Was Y Combinator worth it?
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Was Y Combinator worth it?
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Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#2was a great experience for me, even with the pandemic sabotaging our demo day last minute
Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#3Answer: "So, for us YC was a no-brainer."
Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#4Given the domain name, I was hoping to see some attempt to quantify/aggregate multiple answers.
I think nearly any startup would benefit unless the founders entered into business with a strong perspective and network.
Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#5You know, I've been reading Hacker News for god-knows-how-long, and it never occurred to me to look up what Y Combinator even was.
Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#6What a curious product: CSV import as a service (or hosted on premise). Would love to know where they pivoted from (according to the blog post).
Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#7Answer: "So, for us YC was a no-brainer."
...because """
- we were in a bad place and, while a start-up in a good place could raise more than YC's $500k in exchange for 10% of the business, we couldn't.
- we gained access to the knowledgebase that YC built of all the problems (incorporating, tax filing, banking, HR systems, etc.) and, for anything not in the KB, you can use their legal team.
- attaching the YC brand to your name adds legitimacy
- we forged strong friendships with many of our batchmates. We continue to meet on a regular basis to share updates, ideas, and provide support to each other. Having other people that can listen and empathize with the challenges you're experiencing goes a long way.
"""
Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#8Given the domain name, I was hoping to see some attempt to quantify/aggregate multiple answers. I think nearly any startup would benefit unless the founders entered into business with a strong perspective and network.
I think the real question is whether the benefit is worth the 10%. That's pretty expensive.
From a macchiavellian perspective, it does appear that the benefits mostly attach to the founders (unless you are selling products to startups) and the 10% attaches to the company, which suggests that the optimal strategy post-YC may be to fail and start another company.
Edit - Obviously I'm not suggesting killing a good company that hits it big and gets a bunch of traction, but if your post-YC company isn't in that position (and almost all of them aren't, by the way, thanks to the risky nature of startups), you have some very awkward math to do on whether to pivot or shut down.
Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#9You know, I've been reading Hacker News for god-knows-how-long, and it never occurred to me to look up what Y Combinator even was.
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Re: Was Y Combinator worth it?
#10Given the domain name, I was hoping to see some attempt to quantify/aggregate multiple answers. I think nearly any startup would benefit unless the founders entered into business with a strong perspective and network.
I think the real question is whether the benefit is worth the 10%. That's pretty expensive. From a macchiavellian perspective, it does appear that the benefits mostly attach to the founders (unless you are selling products to startups) and the 10% attaches to the company, which suggests that the optimal strategy post-YC may be to fail and start another company. Edit - Obviously I'm not suggesting killing a good compa…
That is entirely dependent on how much you're leaving on the table by failing. When gambling, it might make sense to quit while you're up but that entirely depends on the expected value of your next bet.
From a macchiavellian perspective, you also have to consider how much benefit the founder would stand again from having a more successful startup instead of failing.