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YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

ycgraveyard.iamwillwang.com

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Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#51

Post by jll29 »

There are not just startups that become unicorns and startups that fold.

Investors' worst nightmare is if you just make enough money to keep going, but you don't grow ("lifestyle business" as they use it is a derogatory term).

That's because they prefer a sudden death where they can write down the investment and deduct their loss from taxes than an investment where they never see any money again.

And then there are "acquisitions" that are really "acui-hires" dressed up as acquisitions to get the people (more common) or to buy an asset in a limited shell package (less common) after things did/may have (but people were to tempted to take the offer) or did not pan/panned out. Some people consider anything <$50m as a "failure", because that's roughly the sum that many corporations can spend without calling the bigshots for a board meeting to decide.

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#52

Post by jbverschoor »

jll29 wrote: post #51

There are not just startups that become unicorns and startups that fold. Investors' worst nightmare is if you just make enough money to keep going, but you don't grow ("lifestyle business" as they use it is a derogatory term). That's because they prefer a sudden death where they can write down the investment and deduct their loss from taxes than an investment where they never see any money again. And then there are "…

That’s not what a lifestyle business is. Unless your lifestyle is eating ramen

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#53

Post by vasco »

jll29 wrote: post #51

There are not just startups that become unicorns and startups that fold. Investors' worst nightmare is if you just make enough money to keep going, but you don't grow ("lifestyle business" as they use it is a derogatory term). That's because they prefer a sudden death where they can write down the investment and deduct their loss from taxes than an investment where they never see any money again. And then there are "…

Nothing stops them from selling you back their share at close to zero if they really want to right it off.

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#54

Post by KingMob »

jjcob wrote: post #31
adastra22 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were plenty of ways to get paid on the internet before stripe. On paper it didn’t look like they were doing anything new. They just did it better. Airbnb… idk. Who wants to rent their house out to total strangers? I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t have thought it would take off like it did.

Airbnb is mostly commercial listings that are basically unlicensed hotel rooms / appartments. I don't think people renting out their personal living spaces is a big part of their income. It's just a story they use to get around regulations.

That's true now, but not when they first took off.

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#55

Post by dmbche »

robocat wrote: post #27

I'm onehundertpercent pissed off with YC: * The modal win for a founder is $0.00 * PG makes big talk about winner's average returns... Yayyyyy..... However YC gets preferential shares; YC is not aligned with the common shareholders (founders; builders). YC builds a story that they support creators however YC doesn't sit on the same table-side as creators. * I actually believe YC is worthwhile, but I wonder if Ize jus…

Check the Principal-Agent problem in game theory, that's what's going on

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#56

Post by [deleted] »

jll29 wrote: post #51

There are not just startups that become unicorns and startups that fold. Investors' worst nightmare is if you just make enough money to keep going, but you don't grow ("lifestyle business" as they use it is a derogatory term). That's because they prefer a sudden death where they can write down the investment and deduct their loss from taxes than an investment where they never see any money again. And then there are "…

[deleted]

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#57

Post by that_guy_iain »

jbverschoor wrote: post #52
jll29 wrote: post #51

There are not just startups that become unicorns and startups that fold. Investors' worst nightmare is if you just make enough money to keep going, but you don't grow ("lifestyle business" as they use it is a derogatory term). That's because they prefer a sudden death where they can write down the investment and deduct their loss from taxes than an investment where they never see any money again. And then there are "…

That’s not what a lifestyle business is. Unless your lifestyle is eating ramen

Enough money to keep going doesn't mean just enough money to cover the costs. It means being able to continue paying yourself and all your employees their salaries, meet costs and make a small minimum profit.

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#58

Post by smallerfish »

jbverschoor wrote: post #52
jll29 wrote: post #51

There are not just startups that become unicorns and startups that fold. Investors' worst nightmare is if you just make enough money to keep going, but you don't grow ("lifestyle business" as they use it is a derogatory term). That's because they prefer a sudden death where they can write down the investment and deduct their loss from taxes than an investment where they never see any money again. And then there are "…

That’s not what a lifestyle business is. Unless your lifestyle is eating ramen

Sure it is. If your business nets 3 million a year, it takes 5 people to run it, and your customer base is steady, that's lifestyle. Sucks for investors, pretty nice for you if you can keep it running.

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#59

Post by tinco »

sebmellen wrote: post #47
satvikpendem wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what do ex-founders generally do after their startup is dead? For me I just got a job after my first few ones died, until I was able to succeed at my current ones, but I'm sure many might just continue working a job indefinitely.

I know some (YC and others) who float around doing nothing on $200k a year in salary because no investor cares enough, or has the legal right, to get their money back. Not sure what their long-term game plan is. The others end up at another Series B+ startup or go to a MANGA company if they can grind leetcode for a bit and get an interview.

They pay themselves 200k/y in a pre-market fit startup? That's insane and I guess on the investors for going over the traditional preseed amounts.

Or do you mean that they're zombie startups that make enough to pay the founder 200k/year?

Re: YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups

#60

Post by normie3000 »

that_guy_iain wrote: post #57
jbverschoor wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not what a lifestyle business is. Unless your lifestyle is eating ramen

Enough money to keep going doesn't mean just enough money to cover the costs. It means being able to continue paying yourself and all your employees their salaries, meet costs and make a small minimum profit.

Aren't salaries considered to be part of the costs?
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