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It is true that a million dollars is a lot to probably 99% of the worlds population. But those 99% don't live in the valley where "The median price of previousl

by jsteele 19y ago

It is true that a million dollars is a lot to probably 99% of the worlds population. But those 99% don't live in the valley where "The median price of previously owned houses is $716,500" and the "median price for previously owned condominiums and townhouses is $475,000" even in this housing slump. So basically that enough to buy a house, furniture and a car in the valley. They'll be a bit better off in Vancouver but not too much. The USD and CAD are near par these days and Vancouver is the most expensive city to live in Canada. Also, since only $2 million of the exit was cash, none of the founders even have a million dollars in cash to invest. At most they have $500k if there were 4 founders with each owning 25%. However since there were 6 people there, 2 angels and yc, they probably got much less than $500k cash. It is quite interesting how you view this exit as sort of an IPO for Auctomatic. I think that is a first for yc? This gives everyone on news.yc and the yc alumni to put their money where there mouth is and invest in a yc company. Will the stock price rocket turning everyone into multi-millionaires? Only time will tell. None the less, these guys have done a great job and I wish them all the best.

colinplamondon 19y ago
I might be misinterpreting your comment, and if that's so, my apologies, but that would seem to assume that they're dipping into savings to pay month to month expenses and will be buying houses on top of it. Which is completely possible, I don't know any of these guys, so that's one way to look at the situation. But, the other way to look at it is that they suddenly have a million dollars (per the article) accruing interest every year as their salaries at Live Current (now I'm making assumptions :) ) cover basic expenses and then some, leaving a security blanket that lets them do most anything they want in the future without worrying about the financial hit. They can travel off to Africa and spend three years learning Swahili, then surf and learn guitar on a Brasilian beach. They can build up Live Current per the plan and shape the company. They can start a new company and bootstrap it, no investors, no worries. They can do small-scale angel funding, even. Or not. But they have options. And, those options were gathered over the course of a year, putting them in a position that 90% of retirees can only dream of- financial independence. That is huge leverage, and that is huge success. Also, keep in mind that those are prices in two very expensive places- they could just as easily move to a country where the exchange rate is more favorable and increase their relative savings by a goodly amount. So, yeah, they didn't cash out for a billion- but they now have a million dollars at 17 and 19. Because of that, they're completely financially independent, and, thus, free- forever, barring any catastrophic financial meltdowns. So congratulations to them- I can't wait to see what they have coming down the pipe.
pg 19y ago
Being able to buy a house is no small thing. My father was a fairly well-paid engineer, and I don't think he paid off the mortgage till his late fifties or early sixties. Also, the reason the Auctomatics don't have all the cash to invest is that the noncash part is already invested: it's stock. And the Auctomatics certainly hope they can get at least market returns on that.
Tichy 19y ago
I thought the cutest part of the story is that they are from Limerick.

by jsteele 19y ago

colinplamondon 19y ago

I might be misinterpreting your comment, and if that's so, my apologies, but that would seem to assume that they're dipping into savings to pay month to month expenses and will be buying houses on top of it. Which is completely possible, I don't know any of these guys, so that's one way to look at the situation. But, the other way to look at it is that they suddenly have a million dollars (per the article) accruing interest every year as their salaries at Live Current (now I'm making assumptions :) ) cover basic expenses and then some, leaving a security blanket that lets them do most anything they want in the future without worrying about the financial hit. They can travel off to Africa and spend three years learning Swahili, then surf and learn guitar on a Brasilian beach. They can build up Live Current per the plan and shape the company. They can start a new company and bootstrap it, no investors, no worries. They can do small-scale angel funding, even. Or not. But they have options. And, those options were gathered over the course of a year, putting them in a position that 90% of retirees can only dream of- financial independence. That is huge leverage, and that is huge success. Also, keep in mind that those are prices in two very expensive places- they could just as easily move to a country where the exchange rate is more favorable and increase their relative savings by a goodly amount. So, yeah, they didn't cash out for a billion- but they now have a million dollars at 17 and 19. Because of that, they're completely financially independent, and, thus, free- forever, barring any catastrophic financial meltdowns. So congratulations to them- I can't wait to see what they have coming down the pipe.

pg 19y ago

Being able to buy a house is no small thing. My father was a fairly well-paid engineer, and I don't think he paid off the mortgage till his late fifties or early sixties. Also, the reason the Auctomatics don't have all the cash to invest is that the noncash part is already invested: it's stock. And the Auctomatics certainly hope they can get at least market returns on that.

Tichy 19y ago

I thought the cutest part of the story is that they are from Limerick.