YC is not taking bets at all because the companies that are applying seem to know well what are they solving. And although it's not obvious from the article, it sounds like they scaled to that revenue pretty quick (comparatively…

It's actually pretty easy to explain. YC has global reach and is now very well known. That increases the applicant pool and that in turn means there are more quality applications as well. Having a larger pool of quality applications means that it becomes easier to select companies before a batch is considered 'full', lower quality applications will therefore have a much smaller chance of getting selected in a given b…

I'd argue it's just much easier to get to $20k MRR than it used to be. A lot of companies barely have traction before YC and get it during YC, and $20k isn't that hard to get to.

Re: Companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day (Day 2)

#40

Post by [deleted] »

jacquesm wrote: post #35
0bsidian wrote: post #32

I am a bit puzzled by OneLocal. It looks like it's a review generation / marketing automation / CRM solution for small businesses. Just off the top of my mind, i can think of the following venture backed companies that do the same (at least on the reviews / marketing for SMB front): - BirdEye - Podium.com - DemandForce - Signpost - Yodle - Womply - Broadly.com - Yext What am I missing?

And don't forget TeamLeader.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN