exw

10 ms·

31.
by exw 11y ago
Yes, this is exactly what the issue is. (I have worked on these types of deals before). All of these types of media deals stipulate that the licensee has to implement appropriate technologies (often spelled out on the contract) that support
32.
by exw 11y ago
Part of the excitement around Theranos was that their finger prick approach opened up blood diagnostic technologies to situations (e.g., combat) and countries where it is difficult to get access to trained phlebotomists.
33.
by exw 11y ago
That is a great question - my guess is that they will just revert to the standard YC Core terms, given that YC states in their Fellowship terms that they are hoping that Fellowship companies will then also go through the YC core program. Pu
34.
by exw 11y ago
> But how might subsequent investors feel about YC getting the same fixed percentage of a IPO'ing Series B vs. Series E stage company? Could this possibly complicate funding down the line? Is it "too good" of a deal for YC
35.
by exw 11y ago
Both of these businesses have what are called supply-side network effects ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect ), which are not as strong as demand-side effects, but can still lead to dominant market positions.
36.
by exw 11y ago
Exactly, and this is especially true for companies that are disrupting existing players by being more efficient (e.g., I would expect more travelers to turn to AirBnB during a recession as a cheaper alternative to a hotel, even if overall t
37.
by exw 11y ago
<< There was one smart senior engineer there that had put options as insurance against all his shares.>> Not sure what the rules were at that time, but most public companies restrict you today from owning any derivatives in thei
38.
by exw 11y ago
I don't think you are viewing this through the right lense. Valuations are a point in time vs. thinking about a company as a long-term investment - you should more think about which of these businesses has the best long-term potential
39.
by exw 11y ago
Google Ventures independent from Google (and goes through pains to point this out when you pitch them). While there is obviously a lot of synergy, Google Ventures employees are not Google employees, and do have not have Google stock options
40.
by exw 11y ago
<<I still think Uber has the right idea long-term with a completely autonomous fleet>> I agree that this is probably the end state of this space, but I think this is much more Google's than Uber's vision - Uber is terr
41.
by exw 11y ago
Twitter actually encourages / supports these types of accounts, as detailed here, where they describe a bot that responds to airfare requests and another one that shares information about school closures: https://support.twi
42.
by exw 11y ago
Because it is very difficult as an unknown individual to invest in any "real" startup vs the latest Uber/AirBnB clone on AngelList.
43.
by exw 11y ago
Even if they wanted to open source their system, it is likely is that they migrated their codebase to the Dropbox platform, and it would be difficult for them extricate their code. Most larger tech company (e.g., Google, Facebook, MSFT) hav
44.
by exw 11y ago
Seriously? You feel it is unfair that Google would talent acquire a company with a founder that revolutionized virtualization and dismiss this with an implication that she was acquired because she knew "the right people" (and you
45.
by exw 11y ago
Great article by Bill Gurley that explains some of the factors that drive revenue multiples: http://abovethecrowd.com/2011/05/24/all-revenue-is-not-creat...
46.
by exw 11y ago
It depends on the state of the company. In the beginning, the share price between common (employee) and preferred (investor) stock can be very significant (10x or more), but as the company gets closer to IPO, the value between common and pr
47.
by exw 11y ago
<<The question is why do we have the most talented people in a certain industry having to live in confined spaces while paying through the roof for it.>> I think you making a pretty broad leap here... This is entirely his choice
48.
by exw 11y ago
> Same thing with a Visa card didn't go very well I agree with the overall sentiment of your post, but unlike Amex, Visa does not issue credit cards, and relies on banks ("Issuing Banks") to deal with disputes. So if you h
49.
by exw 11y ago
> deal with (possible) lower fuel economy and performance, Not clear if these results will hold up, but CR ran some tests that seemed to indicate that running the car in "cheat mode" had a relatively small impact on performance
50.
by exw 11y ago
Agreed, that is the biggest challenge for them, and the First Data IPO (which is probably the best comp for them) has been challenging. OTOH Square is on pace to hit $1B revenue / year and growing quickly vs. anybody else in the proces
51.
by exw 11y ago
Good summary, but you are confusing First Data's role - First Data is a processor, not just a Gateway, and is actually the processor for BAMS, Wells Fargo, and many other banks. ( http://digitaltransactions.net/news&#x2F
52.
by exw 11y ago
> Doing some back of the envelope calculations I can't see any scale where they are profitable given their current fee structure. Here is a more optimistic analysis from Re/Code: http://recode.net/2015/10&#
53.
by exw 11y ago
Starbucks is broken out explicitly - Revenue for SBUX $123 million and it cost them $150 million to process, so they were losing $27 million / year on the Starbucks partnership. The rest of their business is quite different, so losing