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

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

#51

Post by giarc »

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…

I think you have to remember that these TechCrunch bio's are written after their YC class. So they might have come in with $1000 MRR and have scaled up in the mean time.

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

#52

Post by giarc »

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?

My initial thoughts were they weren't focusing on a single aspect that local businesses need. Seems like a broad set of features. My opinion is to start small and build from one or two solid features that your customers love.

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

#53

Post by giarc »

plaidfuji wrote: post #44

Entocycle stood out to me as having significant long-term prospects. Bug protein is a fundamentally disruptive product at a time when demand for sustainable protein is growing all over the world.

From what I've heard, the problem isn't finding customers, the problem is breeding and raising bugs at scale. I think if you solve the scale problem, you will be successful.

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

#54

Post by giarc »

indogooner wrote: post #7

Looks like pretty impressive monthly revenues for some of them eg. Leon & George. If YC is the first investor (which is what I expect) they have done very well being bootstrapped so far.

I don't understand Leon & George though (plant delivery). The TC bio talked about finding the right plant for your space. Seems like they just sell a few plants. I can walk into any florist, garden store or even IKEA and get the same or better selection. So the value prop is delivery I guess? But does delivery large plants across the country scale?

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

#55

Post by amsilprotag »

nimos wrote: post #8

>The startup hopes to someday be the “Monsanto of Cannibis.” Not sure that's a comparison I'd invite in that market.

The marketing choices are interesting. I don't think we'll see that line in their B2B copy. The names Covetly and PreDxion feel like a tonal mismatch for their more rulebound audiences. The cartoonish visuals of Construct Simply and CarDash also feel a bit off relative to a pick-up truck or motor oil ad. But in those cases, the clients often drag the service providers to the platform.

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

#56

Post by goatherders »

giarc wrote: post #50

I think there is definitely a market for OneLocal[0]. I've been renovating my house lately and dealing with trades is a mess. I had a few very reputable AC guys come in and quote on installing a unit. After they left there was no follow up whatsoever... no email, no text, no call, not even automated stuff. If OneLocal could solve that problem they could probably help SMBs convert more customers. 0- http://info.oneloc…

There are dozens (hundreds?) Of companies offering marketing tools for small businesses.

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

#57

Post by shubhamjain »

indescions_2017 wrote: post #47

Piggy (piggy.co.in), the "Vanguard for India"! Just wow. Now there is a concept that sells itself. It's easy to see the Total Addressable Market potential. Savings institutions such as Vanguard and BlackRock are completely embedded in our lives. Every high school student who graduating this summer was probably given the same advice to start saving early and I'm guessing for those who did, many selected a Vanguard fun…

The concept isn't novel. In fact, I would argue that they're late to this game. I am using Scripbox for a while which works fine. As I see, they're not launching their own fund, they would be investing in existing ones, which kind of makes "Vangaurd for India" a misnomer.

I think the addressable market is huge, partly because the major things allowed in the tax saving section 80 (C) are life insurance premium, a government backed retirement fund (PPF), and long term mutual funds. The last one is the easiest to invest into. That means it's relatively easy to onboard working professionals if they are want to save tax in that section.

One issue is that the public isn't knowledgable enough about merits of equity markets. For some, it's a gamble and would rather go with fixed-rate funds.

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

#58

Post by christudor »

giarc wrote: post #54
indogooner wrote: post #7

Looks like pretty impressive monthly revenues for some of them eg. Leon & George. If YC is the first investor (which is what I expect) they have done very well being bootstrapped so far.

I don't understand Leon & George though (plant delivery). The TC bio talked about finding the right plant for your space. Seems like they just sell a few plants. I can walk into any florist, garden store or even IKEA and get the same or better selection. So the value prop is delivery I guess? But does delivery large plants across the country scale?

Bloom & Wild (https://www.bloomandwild.com/) do flower delivery and they're doing very well. They're only in the UK at the moment, but I think they have plans to expand internationally.

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

#59

Post by tarr11 »

austenallred wrote: post #39
jacquesm wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

MRR without in isolation, without churn, CAC or WoW growth is fairly meaningless. It's basically just a different way to report run rate.

You can buy 20k in MRR with your YC investment, just for a pop at demo day. Keeping up growth is another thing all together.

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