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Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

ycombinator.com

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Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#91

Post by yaacov »

neilv wrote: post #44

If the funding is available immediately (not just an immediate commitment for funding once they start a batch), would it address the following problem I've run into a few times? In the last year alone, I've had to bow out of co-founding two promising startups with good biz co-founders, because first-year MBA students wanted to finish their degree before they sought funding. Two ways funding could help: 1. I couldn't…

If your cofounder isn’t full time, that’s not your cofounder. That’s a part time contractor who owns 50% of your company.

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#92

Post by koolba »

bix6 wrote: post #33
toomuchtodo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on public exit and liquidity event information, startups still remain a lottery ticket for most. 90% of startups fail entirely, for example (CB Insights). YC startups have more longevity, and more get to a Series A then non YC startups, but the best batches based on performance have been between 2009 and 2013. 10% achieve an exit, 4.5% became unicorns. Only 17 companies backed by YC (out of almost 5k) have gone…

> More than 50% of companies are still alive after 10 years I’d rather have a 50% chance at my own startup being alive after 10 years than go work some big corp job.

If you work for 10 years in big tech and save your money, you’d have enough for a lifetime of chasing startup ideas.

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#93

Post by mikert89 »

__loam wrote: post #83
mikert89 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No you want to take these bets when you are young, its the opposite, you go into stable careers when your appetite for risk and working around the clock has waned

There's an entire generation of FAANG millionaires that just spent a decade out of school working at one of those places and got fabulously wealthy off of it. In fact, it's probably the most likely career to get you rich instead of betting your time on startup equity that might be worth something in 6-10 years.

Yeah great they got into the fastest growing companies of all time at the perfect time

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#94

Post by nenenejej »

shipitto wrote: post #87

This is great in principle. A word of advice: Life is short. Play long term games with long term people. While a batch bakes in a season, a cap table rests like a boulder in a hillside. If you’re smart there are better ways to find a lever with which to move the world. Consider incentives. Don’t accept a hammer when you need a bulldozer. Don’t ask which paths exist: find where you want to be, ask what needs to be don…

This is a bit riddly. Have a concrete example?

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#95

Post by nenenejej »

_--__--__ wrote: post #17
cassonmars wrote: post #3

Does YC ever intend to revisit doing remote batches again? There's many founders in the country who are just as driven and motivated, but have real-world situations that cannot allow uprooting themselves for several months, two very common ones: - new parents - disabled family members, or are themselves physically disabled The discourse on Hacker News has frequently chastised companies demanding RTO, and some of the…

People in those situations can and should start companies without an accelerator (or at least without this one). The joke around the SF scene is that even a founder with a boy/girlfriend is a sign of a startup doomed to fail, and YC doesn't seem particularly invested in changing that culture.

[flagged]

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#97

Post by asadm »

nenenejej wrote: post #94
shipitto wrote: post #87

This is great in principle. A word of advice: Life is short. Play long term games with long term people. While a batch bakes in a season, a cap table rests like a boulder in a hillside. If you’re smart there are better ways to find a lever with which to move the world. Consider incentives. Don’t accept a hammer when you need a bulldozer. Don’t ask which paths exist: find where you want to be, ask what needs to be don…

This is a bit riddly. Have a concrete example?

Less riddly: Don't take money if you don't need it. if you have to, take it from people who have values/incentives (with life and business both) aligned with you.

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#98

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

mikert89 wrote: post #78
fullofideas wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. There is a huge opportunity cost, even more so for the “best and brightest” (by whatever definition). The odds of striking it rich are really not in your favor. You may be better off working at big tech for a few years, save up, let the money work for you while you explore your entrepreneurial urge. You have a cushion and maybe that will let you take on bigger and bolder bets than what you could when you come o…

No you want to take these bets when you are young, its the opposite, you go into stable careers when your appetite for risk and working around the clock has waned

Thought experiment: What group do you think will have the higher median total earnings over 10 years - the group that worked at BigTech or the group that worked at a YC startup?

You make your money first, let it make money for you and then do a startup.

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#99

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

mikert89 wrote: post #93
__loam wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an entire generation of FAANG millionaires that just spent a decade out of school working at one of those places and got fabulously wealthy off of it. In fact, it's probably the most likely career to get you rich instead of betting your time on startup equity that might be worth something in 6-10 years.

Yeah great they got into the fastest growing companies of all time at the perfect time

It’s not just the companies are growing. If you get an offer from BigTech with cash + RSUs and the stock stays stagnant, you will still be better off statistically than spending 5-7 years of your life at a startup.

Re: Do YC after you graduate: Early decision for students

#100

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

raspasov wrote: post #89
toomuchtodo wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I buy a lottery ticket for $1, in a moment, with no further effort. A YC startup founder grinds for years, if not a decade, to reach IPO with unknown opportunity costs. They are not the same. How many lottery tickets over how many lottery draws to equalize the odds is a fun thought experiment to quantify a dollar value for the option premium. 17 YC IPOs over how many total YC founder years (Lifetime YC companies * #…

It's all about the opportunity cost. There are always assumptions that need to be made, but it will be hard to argue that lottery tickets are better than startups. I don't think they are. A more useful comparison would be a serious statistical analysis between startups and other occupations.

I am not spending years of my life trading money for lottery tickets, startups are worse than lottery tickets
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