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We aimed to cover different sizes of business, industries, raising funds, etc. as our audience is quite broad.

gkoberger 6y ago
Why call it "Biggest Y Combinator Failed Startups," and just randomly pick on some very small companies that weren't even contacted for their side of the story? Like, what could anyone learn about from what you wrote about, for example, the vegan milk startup? You just picked on a random small company, and then said generic stuff about "economies of scale". I love hearing about failures (and am happy to talk about my own!), but there's a difference between exploring what went wrong, and "punching down". Now when you Google their names, "Biggest Y Combinator Failed Startups" will be the result. Unfair.
bshanks 6y ago
I agree with gkoberger, you're not considering the impact on individuals for whom a Google search of their name may in the future come up with "Biggest Y Combinator Failed Startups". At least take the founder names out of the section at the end dealing with the random smaller failures.
- lawtalkinghuman 6y ago
  One of the companies on the list took consumer crowdfunding money from IndieGoGo and failed to deliver, and said IndieGoGo buyers "eventually stopped receiving communication" from the company. But one shouldn't mention the names of the founders because future crowdfunders being able to look them up for the purpose of due diligence and deciding whether to invest their hard-earned dollars in their next venture would be unethical. (I'd imagine both the law on, and attitudes to, online privacy would be in a much different place if people in Silicon Valley exercised the same level of empathy for all those pesky end users as they always find in droves for the saintly and well-intentioned startup founders.)
  - bshanks 6y ago
    This applies to only 1 of the 5 companies named in the "Other Failed YC Startups" section. What about the founders of the other 4 companies there?
    - lawtalkinghuman 6y ago
      Presumably, since failing in Silicon Valley is widely seen as a good thing, this should be seen as a step on the path to enlightenment.
      - bshanks 6y ago
        Some of the people who will view the post will think that. Others will not.

Why call it "Biggest Y Combinator Failed Startups," and just randomly pick on some very small companies that weren't even contacted for their side of the story? Like, what could anyone learn about from what you wrote about, for example, the vegan milk startup? You just picked on a random small company, and then said generic stuff about "economies of scale". I love hearing about failures (and am happy to talk about my own!), but there's a difference between exploring what went wrong, and "punching down". Now when you Google their names, "Biggest Y Combinator Failed Startups" will be the result. Unfair.

bshanks 6y ago

I agree with gkoberger, you're not considering the impact on individuals for whom a Google search of their name may in the future come up with "Biggest Y Combinator Failed Startups". At least take the founder names out of the section at the end dealing with the random smaller failures.

lawtalkinghuman 6y ago
One of the companies on the list took consumer crowdfunding money from IndieGoGo and failed to deliver, and said IndieGoGo buyers "eventually stopped receiving communication" from the company. But one shouldn't mention the names of the founders because future crowdfunders being able to look them up for the purpose of due diligence and deciding whether to invest their hard-earned dollars in their next venture would be unethical. (I'd imagine both the law on, and attitudes to, online privacy would be in a much different place if people in Silicon Valley exercised the same level of empathy for all those pesky end users as they always find in droves for the saintly and well-intentioned startup founders.)
- bshanks 6y ago
  This applies to only 1 of the 5 companies named in the "Other Failed YC Startups" section. What about the founders of the other 4 companies there?
  - lawtalkinghuman 6y ago
    Presumably, since failing in Silicon Valley is widely seen as a good thing, this should be seen as a step on the path to enlightenment.
    - bshanks 6y ago
      Some of the people who will view the post will think that. Others will not.