
Khosla Ventures is joining the YCVC Program - dshankar
http://blog.ycombinator.com/khosla-ventures-is-joining-the-ycvc-program
======
lquist
I never understood Yuri's involvement. I always thought his investment
philosophy was to enter at the Series B or later stage.

On another note, here's a recent anecdote (the plural of anecdote is not
data!) about Khosla Ventures. A successful entrepreneur ($300M exit under his
belt; CEO of $5B company) was in advanced talks (post-term sheet) to raise
funding from them. Out of the blue, Khosla came back with a list of demands
such as adding a 3rd co-founder. Obviously just one situation, but left a bit
of a bad taste in my mouth.

~~~
rdl
DST investments in YC seed stage are probably less than Yuri's property tax
bill on just his Bay Area house. If it made it easier to get into any good
Series B deals, doesn't that make it worthwhile?

~~~
lquist
Does it really make it easier? If DST knocked on the door, I know I'd answer.
Well, if I was looking for funding ;)

~~~
the_watcher
90% of founders would as well. He wants access to the other 10%. Or whatever
ratio you want to give, he wants access to the best YC startups.

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tptacek
Serious question: why did you bother with the press release structure for this
post, complete with the (pointless) Rabois quote?

~~~
pg
YC has gotten bigger. I don't write everything myself anymore, and other
people may feel they can't take such liberties with formats.

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nashequilibrium
I have noticed a trend on HN whenever Vinod Khosler is mentioned, there seems
to be a lot of hostility towards him. Is there any concrete examples of them
doing shady stuff? I am just curious.

~~~
guptaneil
This trend isn't limited to HN. When talking to people (even lawyers and such
who I know do not read HN) that have dealt with Khosla, I have repeatedly
heard that he is shady, but I have yet to hear any concrete examples. From
everything I read about him on TechCrunch and elsewhere though, he sounds like
a great investor to have...

~~~
midas007
See the shoreline access issue below. To me, that whole matter signals someone
impossible to work with. If he were of decent moral fiber and wisdom, he would
have found a workable arrangement that preserves public and personal
interests. Going to trial was just even more embarrassing.

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mathattack
Great to see them involved. I'm curious about this model... At what point does
the overhead of following so many companies become prohibitive relative to the
small amount invested? I suspect this could be why Milner left.

I don't have much (any) data on this, and no professional stake in this. I'm
just fascinated by the YC model in general, and by a way of "buying the
market" for emerging companies. (The closest thing to an S&P for startups)
That, and I'm tired of arguing about unions on the other thread.

~~~
karamazov
The YCVC investments are a fire-and-forget portfolio investment; VC's usually
don't follow the companies directly unless they put in additional money.

~~~
mathattack
I see - thanks! So it really is like an index, but of options. One or two will
hit, and when they do, it's time to pay attention. I've heard stories of
universities that seed firms with a Fire-and-Forget mindset, and then finding
out after the fact that someone has a bunch of valuable contracts in a filing
cabinet.

off-topic - I'm a fan of what your company is doing.

~~~
pbreit
I doubt the "forget" part is as strong as your description implies. Instead
they are "in" on a heavily pre-vetted set of companies with very little work.
And then begin on Day 2 (probably Day 1, actually) figuring out how involved
to get, likely getting meaningfully involved in favorites.

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rdl
Interesting that SV Angel ducked out when it became YC VC, and now Yuri is
out. a16z is the longest running current member.

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nodesocket
Interesting, curious if Yuri Milner was not seeing returns on the YC seed
investments and decided to withdraw.

~~~
Harj
It generally takes at least five years for a seed investor to have a clear
picture of what kind of returns they can expect. Yuri's smart enough to know
that and he started doing this just under three years ago.

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codex
How does YCVC work exactly? YC invests in startups directly already, so why
bring in unnecessary partner money? Is it that the YC front runs the
investment and the YCVCs are allowed to come on board slightly later at worse
terms? If so, that's a good deal for YC, and even if the IRR doesn't work out,
the VCs are paying for access to a pool of potential deals. If that's the case
VC churn doesn't send the best signal.

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delinquentme
The report makes it sound like Milner is out of investing in YC? Or just the
seed stage?

~~~
outericky
Just the YCVC portion I'd guess - which is the "guaranteed" investment into
all YC companies when they start YC. That's not even seed stage. That's just
YC stage...

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jgalt212
FWIW, Vinod's mom thinks he's a splendid human being.

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marcfawzi
Ah. Is Khosla Ventures related to Vinod Khosla? The same guy who sealed off a
popular surfing beach in a small California town and declared it as his own? I
always found that to be a terrible reminder of how money, greed and
selfishness go hand in hand. Never mind me.

~~~
dkl
Yes.

 _Buchwald based his decision on the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which
settled the Mexican-American War, and required that the United States
recognize Mexican land grants as long as the owner filed a claim. The original
owner of the coastal property filed such a claim. The U.S. government
challenged his land patent, but the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed his ownership
in 1859 -- 14 years before the California Constitution was first drafted._

I can't make head nor tail of this.[1]

EDIT: OK, this[2] is clearer:

 _The judge 's ruling skirts the fundamental conflict between the rights of
private property owners and the rights of Californians to access the
shoreline. Instead, Buchwald rooted his decision in the land's history during
the mid-19th century. Since there was no public easement attached to the
property at the time the United States acquired California from Mexico, the
judge reasoned, the question of whether the California Constitution now
guarantees access to the beach is immaterial.

The original owner of the property was Jose Maria Alviso, who received a
provisional land grant from the Mexican government in the late 1830s. He later
transferred the property to his brother, Jose Antonio Alviso, whose rights to
the property were upheld under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which
settled the Mexican-American War. The U.S. government challenged Alviso's land
patent, but the Supreme Court confirmed Alviso's ownership in 1859._

[1] [http://www.nbcbayarea.com/Vinod-Khosla-Can-Keep-Public-
Off-B...](http://www.nbcbayarea.com/Vinod-Khosla-Can-Keep-Public-Off-Beach-
Near-Half-Moon-Bay-229728541.html)

[2] [http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-
news/ci_24380282/vinod-k...](http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-
news/ci_24380282/vinod-khosla-wins-key-martins-beach-battle)

~~~
midas007
Also: [http://www.surfrider.org/jims-blog/entry/vinod-khosla-
beache...](http://www.surfrider.org/jims-blog/entry/vinod-khosla-beaches-
belong-to-the-public-they-are-not-for-sale2)

