> but the best returns that business angels, VCs and YC have had is in the order of magnitude of 10000x Aren't those equity returns? i.e. when you sell (your s

> but the best returns that business angels, VCs and YC have had is in the order of magnitude of 10000x Aren't those equity returns? i.e. when you sell (your shares of) the company to the public... the reason people still value the company is discounted future returns. So if you want to generate such returns with cash (i.e. profit) it can take quite a bit longer.