

Ask HN: Does YC want startups to exit, or generate dividends? - jorangreef

It seems that acquisitions of technology startups frequently kill the startup, disperse talent when the employment contracts expire, and ultimately result in an accounting write-off.<p>If these exits are common to a market, I can understand that such a market would encourage sellers to take advantage of them, especially if dividends are not forthcoming, as long as the selling price of such startups exceeds their intrinsic value and cost to the seller. Such sellers are entitled to be in the business of selling businesses, and where there is a buyer, let there be a seller.<p>But I believe it is also possible to be in the business of business, to invest in a business as a going concern, in order to receive a dividend, to retain one's share in a business as long as it remains a good business, and to fix it where not.<p>I would like to think that the best technology startups have proved to be good businesses. I would also like to think that dividends and equity appreciation win over short sells.<p>Hypothetically speaking, if a startup I knew where to apply to YC, and if the startup were interested in building a technological business like HP or IBM or Boeing or GE, would YC be a good fit?<p>Regardless of market conditions, would YC be more likely to encourage its startups to exit, or generate dividends?
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jacquesm
YC is on the record of supporting whatever the founders want. I'm sure they
have their personal preferences but they have decided to align themselves with
the founders and that actually sets a trend which is now being picked up by
other financial parties.

edit: this is actually very smart strategy wise because it avoids friction in
all the cases where YC might want something else than the founders which
increases the chances of the founders giving it their full 100%. Nothing more
de-motivating than to get an 'angel' on board that starts to pull in another
direction than were you wanted to go in the first place. So YC actually
benefits from _not_ getting their way. And in those cases where the company
would fail it doesn't matter anyway.

I think this on face simple item is one of the bigger recruiting factors for
YC over other players, they won't get in your way, they trust you to know best
what's best for you, which makes them an 'enabler'.

