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If someone still has any doubts about the value of YC, they should read this email exchange. PG is pushing for the startup as if it was his own. He genuinely wa

If someone still has any doubts about the value of YC, they should read this email exchange. PG is pushing for the startup as if it was his own. He genuinely wanted them (and also the VC firm) to succeed. Great stuff.

thesis 16y ago
What? He was invested in them. Do you think he wants to see them crash and burn?
- luckystrike 16y ago
  You still really think he did all of that only because of YC's ~6% stake in them?
  - jfager 16y ago
    I'm not trying to take anything away from pg here, but "all of that" refers in this case to 7 emails with one VC. AirBnB has raised $7.8M (at, what, around a ~$40M valuation at the time? 6% of which would be over $2m). Is it really that incredible that someone would send a few emails for a shot at that kind of money?
    - mentat 16y ago
      He's risking his reputation if he's pushing a company that he's not confident in. The reputation is worth a lot too, probably mostly in reciprocal connections.
      - jfager 16y ago
        That's true, but he's also risking his reputation (and his paycheck) if he doesn't shop around for later stage investors for his companies. This kind of thing is his job, it's what Y Combinator exists to do. When one of his companies looks like it's going to be successful, he has to do this kind of stuff to actually get a return out of it. Which, again, isn't to denigrate him at all. He's obviously very good at what he does and deserves a lot of respect for it.
  - jacoblyles 16y ago
    6% is a large stake for an angel, and even bigger for a seed investor.
- kragen 16y ago
  Sometimes it can be advantageous for an investor to have a company crash and burn. If the company's main assets are likely to survive such an event without being destroyed, but be undervalued by people not familiar with the company, then an alert investor can buy those assets out of bankruptcy at a time when the people most invested in the company (founders, employees) have run out of money. More prosaically, if you can delay the company's getting to break-even, they'll need more rounds of investment, which mean you can buy more of the company. And then, of course, there are personal feuds. Remember what happened to Scout Electromedia? Their shutdown probably had as much to do with investors being pissed off about being ignored as with any actual rational assessment of their future prospects.
- pg 16y ago
  Actually I don't think I worried that the Airbnbs weren't going to be able to raise money. They were one of the top startups in their batch, and the top startups always manage to raise money. The reason I nagged Fred so persistently was that I thought he'd be a good match for them and I was annoyed that I couldn't convince him.

thesis 16y ago

What? He was invested in them. Do you think he wants to see them crash and burn?

luckystrike 16y ago
You still really think he did all of that only because of YC's ~6% stake in them?
- jfager 16y ago
  I'm not trying to take anything away from pg here, but "all of that" refers in this case to 7 emails with one VC. AirBnB has raised $7.8M (at, what, around a ~$40M valuation at the time? 6% of which would be over $2m). Is it really that incredible that someone would send a few emails for a shot at that kind of money?
  - mentat 16y ago
    He's risking his reputation if he's pushing a company that he's not confident in. The reputation is worth a lot too, probably mostly in reciprocal connections.
    - jfager 16y ago
      That's true, but he's also risking his reputation (and his paycheck) if he doesn't shop around for later stage investors for his companies. This kind of thing is his job, it's what Y Combinator exists to do. When one of his companies looks like it's going to be successful, he has to do this kind of stuff to actually get a return out of it. Which, again, isn't to denigrate him at all. He's obviously very good at what he does and deserves a lot of respect for it.
- jacoblyles 16y ago
  6% is a large stake for an angel, and even bigger for a seed investor.
kragen 16y ago
Sometimes it can be advantageous for an investor to have a company crash and burn. If the company's main assets are likely to survive such an event without being destroyed, but be undervalued by people not familiar with the company, then an alert investor can buy those assets out of bankruptcy at a time when the people most invested in the company (founders, employees) have run out of money. More prosaically, if you can delay the company's getting to break-even, they'll need more rounds of investment, which mean you can buy more of the company. And then, of course, there are personal feuds. Remember what happened to Scout Electromedia? Their shutdown probably had as much to do with investors being pissed off about being ignored as with any actual rational assessment of their future prospects.
pg 16y ago
Actually I don't think I worried that the Airbnbs weren't going to be able to raise money. They were one of the top startups in their batch, and the top startups always manage to raise money. The reason I nagged Fred so persistently was that I thought he'd be a good match for them and I was annoyed that I couldn't convince him.