
Ask Jessica Livingston: If Founders at Work were written today, who'd be in it? - tzury
First of all, sorry for the medium, but I think it is fair enough for YC community to take part in this conversation.<p>I&#x27;ve just packed the book to my upcoming 24 hours flights (2 connection stops) and looked at the list...<p>As we observed so many successful startups in the last 12 years or so, let alone YC companies, I wonder who are the founders you would have find inspiring to interview for the book.<p>Being at there, I wonder, is there a chance we will get a &quot;second edition&quot; in the foreseeable future?<p>And you guys and gals, HN readers, do you have your own list?<p><i>(The title was rephrased many times to fit into the 80 char. limit)</i>
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eegilbert
I loved Founders at Work. However, it suffers from (somewhat severe)
survivorship bias [1]. The next time around, it would be great to hear from
more companies/founders that were "supposed to make it" but didn't for one
reason or another.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias)

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echan00
I think the problem with your request is that there are way too many failed
startup stories.

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100k
She could take a look at the most hyped startups of 2008 (when the book was
published) and see where they are now. Most will probably have failed by now,
and there will be some interesting stories there!

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27182818284
As I sit here wearing a Pebble watch, I'd certainly like to know more about
that collapse.

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yeldarb
I'd love a second edition of Founders at Work. It's one of my favorite books
and I recommend it to other founders regularly.

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smt88
Which YC companies are successful?

I'm asking because, in order for the new data to be useful, it must include
both successes and failures, which would allow Jessica to test her hypotheses.

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tzury
Here is a list - [http://yclist.com/](http://yclist.com/)

You can filter for "Show Exited" and "Show Active"

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smt88
Cool! Thanks. It'd be interesting add a column for "total raised so far" to
that list. For example, a $20M acquisition of a company that raised $40M would
be a failure.

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etrain
Crunchbase has a good deal of data here - it is incomplete particularly for
smaller companies, but is pretty good for larger investment rounds.

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stevenj
I'd love to read another edition of Founders at Work -- it's one of my
favorite books.

Some of the companies I'd be thrilled to see included:

Airbnb Stripe Uber Lyft Slack Robinhood Palantir Snap Instacart SpaceX GitHub
DraftKings Warby Parker OfferUp

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jjtheblunt
If Founders at Work were written today, would they please research the opening
paragraphs about sprinters, because they accrue speed the further they get
from the blocks. [ Former sprinter here, who couldn't read any further, amazed
at the book opening incorrectly. ]

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ohjeez
Relevant, too: Programmers who defined the technology industry: Where are they
now? (2010)
[http://www.itworld.com/article/2826737/development/programme...](http://www.itworld.com/article/2826737/development/programmers-
who-defined-the-technology-industry--where-are-they-now-.html).

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JSeymourATL
More profiles beyond the SV Bubble.

Ben Chestnut Co-founder and CEO of @mailchimp (aka mailkimp aka mailshrimp),
seems a worthy subject. >
[https://twitter.com/benchestnut?lang=en](https://twitter.com/benchestnut?lang=en)

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tixocloud
The one thing I felt was slightly lacking was interviews with founders of
enterprise/B2B startups.

For the most part, the stories were great but all revolved around folks who
growing consumer/developer-focused companies.

I'd buy the 2nd edition in a heartbeat.

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contingencies
B2C focus is arguably an established trend in incubators/kickstarter/hardware
startups in general as well.

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tixocloud
Agreed - I just felt that that there's not much I can find about how long
enterprise/B2B startups take before they find their first customer and how
different the sales process could be, etc.

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taiwoayanleye
My list:

Min-Liang Tan Paul Eremenko Travis Kalanick Ben Chestnut Daniel Stewart

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brilliantcode
> Which YC companies are successful?

I dont know the founders but the idea that you could start the apts section of
craigslist that out values real established businesses itself is a huge
motivator.

Of course with close examination, nothing more than a repeat of near zero
interest rate capital flooding a crowding market.

Some will strike the lotto, most will not. Hindsight bias is not at all being
discussed here.

