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"I thought the article was fairly straight forward until I got to the point you quoted. It's as if the attitude is that YC picks all the great startups and non-

"I thought the article was fairly straight forward until I got to the point you quoted. It's as if the attitude is that YC picks all the great startups and non-YC companies are second-rate throw aways that are destined to fail." Huh?! That's putting a lot of words into the author's mouth. These companies may or may not be great, but it's true that they are not vetted in any way other than they've heard of YC and took some time to fill out an app. I hope they all succeed, but it doesn't seem out of line to suggest that companies NOT accepted/interviewed by YC aren't inherently fundworthy when compared to those that are.

marcomonteiro 15y ago
I disagree, I didn't put words in the author's mouth. I didn't chose the questions or the framing. I also disagree, it is out of line to suggest that. Startups existed before YC. YC does not hold a monopoly on determining or ensuring success. Their "rejection" letter alludes to this fact. YC has a tremendous amount of experience and their intuition and insight I'm sure leads to better decisions regarding startups, but they're in no way infallible. I suppose my main point is that there are plenty of good companies that are fund worthy that don't get into YC for various reasons. One of those reasons being that YC doesn't have the time or resources to take them in. The YC model has been successful but there is still an underserved market here and that is why others are popping up, not that there is a bubble necessarily as the author suggests. There's no reason why angels wouldn't "invest in companies that are not vetted by Y Combinator?".
- allanscu 15y ago
  Yesterday, somebody put it best: Facebook, Microsfot, Apple, Groupon, etc were not funded by YC. Not a bad group to be a part of. =)
  - rmobin 15y ago
    Keep in mind that YC didn't exist when Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple were started. It's quite possible that the next wave of those companies will be part of YC or are already part of YC.
    - benologist 15y ago
      'Quite possible' is a pretty generous overstatement - almost 0% of startups go through YC and very, very, very close to 0% become giants.
    - abbasmehdi 15y ago
      I am not sure if it is me being quoted here but if it is this is what I said: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2431534 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2431534 The point is, granted that YC will improve your chances of success, just like being on american idol will help make you a success, but most stars next year will not be from american idol or from YC.

marcomonteiro 15y ago

I disagree, I didn't put words in the author's mouth. I didn't chose the questions or the framing. I also disagree, it is out of line to suggest that. Startups existed before YC. YC does not hold a monopoly on determining or ensuring success. Their "rejection" letter alludes to this fact. YC has a tremendous amount of experience and their intuition and insight I'm sure leads to better decisions regarding startups, but they're in no way infallible. I suppose my main point is that there are plenty of good companies that are fund worthy that don't get into YC for various reasons. One of those reasons being that YC doesn't have the time or resources to take them in. The YC model has been successful but there is still an underserved market here and that is why others are popping up, not that there is a bubble necessarily as the author suggests. There's no reason why angels wouldn't "invest in companies that are not vetted by Y Combinator?".

allanscu 15y ago
Yesterday, somebody put it best: Facebook, Microsfot, Apple, Groupon, etc were not funded by YC. Not a bad group to be a part of. =)
- rmobin 15y ago
  Keep in mind that YC didn't exist when Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple were started. It's quite possible that the next wave of those companies will be part of YC or are already part of YC.
  - benologist 15y ago
    'Quite possible' is a pretty generous overstatement - almost 0% of startups go through YC and very, very, very close to 0% become giants.
  - abbasmehdi 15y ago
    I am not sure if it is me being quoted here but if it is this is what I said: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2431534 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2431534 The point is, granted that YC will improve your chances of success, just like being on american idol will help make you a success, but most stars next year will not be from american idol or from YC.