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I think you're right, but I don't think the breakdown is as drastic as 99%. Traction is most important by a wide margin, because it proves that you're doing som

I think you're right, but I don't think the breakdown is as drastic as 99%. Traction is most important by a wide margin, because it proves that you're doing something right. This is a capitalist society where the market dictates what succeeds, and if the market dictates you're succeeding, then you're a hot commodity. As far as YC goes, most HAVE traction by Demo Day, significantly so. It's not like these companies have an early beta with 20 users and are raising on a name. Most of the time they achieve early traction from a combination of YCs guidance and the fact that if you get into YC, you're typically a pretty good entrepreneur and have a higher likelihood to succeed.

soneca 13y ago
I think you are right about YC. These teams usually do have traction.
badclient 13y ago
Not to mention traction is a very subjective thing, especially for b2b companies. And even after you get traction, the type of traction begins to matter. For example, you can go sign up 100 paid customers for your product in a week by contacting your Dad's rolodex. You may have see that as traction; most VCs are going to have major questions about how you'll get your next 1,000 customers and why you haven't proven any of those channels yet.