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Yes. YC will not fund the company that will invent something new. They will fund a company that looks like it might be a good business and make money. These two
by nickbauman 12y ago
Yes. YC will not fund the company that will invent something new. They will fund a company that looks like it might be a good business and make money. These two things aren't inherently incompatible in theory. But we've seen time and time again in practice that they are. To invent new things you need Xerox Parc (the PC) or a big government program (the Internet). To make a lot of money off the inventions, you need Apple. The ecosystem needs both kinds of companies. Unfortunately (for the future of ideas) YC will select the latter type only.
- beambot 12y agoI don't think that's true... YC funds plenty of inventive companies (sometimes based on idea alone). Still, the onus is on the founders to articulate why they're the ones to pull it off and how their inventions could plausibly become billion dollar companies.
- nickbauman 12y agoCan you name an example?
- jamiequint 12y agoTwo hard-technology businesses YC has funded are Helion Energy and UPower.
- jl 12y agoBikanta, Ginko Bioworks, Helion, 20n, Farmlogs, uPower...
- nickbauman 12y agoStill, these are unusual, not the typical YC, no?
- prawn 12y agoThen don't say "YC will not fund the company that will invent something new." YC openly talks about how validating your idea and growing the business are big signals to them that you are worth the investment. But while that's the most common path, there are clearly alternatives. They are just giving advice on what might maximise your chances with them.