you get more than just seed money being part of YC
It's not clear to me how much value that adds over, say, raising from a few reputable angels in the Valley.
As a non-alum, it looks like the YC applicant pool has become so competitive — on maturity, not ambition or potential — that by the time they want you, you don't need them. Not that you ever need anyone.
One exception I can see is that if your startup will mostly have other startups as customers, YC could effectively gift you your first customers.
the bump in valuation you get is bigger than the 7% slice of the pie YC takes.
People often seem to get too hung up on what percent they own. While you should pay attention to this, it's more valuable to direct your effort toward how big you can make the pie.
the bump in valuation you get is bigger than the 7% slice of the pie YC takes
Not sure if that's true anymore.
People often seem to get too hung up on what percent they own. While you should pay attention to this, it's more valuable to direct your effort toward how big you can make the pie.
Agreed and I tell friends that all the time. It's orthogonal to the point I'm making.
Not only is it still true, it is probably getting more true. I've had multiple YC and non-YC CEOs tell me this. And look at the announced valuations in the last batch for raising on safes.
