3 ms·

how many YC startups are there? wiki says 4K, so 821/4K = 20%. not too bad. I expected much worse.

smt88 2y ago
It'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 ago
  Also, 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 ago
  Companies 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 ago
    That'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.
  - withinboredom 2y ago
    I'm sure they build the investing deal where they get all the money and the founders get a token amount.
fakedang 2y ago
Most YC companies are zombies. There are a lot of 3-5 person startups still "active", some of them since a decade ago.
- adastra22 2y ago
  What’s going on there? Are they profitable but just not scaling, or taking no salary?
  - cutemonster 2y ago
    Zombie mode: "Others are stuck in “zombie” mode — surviving but unable to grow. They can muddle along like that for years, investors said, but will most likely struggle to raise more money." https://archive.is/HNJoo https://archive.is/HNJoo "From Unicorns to Zombies: Tech Startups Run Out of Time and Money" Discussed at HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38554608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38554608 (I also wondered what it was)
  - _dabs 2y ago
    My uncle has had his startup kickstart with investors money and then paid them back. Now he is slowly growing but not expanding the company only the assets. I wouldnt call this dead. Its just sometimes you hit a ceiling for expansion

It'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 ago
Also, 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 ago
Companies 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 ago
  That'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.
- withinboredom 2y ago
  I'm sure they build the investing deal where they get all the money and the founders get a token amount.

fakedang 2y ago

Most YC companies are zombies. There are a lot of 3-5 person startups still "active", some of them since a decade ago.

adastra22 2y ago
What’s going on there? Are they profitable but just not scaling, or taking no salary?
- cutemonster 2y ago
  Zombie mode: "Others are stuck in “zombie” mode — surviving but unable to grow. They can muddle along like that for years, investors said, but will most likely struggle to raise more money." https://archive.is/HNJoo https://archive.is/HNJoo "From Unicorns to Zombies: Tech Startups Run Out of Time and Money" Discussed at HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38554608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38554608 (I also wondered what it was)
- _dabs 2y ago
  My uncle has had his startup kickstart with investors money and then paid them back. Now he is slowly growing but not expanding the company only the assets. I wouldnt call this dead. Its just sometimes you hit a ceiling for expansion