

Ask PG: Did you start YC with your own money? - quellhorst

How did you get YC started?
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pg
Yes. (Mine and Robert's and Trevor's, but it was all from Viaweb.)

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kylec
The name is a clue. Y Combinator started with funding from itself.

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aditya
Interesting. I guess that puts YC much closer to being like an angel group
than a VC firm since they didn't raise money from investors and decide to get
rich from the management fees in the process, but risked their own money.

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aaronsw
I assumed <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=267809> was a parody of the
inevitable "what? I could build that myself" comment made about all YC
startups.

A site where you vote on links? Why I could build that myself. An SMS
interface to PayPal? Why I could build that myself. A website that gives away
money to startup founders? Why I could build that myself!

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immad
I think the answer is yes. PG and the other 3 partners money...

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netcan
I guess a sort of important related question is: "Is money really much of a
bottleneck here"

If there was much more money from investors or the partners, would YC fund any
more startups then it does? I have to admit, I know virtually nothing about
how YC works, but it doesn't sound like it's all that capital intensive. And
the cycle shouldn't be that long either.

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rob
Considering he had millions, what do you think?

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pmjordan
It's a lot easier to get third-party investment once you've successfully sold
a startup, and it's much less risky than pouring your own cash into your next
venture. I'd say it's far from a foregone conclusion that you'd put a large
amount of your own money in.

I'd have to add that YC isn't exactly your average startup though, and the
founders putting their own money in sends a much stronger message of
dedication to potential participants.

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aaronsw
I think the real factor is control. Does Paul Graham really seem like the guy
who would want a boss if he could avoid it?

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icey
Well, he _did_ just get married.

