3 ms·

Counterintuitive Stories From Rapportive’s (YC S10) Seed Funding

23 points by jedc 16y ago

jedc 16y ago
Well done to Rahul, Martin and Sam! Really interesting details around the timings of launching a demo, getting funded, and seeing competitors (even within YC) pivot. I love these lines in particular: "But rather than write him fan mail, they used their own product as bait, portraying McClure as the example user of their original web site. “We plastered his face all over, and then people kept asking him, ‘These Rapportive guys, are they your company?’” After McClure got that question more than once, he was intrigued enough to follow up and commit to investing, and then made copious intros for the rest of the round."
- nzmsv 16y ago
  This is an interesting hack. I think most of us hold an implicit assumption that privacy is always good. So many hackers would never even consider doing something like that. I probably wouldn't. But this outcome shows that it pays to question assumptions, even (especially) your own.
seiji 16y ago
It's good to see people treating YC as a business transaction instead of pouring their self worth into the prospects of getting in: "The value is incredible — it’s a very strong brand. it helps when trying to recruit and talking to press. It helps with getting upvotes on Hacker News. It helps on raising money."
gojomo 16y ago
Has Rapportive said whether they raised this money as convertible debt or set a valuation? With a close that stretches "2 to 3 months", is there any practical difference in treatment between the first-dollars-in and last-dollars-in? (For example, does convertible debt interest begin at different dates?)
- jedc 16y ago
  I'm guessing they raised convertible debt with a valuation cap. One of the founders had an interesting post here: http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2010/05/05/valuation-caps-on-convertible-notes-explained-with-graphs/ http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2010/05/05/valuation-caps-on-...

3 ms·

Counterintuitive Stories From Rapportive’s (YC S10) Seed Funding

23 points by jedc 16y ago

jedc 16y ago
Well done to Rahul, Martin and Sam! Really interesting details around the timings of launching a demo, getting funded, and seeing competitors (even within YC) pivot. I love these lines in particular: "But rather than write him fan mail, they used their own product as bait, portraying McClure as the example user of their original web site. “We plastered his face all over, and then people kept asking him, ‘These Rapportive guys, are they your company?’” After McClure got that question more than once, he was intrigued enough to follow up and commit to investing, and then made copious intros for the rest of the round."
- nzmsv 16y ago
  This is an interesting hack. I think most of us hold an implicit assumption that privacy is always good. So many hackers would never even consider doing something like that. I probably wouldn't. But this outcome shows that it pays to question assumptions, even (especially) your own.
seiji 16y ago
It's good to see people treating YC as a business transaction instead of pouring their self worth into the prospects of getting in: "The value is incredible — it’s a very strong brand. it helps when trying to recruit and talking to press. It helps with getting upvotes on Hacker News. It helps on raising money."
gojomo 16y ago
Has Rapportive said whether they raised this money as convertible debt or set a valuation? With a close that stretches "2 to 3 months", is there any practical difference in treatment between the first-dollars-in and last-dollars-in? (For example, does convertible debt interest begin at different dates?)
- jedc 16y ago
  I'm guessing they raised convertible debt with a valuation cap. One of the founders had an interesting post here: http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2010/05/05/valuation-caps-on-convertible-notes-explained-with-graphs/ http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2010/05/05/valuation-caps-on-...