4 ms·

Is this the first step towards a YC IPO?

• ntoshev 18y ago
  It is not really clear how is it structured, but it seems that Sequoia will own equity in the new startups funded by the YC-managed fund. In this way YC or that new fund won't need an exit strategy.
• ajju 18y ago
  Venture capital funds (which is what YC is very very roughly) don't do IPOs because a public company has to produce returns every quarter with some degree of regularity and VC returns are always very very skewed. I can bet YC will never do an IPO. More importantly, you typically do an IPO to raise money for your operations. VC funds raise money from private investors. So it doesn't usually make sense for VC funds to do an IPO.
  • gcheong 18y ago
    It's not something they would rush into for the reasons you point to, but it's not unheard of (e.g Harris and Harris), and if the goal of YC is to maximize the number of companies they can fund then an IPO may make sense at some point.
• pg 18y ago
  No! Companies like YC don't go public, and even if it were an option, I wouldn't want to do it.
  • mattmaroon 18y ago
    Anymore I'm always skeptical of anyone that would. People now think "if they're doing so well, why would they want to IPO?" Seems like a tremendous bad beat for investors.