

Ask HN: What percentage of Y Combinator apps are successful/profitable? - ssing

I see lots of YC apps covered by TC, featured by few other popular media and wondering what percentage of the app make it big.
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jbail
I'd like to narrow the question down to which companies are profitable.

Successful and "make it big" are subjective. Profitable isn't. You either are
or you aren't.

I don't work there or know anyone at the company personally, but I'll start
the list with one that I remember reading was profitable pretty much right out
of the gate: GazeHawk

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zaidf
I don't think YC cares _a lot_ about which companies are profitable. YC
ideally wants homeruns. And homerun companies are rarely profitable because
they are too busy growing. Take YouTube, Facebook etc. They all sacrificed
profitability for growth. I bet there are YC companies in a similar position.

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wheaties
That's not true. Sitting in the Boston meetup recently they spoke directly to
people who wanted a BIG exit and those who wanted a lifestyle company. They
will fund either. Only VCs need the homeruns constantly to earn their
risk/reward profile returns.

~~~
JonathanFields
That's interesting, in his interview on Mixergy, PG was asked about investing
in lifestyle businesses and he did not seem enthused - "there’s got to be an
exit for it, equity holders to get any money. I mean, maybe — maybe in the
future there is some model where companies pay dividends instead of an exit
that like we’ve never tried to get anybody to do that, and we don’t have any
real hopes about it. So, no."

Wonder if there's a change in outlook or something else we're missing?

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aresant
This question comes up a lot.

PG says "We don't know ourselves yet, because it takes so long for startups to
exit. But we have a decent idea how many are successful at the next stage
after YC-- the number who are either able to raise more after YC, or don't
need to because they're profitable (or in very rare cases acquired). I think
for the winter 2010 batch the percentage was in the low to mid 80s."

VIA - <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1694832>

PG previously said "According to our data, 98/145 or 67.6% of companies we
funded in s2009 or before are funded and/or profitable and/or acquired."

VIA - <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1185345>

More resources:

Current list of HN startups and spin-offs?

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1825396>

What percentage of YC startups make it and what percentage fail?

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1276356>

Spreadsheet listing all YC-Startups, exits etc:

[https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l...](https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1Vnl5NmZjaTBNQWlJYVozMEE&hl=en#gid=20)

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percept
There used to be a good list on Wikipedia but it's been "deletionated" over
the past few years.

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jordanmessina
There was a really nice google spreadsheet on HN once that showed all the
startups in more than just YC. If I remember correctly, it's purpose was to
show which startups in each incubator were dead/still active/got acquired. You
could go off of that list and actually do it for more than just YC. I've been
looking for the OP but I can't seem to find it.

~~~
jimminy
Here is a link to the spreadsheet,
[https://spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?key=t_toYuVyy6fci0MAiIa...](https://spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?key=t_toYuVyy6fci0MAiIaZ30A&hl=en)
Also the original analysis post,
[http://blog.jedchristiansen.com/2009/09/21/copying-y-
combina...](http://blog.jedchristiansen.com/2009/09/21/copying-y-combinator-
why-and-how/)

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vessenes
I like your question! Most YC Companies have been named and written about --
why don't you do the research and write it up for us?

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ssing
You are right but I thought of checking if this information is already
available.

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xenophanes
There's no way to know yet. Most YC companies haven't had their fate
determined yet.

~~~
benologist
For success you're right. Profitability is a bit more black and white even if
they haven't reached their full potential yet.

~~~
rhizome
"Self-sustaining" might be a better metric.

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pitdesi
Here are a list of different incubator companies and acquisition price...
doesn't answer your question, but may help.
[https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l...](https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1Vnl5NmZjaTBNQWlJYVozMEE&hl=en#gid=20)

