

Ask HN: What percentage of YC startups make it? - olalonde

What percentage of YC startups make it and what percentage fail?
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pwim
Considering YC only started in 2005, it is too early to say how many "made
it", the definition of which is ambiguous in the first place.

This spreadsheet has a list of YC companies along with whether or not they are
dead or have exited:
[http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1...](http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1Vnl5NmZjaTBNQWlJYVozMEE&hl=en)

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olalonde
Great list. Surprisingly, I hadn't even heard of YC's most successful exit
(Divvyshot, acquired by Facebook at 20M$).

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qq66
How sure are you of that $20m number? It sounds high.

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olalonde
Not sure at all... I took it from the spreadsheet.

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jedc
I'm the guy who keeps/maintains the spreadsheet.

ALL of the exit values (except 1 or 2) are my personal estimates and educated
guesses... nothing more. I'm always happy to revise them with better
information!

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tptacek
Why did you guess $20MM for Divvyshot?

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jedc
Honestly, I can't remember. But more than happy to change it with better (or
for that matter... any) reasoning!

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tptacek
All of your exit numbers seem crazy high. I'm left wondering if it's just
wishful thinking, or if I'm way underestimating how much companies will shell
out in talent acquisitions.

~~~
jedc
One number that I know for sure (it was publicized at the time) is Omnisio for
$15 million. At that point it was about six months or so into the life of the
company, which seems crazy high to me.

TechStars at least publicizes whether the exits are > or < $2million, which
can be a helpful guide...

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ig1
[http://blog.awesomezombie.com/2009/12/analyzing-y-
combinator...](http://blog.awesomezombie.com/2009/12/analyzing-y-
combinator.html)

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epi0Bauqu
Not YC, but relevant to question in a lateral way:
<http://www.techstars.org/results/>

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jacquesm
more reading here:

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

