akharris

8 ms·

61.
by akharris 6y ago
Oh wow - didn't know this was on HN, so I'm guessing at least a few founders are shaking their heads at me and wondering why I'm not engaging with the commenters... I may have left YC, but HN is still home, so long as Daniel
62.
by akharris 6y ago
This is part of my point, founders don’t have to accept our deal even though we put it in writing ahead of time. It’s not the founders responsibility to make our business model work, it is their responsibility to build a great company. If w
63.
by akharris 6y ago
I don't agree that that's the prevailing wisdom at YC. As with any other broadly stated piece of advice, the specifics matter. I think about this in this way: https://blog.ycombinator.com/shutting-down/ .
64.
by akharris 6y ago
A response in two parts: 1) I spend more time with founders who have yet to succeed or who have failed than with founders who succeed. This is true of many early stage investors. The advice here is built off watching both groups. 2) I gener
65.
by akharris 6y ago
Always enjoy our debates. I think we're mostly on the same page here. I'm less concerned with companies that raise 18-24 months of runway than the ones who are coming out of seed rounds with 36 months or more. I think balance is c
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by akharris 6y ago
Each endeavor you undertake will have different hurdles for how to define worthwhile progress. You need to evaluate what you're doing against a the right framework. To use your example - if you're writing a book as your full time
67.
by akharris 6y ago
Thanks - at any given round, dilution is driven by how much money the founder agrees to take. No outside party can force a founder to take dilution, it takes an agreement on both sides. While VC ownership targets are part of their business
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by akharris 7y ago
I've often thought about Einstein's thought experiments for this very reason. Why not think about rays of light as if you were traveling next to them in a train? It seems so simple, but no one else had asked that question before.
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by akharris 7y ago
"Reminds me of some Asimov" may be the single greatest compliment I've ever been paid. One of the things I love about Asimov's writing is the way in which he builds complex situations with simple building blocks. The Thr
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by akharris 7y ago
Have you found any effective ways to encourage new hires to ask questions?
71.
Asking Questions(aaronkharris.com)
93 points by akharris 7y ago|21 comments
72.
by akharris 7y ago
As with dating, you don't get what you want if you sit around at home hoping someone will find you.
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by akharris 7y ago
Will add it to the list for the future. Unfortunately, there's a required balance here between what makes sense for you and what makes sense for the investor.
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by akharris 7y ago
That's an interesting point. You're right that, for hard tech deals, the non-partners are often the relied upon experts. To refine this point a bit - I don't think it's a bad idea to spend time with non-partners, but the
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by akharris 7y ago
And we had the good fortune to work with the two of you. I learned, and continue to learn, quite a lot watching you build Pachyderm!
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by akharris 7y ago
Thank you! A well laid out, single page version is high on our list. We simply didn't have a chance to put it together yet, but are working on it. Stay tuned.
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by akharris 7y ago
A few of us have written on this in the past, though we haven't written a specific guide for it.
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by akharris 7y ago
Good question - the non-CEO founders should have a chance to meet the VC, but that usually happens as a final step to confirm that there's no terrible interactions. For what it's worth, I haven't personally seen this dynamic
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by akharris 7y ago
This is interesting. While I haven't seen any data to suggest this is a generalizable rule, we certainly do see rounds happen for companies that have no revenue. However, most of the rounds we've seen do have revenue (ex-"har
80.
by akharris 7y ago
These are certainly realistic, and happen quite often during and after demo day. Fwiw - series A valuations around the world certainly vary, but it is rare to see an A done in the $4-10m range, at least for companies that we've funded.
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by akharris 7y ago
Thanks! That means a lot. And yeah, biotech is an important focus for us. Jared and Uri have been incredible at building that program and our knowledge.
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by akharris 7y ago
We started YC’s Series A Program two years ago to fix a problem faced by every startup raising an A: VCs understand how Series As work and founders do not. This asymmetry of information puts founders at a significant disadvantage. Much as Y
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YC’s new guide to raising a Series A(blog.ycombinator.com)
393 points by akharris 7y ago|51 comments
84.
by akharris 7y ago
To me, more capital is a good thing. If that creates competition which forces us to improve, that's even better. My point is that investors who hide their incentives by obfuscating that they have outside sources of funding are exhibiti
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“Angels” that aren’t actually angels, and the problems that poses(blog.ycombinator.com)
96 points by akharris 7y ago|34 comments
86.
by akharris 8y ago
It certainly does work both ways, but each player in a negotiation has a break point at which they walk away. You need to figure out what that is for you and for the other party. The issue with founders who over-optimize in fundraising is t
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by akharris 8y ago
What an odd way to respond to two people willing to take the risk to start a new thing. You can say something similarly flippant and derogatory about most every company at its start. - "Books online?! Feh!" - "Power from hydr
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Don't Over-Optimize Fundraising(blog.ycombinator.com)
86 points by akharris 8y ago|34 comments
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by akharris 8y ago
Interviewing in NYC has much less to do with testing the waters for a new location than simplifying the application process for a greater number of good founders.
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by akharris 8y ago
We're nearly always worried that we're past our prime, which is part of what drives us to try new things. Rather than become more risk averse, I've actually seen us take increasingly large risks in the five years since I&#x27

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