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YC Graveyard: 821 inactive Y Combinator startups
- shlomo_z 2y agoSomething is blocking the UI (loading the images?) but cool site!
- thecleaner 2y agoWth. Blume benefits sounds like a really useful thing ? Wonder what happened.
- smt88 2y agoA) If being useful were enough to make a product successful, we'd still have Google Reader B) We have no way of knowing how well Blume's product actually worked C) Health insurance is heavily regulated, which means it's not a great target market for AI
- Eikon 2y ago> A) If being useful were enough to make a product successful, we'd still have Google Reader Yeah bad example, Google Reader was extremely successful, so much so that it’s demise was enough for _many_ companies to be very financially successful by taking Reader’s customers.
- muzani 2y agoGenerally the ones that don't sound useful do better. Why Stripe? Why Airbnb? Why Twitter? There's less competition and winner takes all.
- riffraff 2y agoHow do stripe and Airbnb not sound useful? "Need to get paid" and "find accomodation" are among the oldest business models on the internet.
- adastra22 2y agoThere were plenty of ways to get paid on the internet before stripe. On paper it didn’t look like they were doing anything new. They just did it better. Airbnb… idk. Who wants to rent their house out to total strangers? I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t have thought it would take off like it did.
- jjcob 2y agoAirbnb is mostly commercial listings that are basically unlicensed hotel rooms / appartments. I don't think people renting out their personal living spaces is a big part of their income. It's just a story they use to get around regulations.
- KingMob 2y agoThat's true now, but not when they first took off.
- adastra22 2y agoNone of that existed when they first started. The pitch was to rent out your house while you're out of town.
- Lionga 2y agoBut they only got big when the commercial "hotels" came on and saw they could "work around" laws like that.
- eddiewithzato 2y agoTarget audience is very niche
- thecleaner 2y agoHmm. Charge high, better profit margins. To me that sounds exactly like the sort of thing a startup should do. Maybe my instincts are off.
- nikolayasdf123 2y agohow many YC startups are there? wiki says 4K, so 821/4K = 20%. not too bad. I expected much worse.
- smt88 2y agoIt's certainly much worse. It's often difficult to tell when a company is dead unless they announce it. Many other failures (likely most of YC's portfolio) will have died by being acquired for less than the most recent valuation, meaning YC lost money on the deal. These sometimes look like successful exits unless you know the details.
- xmprt 2y agoAlso, it's not counting many of the startups from the last few years which haven't had enough time to fail. If the denominator is the total number of exits then it's probably much lower than 4k.
- muzani 2y agoCompanies also almost never announce their death. Startups go to die quietly. Paul Graham says the best indicator is they don't reply to emails, but this is usually something that's not very visible. https://www.paulgraham.com/die.html https://www.paulgraham.com/die.html
- nradov 2y agoThat's one signal, but it's surprising how many established companies that appear to still be going concerns also don't reply to emails even when I literally ask about buying something. And I'm not talking about my own little consumer purchases, I mean emails from my work account to vendors with the potential for significant ongoing revenue. Strange.
- threeseed 2y ago> will have died by being acquired for less than the most recent valuation, meaning YC lost money on the deal Does YC really lose money on all acquihires ? Because it seems like most of the batches look to be purpose built for it.
- sebmellen 2y agoI personally know the founders of three YC startups that are functionally dead (raised capital, not developing anything, basically laid off everyone but the founder(s)) but are not on this list. I'd bet it's at least twice that number.
- choppaface 2y agoNeed to also consider the ones that had a qualified exit event and then the product got axed (e.g. aquihire or just customer acquisition). It’s a very different graveyard but in many cases has similar impact on the non-Founders (especially the IC SWEs).
- satvikpendem 2y agoI'm curious, what do ex-founders generally do after their startup is dead? For me I just got a job after my first few ones died, until I was able to succeed at my current ones, but I'm sure many might just continue working a job indefinitely.
- noduerme 2y agoI don't think a lot of founders actually write code, but I did, I just realized my startup was probably going to be illegal soon and also that it wasn't going to get the funding it needed. I just kept writing code for whoever wanted to pay. It's fairly lucrative. Looking back, maybe I should have just done the illegal thing and gotten pardoned.
- kiney 2y agonow I'm curious about the illegal thing
- CamelCaseName 2y agoSeems like Bitcoin casino (from bio)
- mgraupner 2y agoThere was a similar project a few months ago that tracked changes/pivots/shutdowns in startups. It was a very light site, unfortunately I lost the bookmark or forgot to bookmark it. Can anyone help me here?
- mgraupner 2y agoHa, I finally found it myself: http://pivots.fyi http://pivots.fyi
- moontear 2y agoAnd all inventory of the defunct startups goes here: https://svdisposition.com/auctions https://svdisposition.com/auctions
- nathancahill 2y agoFilestack YCS12 is a mistake, it's very active.
- Ozzie_osman 2y agoSame for Tandem
- bithavoc 2y agothere’s one in ‘19 and a new one in ‘24, which Tandem are you referring to? I just checked and the one listed in this page is YC’19 it looks zombie-ish, both founders moved on quietly according to LinkedIn
- andygcook 2y agoFilestack was acquired by Scaleworks: https://www.scaleworks.com/companies https://www.scaleworks.com/companies It’s not really dead, but not really a “startup” in the traditional sense anymore either.
- riffraff 2y agoSince you probably already have this information, it would be interesting to have the "death date", with a link to the announcement or however you gathered the information.
- vector_spaces 2y agoThere's not really such a thing as a concrete "date of death" in many cases, and very rarely will there be a public one -- I'm familiar with a few names on this list that never actually made a formal public announcement and kept the website running for months to well over a year after everyone was laid off The methodology of the aggregator might have been as simple as "ping every YC company's listed website, check the response" with some light hand curation, which suggests that the number presented is just a lower bound on the number of dead YC startups
- n2d4 2y agoThe methodology is just this list filtered for companies tagged "Inactive": https://www.ycombinator.com/companies https://www.ycombinator.com/companies
- SALCKIN 2y agoReply
- mattlondon 2y ago> Better to have launched and lost than never to have launched at all ...yet when Google does this, people are up in arms and insist they should run their products forever, even if they have no product market fit.
- roenxi 2y agoThat is different. Google get heat because they have poor management flailing on a huge budget when they have more important things to be working on. These startups are flailing with poor management, but the blast radius is small because of their limited resources and nobody has a better idea for what they should have been working on. And flailing startup management is expected in a way that Google has no excuse for.
- jsemrau 2y agoGoogle launches, people start using it, and then they just turn it off.
- DonHopkins 2y agoSometimes customers just can't grasp simple concepts, and people are morons who don't understand how really great Google products are. /s A Pissed Off Tutorial For Google Wave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z4RKRLaSug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z4RKRLaSug In the long term, Google's better off focusing their efforts optimizing the AI and UI behind their "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.
- ekianjo 2y agoIs YC better than other incubators, percentage wise?
- threeseed 2y agoI would imagine so. a) Almost all of the other incubators are just awful. Either they are predatory, ineptly managed or simply not well capitalised enough to offer a competitive product. b) YC is able to rest on its laurels i.e. they can/do market how well AirBnb, Stripe etc have done. And so their funnel of talent is by far the best. c) That said, YC is the worst I've ever seen it. And Garry Tan is mostly to blame although it's been trending downwards for a while. It's now as if Jake Paul ran an incubator: very hype driven, cynical, focused on easily exploitable young 20s males.
- Lionga 2y agoYC has probably become worse then most of the other (really bad) incubators Started with Sam now with Garry Tan it is really going in the gutter.
- bobxmax 2y agoHow, exactly?
- bobxmax 2y agoWorst based on what, exactly?
- threeseed 2y agoIf you look at the batch data [1] it is very clear that there is either an investment thesis or some inherent bias in how they choose startups. Since Garry Tan took over it is now heavily favoured towards (a) SF based, (b) young, (c) AI centric. And if you look at the partner YouTube videos you see why. There is a concerning lack of diversity in how they see the world i.e. they are all very much the e/acc types. [1] https://www.walturn.com/insights/in-depth-analysis-trends-in-y-combinators-winter-2024-batch-and-historical-comparison https://www.walturn.com/insights/in-depth-analysis-trends-in...
- ttoinou 2y agoWhere does the money go ? Especially for startups dead 6 months after investing
- jjcob 2y agoSalaries and rent, probably.
- LightBug1 2y agoHookers and blow.
- DonHopkins 2y ago1980 called and said they're now selling OnlyFans subscriptions and ketamine.
- threeseed 2y agoYC and an average Seed round only gives you enough money for a small team for 18 months. Anyone who is half-decent is going to be expensive.
- bodegajed 2y agoIs it common for landlords to invest in YC companies?
- bodegajed 2y agoTo other YC companies via premium subscriptions
- toomuchtodo 2y agoAll about capital recycling and consolidation within the ecosystem.
- ipsum2 2y agoMany founders realize its not for them, and return the remaining money.
- robocat 2y agoI'm onehundertpercent pissed off with YC: * The modal win for a founder is $0.00 * PG makes big talk about winner's average returns... Yayyyyy..... However YC gets preferential shares; YC is not aligned with the common shareholders (founders; builders). YC builds a story that they support creators however YC doesn't sit on the same table-side as creators. * I actually believe YC is worthwhile, but I wonder if Ize just been brainwashed? (reëdited for clarity)
- aswegs8 2y agoWelcome to capitalism. Of course there is an asymmetry between individual founders and one of the, if not the most famous VC firm on the planet. It's an individual decision to determine whether YC is worthwhile. If it wouldn't be, it wouldn't work.
- AbstractH24 2y agoIs it still? Or was that true 10 years ago. Not sure if I’ve changed or the landscape has.
- rchaud 2y agoSilicon Valley is not capitalism, it's financier-ism. It isn't about finding a gap in the market and providing a profitable service, but bandwagoning behind the latest trends so as to chase "scalability" and later using financial/political muscle to weaken regulations so as to better "disrupt" the market. Profits? That's a problem for whoever they manage to dump their shares on.
- saulpw 2y agoWhat do you think capitalism is, if not that? "Those with capital use their money to make the rules so they make more money." Many people think capitalism is simply a market economy. It's not. You can have a market economy without "capital" (investors) having special privileges that make all the money flow to them.
- immibis 2y ago
- ExxKA 2y agoIt was interesting to dig through and consider if it was the idea, the timing or the execution that lead to the failure.
- ExxKA 2y agoWould it be possible add an "expand all" option? I am searching through them with ctrl+f, to figure out which of them are similar to other ideas that are being considered today :D
- rufasterisco 2y agoconst divs = document.querySelectorAll('button.h-full'); divs.forEach(div => { div.click(); // Trigger a click on the div });
- jll29 2y agoThere are not just startups that become unicorns and startups that fold. Investors' worst nightmare is if you just make enough money to keep going, but you don't grow ("lifestyle business" as they use it is a derogatory term). That's because they prefer a sudden death where they can write down the investment and deduct their loss from taxes than an investment where they never see any money again. And then there are "acquisitions" that are really "acui-hires" dressed up as acquisitions to get the people (more common) or to buy an asset in a limited shell package (less common) after things did/may have (but people were to tempted to take the offer) or did not pan/panned out. Some people consider anything <$50m as a "failure", because that's roughly the sum that many corporations can spend without calling the bigshots for a board meeting to decide.
- jbverschoor 2y agoThat’s not what a lifestyle business is. Unless your lifestyle is eating ramen
- that_guy_iain 2y agoEnough money to keep going doesn't mean just enough money to cover the costs. It means being able to continue paying yourself and all your employees their salaries, meet costs and make a small minimum profit.
- normie3000 2y agoAren't salaries considered to be part of the costs?
- oefrha 2y agoEmployee salary is definitely cost. Founder/owner salary is more complicated.
- that_guy_iain 2y agoYea, I meant more pay all the other bills like AWS, etc. But yea, salaries are defo costs.
- mettamage 2y agoSo, question, how many YC startups have been successful? (broad strokes, let's say above 2x or break-even).
- newusertoday 2y agoif this app would have provided links to the startup it would be so much better even if they were defunct one could easily search more about them.
- nnurmanov 2y agoIf you didn’t become a unicorn, but have a steady income, is it possible to buy out equity?
- hobs 2y agoUsually it doesn't work out for these types of companies because its better for the VC to state losses bigger than you would be able to pay for on their tax bill.
- isuckatcoding 2y agoNow do a podcast series interviewing founders on what went wrong
- nunez 2y agoThere's a brewery owner named Kelly Meyer who does this for breweries. It's extremely educational. One for startups would be an awesome listen
- zenyc 2y agoI love seeing the 'YC Graveyard' project. It’s a great reminder of the incredible ideas and effort behind each startup, even if things didn’t pan out. We’ve been working on giving some of these inactive startups a second chance by acquiring them and exploring ways to repurpose or revive their tech. If anyone’s been involved with an inactive YC project and wants to chat about what’s possible, I’d love to connect.
- ungreased0675 2y agoI’d love to read more about this. Looking through the list, my reaction to some was “of course that OpenAI wrapper failed” but others sounded compelling. It’s logical that some of those failed companies have a viable product but failed for other reasons. Maybe combining the IP of similar companies could breed a winner. It’s an interesting concept and I’m curious if it works.
- zoogeny 2y agoSometimes the right idea is tried at the wrong time. It is a decent idea to at least keep an eye on these.
- Havoc 2y agoI'd be more interested to see the stats over time. I get the sense that YC used to be a lot more selective in a time gone by
- sexy_seedbox 2y agoThe list is missing stock trading platform Cera. These clowns were absolute scammers with a buggy app and zero customer support.
- DonHopkins 2y ago"Cera: Invest with Stablecoins" -- with that elevator pitch, how could they possibly NOT be clowns and absolute scammers and incompetent software developers who hold their customers in contempt? And how could YC possibly be fooled by that, unless they were maliciously and unethically intending to make money by financing fraud? I hope the leopards ate their faces off and peed on their couch. Another example of objectively obvious fraud that is on the graveyard list is "NFTScoring". Yeah, just what kind of people aspire to tell other people which NFTs to buy (professional shills and get-rich-quick ponzi pyramid scheme scammers, that's who), and what kind of people knowingly invest in them, or recommend them after performing due shilligence?
- rubenvanwyk 2y agoWhy do you say were? The site still seems active?
- sexy_seedbox 2y agoFounder sent out service shutdown email back on December 30, 2024. I guess they're too lazy to update their website.
- ddon 2y agoGoogle spreadsheet version of this, may be somebody needs. Also, it has more data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iIu8JATRDfJ91PS_rscS8oLwt-A3UjylFsZdWXtY8oU/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iIu8JATRDfJ91PS_rscS...
- cushychicken 2y agoScrolling through this quickly, I notice that I have not heard of a single one of these companies. I’m not sure I can assign any meaning to that. Just my immediate observation.
- baxtr 2y ago821 out of how many in total?
- dangoodmanUT 2y agothis is not actually an accurate list
- joshdavham 2y agoPerhaps my math is off, but I thought there would’ve been more? YC has often talked about how the average YC startup ‘dies’ and yet I’m sure they’ve funded at least double the number of startups on this list. Is ‘dying’ also synonymous with ended up becoming a ‘lifestyle business’? Clarity would be appreciated on this!
- joshdavham 2y agoIf anyone’s interested, here’s a relevant video that goes a little deeper into the details of some failed YC startups: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rSY2sUPTDDc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rSY2sUPTDDc
- NetOpWibby 2y agoAnd yet they’ve rejected my startup ideas several times. (:
- intelVISA 2y agoIf you need to put your mind at rest change the words around and have a Stanford alum send it next time.
- NetOpWibby 2y agoLMAO thank you
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- nextworddev 2y agoOnly 821?
- iandanforth 2y agoWhile this is interesting it would be more trustworthy if, when you clicked a name, it showed you evidence for why the site thinks they are inactive. A founder quote, a date, a news story, something. Right now, aside from the title, it's no different from a list of active YC companies.
- atentaten 2y agoWhat does it mean to be inactive? I see Pigeonly (W15) on the list, but they are still active as far as their website is concerned.
- keiehwbdidjdhd 2y agoWhat’s the method used here? “Finary” website still looks pretty good
- zdenham 2y agoDamn my dead YC startup didn’t even make it into the graveyard
- jarsin 2y agoAny companies in here where AI would have potentially changed the outcome?
- iceman_w 2y agoI've also been tracking the 'path to graveyard' for the startups from the last 3 years here https://pivots.fyi/ https://pivots.fyi/
- zi_ 2y agothis is very interesting! though i noticed some outdated info for most companies (last updated >2 months ago).
- cudgy 2y ago“Better to have launched and lost than never to have launched at all” Spoken like someone that uses other people‘s money. I think the statement would be different if it was their own money being lost for the startup or interest rates weren’t 0%.
- achierius 2y agoYeah, that's the point. Frankly, why do you care so much about rich people (who know full well the risks, and generally come out ahead regardless) losing their investment in one of their many portfolio startups? There are so many mechanisms to ensure that investors are made whole whenever possible.
- nkotov 2y agoMy company is on the list (S20). Several founders from my batch did really amazing stuff (Supabase, ZIP), others got acqu-hired. It's pretty interesting how the paths have developed over the years. I am still very bullish on YC. If you have a startup and have an opportunity with an interview / ability to attend the batch, you should definitely do it.
- dameyawn 2y agoLooks like the site is down. : (