
Ask HN: The end of Ramen profitable?  Cash as crack? - andrewstuart
Scoble has pointed out the end of ramen profitable with the recently announced flow of $150,000 cash guaranteed to all YC startups.<p>Will the next generation of YC startups be focused more on how to raise and spend money than how to get product out and revenue cash in?  Will every YC business plan including office costs, hiring costs, graphic design costs, administration costs?<p>Perhaps a better idea might have been to give the $150K to match the startups first $150K revenue.  Or some other idea?<p>Funding is like crack - once a company gets its first round of funding it's hooked, everything from there is about raising more funding, more rounds, A round B round, term sheets, valuations.  The cash dealers want you to come back for more.  Are all YC companies now dosing up on cash?
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brudgers
I would guess that a few will buy Aeron chairs, but most will either extend
their runway or accelerate their growth depending on where they are in the
product development cycle. I suspect that it will be a huge net positive
because it will oostpone the distractions of fundraising for YC companies by
several months or years. It also allows YC's investors to spend more time
focused on other topics besides fundraising at the critical first stages. With
150k in hand, technical founders are likely to be more able to delay bringing
on the business guy and more able to attract business guys when they do need
them.

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tomjen3
I don't agree with you that everything is about funding once a company has
been founded, but this _is_ going to fundamentally change the way YC companies
operate. Even if they don't take the money, they won't be quite as hungry or
innovative with survival - just the knowledge that there is going to be a sum
of money that can save them means that they will give in sooner.

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knowsnothing613
@22-26 yrs of age

150K spread over a team of 3 is like fuck you money. They'll likely buy
costlier supplies, capital goods, and indulge.

wouldn't you?

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revorad
Firstly 22-26 is probably not the most representative age group of YC
founders. IIRC, pg mentioned that 26 is the median age.

$150K spread over a team of 3 is an annual salary of $50K for each founder.
That's not fuck you money in most parts of the world, forget Silicon Valley.

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beatpanda
Speak for yourself, a $50,000 salary would be 4 times what I make now, and I
live in San Jose. $50,000/yr would definitely be "fuck you money" from where
I'm standing.

I'm planning on applying for YC once I graduate, and I can't imagine a
situation in which I would spend a bunch of money on stupid shit when all you
really need for a startup is a VPS somewhere, some tables and chairs and the
laptop you already have.

