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I might be missing something - it’s early in the morning - but a VC at another investor says Demo Day isn’t that good, and Axios runs with a story saying as muc

I might be missing something - it’s early in the morning - but a VC at another investor says Demo Day isn’t that good, and Axios runs with a story saying as much? I think capital is plentiful for quality companies so there are certainly options out there. But from what I can see anecdotally, YC is, now as much as ever, a fantastic opportunity to gain visibility to high-quality investors.

version_five 5y ago
Isnt the story saying that the demo day itself is becoming less important, and deals are being signed before or outside of it? I didn't take it as disparaging YC, just that the "reveal" aspect of demo day has given way to a making deals on a one-on-one basis
- tptacek 5y ago
  That's... a pretty old story too, isn't it?
  - kweinber 5y ago
    It’s an old story that only the dregs are left over by demo day?
    - tptacek 5y ago
      It's an old story that a huge amount of fundraising is done around (and before) demo day. At least: that was very true 5 years ago.
ignoramous 5y ago
Pretty much. Immad Akhund (pg once claimed immad was the best at fundraising among all yc founders [0]) tweeted that the yc-batch valuations were at an all time high [1]. Y Combinator valuations are up from 1 year ago. Rest of seed market will prob follow. This YC batch: Pre-revenue in non hot market: ~$15m (was $8m) 2nd time founder and pre-traction: ~$20m (was $12m) $30k+/month/revenue or hot market: $25m+ (was $15m) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2006095 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2006095 [1] https://archive.is/GYIH0 https://archive.is/GYIH0
- mojuba 5y ago
  Just realized how no traction can be nicely repackaged as pre-traction. Language matters!
  - addandsubtract 5y ago
    Relevant Silicon Valley scene: https://youtu.be/BzAdXyPYKQo https://youtu.be/BzAdXyPYKQo
- new_realist 5y ago
  Valuations everywhere are at an all-time high. That doesn't mean YC is a better value than other VCs.
- mola 5y ago
  What do these valuations even mean? At most it means that money is dirt cheap now.

version_five 5y ago

Isnt the story saying that the demo day itself is becoming less important, and deals are being signed before or outside of it? I didn't take it as disparaging YC, just that the "reveal" aspect of demo day has given way to a making deals on a one-on-one basis

tptacek 5y ago
That's... a pretty old story too, isn't it?
- kweinber 5y ago
  It’s an old story that only the dregs are left over by demo day?
  - tptacek 5y ago
    It's an old story that a huge amount of fundraising is done around (and before) demo day. At least: that was very true 5 years ago.

ignoramous 5y ago

Pretty much. Immad Akhund (pg once claimed immad was the best at fundraising among all yc founders [0]) tweeted that the yc-batch valuations were at an all time high [1]. Y Combinator valuations are up from 1 year ago. Rest of seed market will prob follow. This YC batch: Pre-revenue in non hot market: ~$15m (was $8m) 2nd time founder and pre-traction: ~$20m (was $12m) $30k+/month/revenue or hot market: $25m+ (was $15m) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2006095 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2006095 [1] https://archive.is/GYIH0 https://archive.is/GYIH0

mojuba 5y ago
Just realized how no traction can be nicely repackaged as pre-traction. Language matters!
- addandsubtract 5y ago
  Relevant Silicon Valley scene: https://youtu.be/BzAdXyPYKQo https://youtu.be/BzAdXyPYKQo
new_realist 5y ago
Valuations everywhere are at an all-time high. That doesn't mean YC is a better value than other VCs.
mola 5y ago
What do these valuations even mean? At most it means that money is dirt cheap now.