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I agree with your point. And I'm not saying it's the fault of YC. The reality tho as you probably know is that YC companies go out seeking higher valuations tha

I agree with your point. And I'm not saying it's the fault of YC. The reality tho as you probably know is that YC companies go out seeking higher valuations than the norm. Those may be justified or not, and as you say often times that is driven by investor interest, but unfortunately "blindly" based on the fact that it's a YC company. What I'm saying is that 80+ companies a batch raising at high vals is unsustainable.

jasonshen 14y ago
If you don't think it's the fault of YC then don't write things that suggest YC "demands" that each (aka all) of their companies raise at $10m. This is a hyperbolic talk that's not grounded at all in reality and unfairly hurts YC's reputation. Additionally, unless can read the minds of all these investors, you have no right in using the word "blindly" either. Are you saying that a huge number of otherwise really smart people are somehow being "tricked" into investing in YC companies just because of the brand? Are you willing to give a call to all your investor friends who have YC companies in their portfolio and tell them they have just "blindly" overpaid for that company.
- stefanobernardi 14y ago
  Jason, seems you've taken this personally. I apologize if I offended you or other YC companies in any way. That was not the intention, but may be picked up from the post. I'm not saying that every investor that invested in YC companies did so blindly, I'm saying that it's not normal that every startup that comes out of YC has these high valuations, and that is unsustainable for the ecosystem. Often times investor demand picks up based on the brand and that drives up the valuation, while some other really awesome companies don't get the deserved attention just because they don't have the brand. Those could be big winners and are also cheaper. I'm not saying that investors that invest in YC cos are tricked and that they're not smart. They try to lower their risk basing on the fact that PG vetted and formed those companies, which is completely understandable. Again, sorry if you were offended. Would love to debate more if you want, I'm pretty easy to get a hold of.
  - jasonshen 14y ago
    I'm not offended or really looking to debate. Since you posted this on Hacker News, I wanted readers to know about the article's inaccuracies about YC's stance on valuations and the hyperbole of your statements regarding why investors choose YC companies. Your comments here are much more reasonable than the actual post, which unfortunately still contains the issues I wrote about initially.

jasonshen 14y ago

If you don't think it's the fault of YC then don't write things that suggest YC "demands" that each (aka all) of their companies raise at $10m. This is a hyperbolic talk that's not grounded at all in reality and unfairly hurts YC's reputation. Additionally, unless can read the minds of all these investors, you have no right in using the word "blindly" either. Are you saying that a huge number of otherwise really smart people are somehow being "tricked" into investing in YC companies just because of the brand? Are you willing to give a call to all your investor friends who have YC companies in their portfolio and tell them they have just "blindly" overpaid for that company.

stefanobernardi 14y ago
Jason, seems you've taken this personally. I apologize if I offended you or other YC companies in any way. That was not the intention, but may be picked up from the post. I'm not saying that every investor that invested in YC companies did so blindly, I'm saying that it's not normal that every startup that comes out of YC has these high valuations, and that is unsustainable for the ecosystem. Often times investor demand picks up based on the brand and that drives up the valuation, while some other really awesome companies don't get the deserved attention just because they don't have the brand. Those could be big winners and are also cheaper. I'm not saying that investors that invest in YC cos are tricked and that they're not smart. They try to lower their risk basing on the fact that PG vetted and formed those companies, which is completely understandable. Again, sorry if you were offended. Would love to debate more if you want, I'm pretty easy to get a hold of.
- jasonshen 14y ago
  I'm not offended or really looking to debate. Since you posted this on Hacker News, I wanted readers to know about the article's inaccuracies about YC's stance on valuations and the hyperbole of your statements regarding why investors choose YC companies. Your comments here are much more reasonable than the actual post, which unfortunately still contains the issues I wrote about initially.