My first Y Combinator demo day was the one I presented at, back in the summer of 2006. I’ve gone to every single demo day since then, making me, I believe, one of the few people who have seen virtually every YC company present.
People often ask me, “how has it changed?”. In a word, utterly.
The demo day I went to today, about 100 companies presented. It took place in a huge auditorium and basically every serious investor in silicon valley had a representative there. The companies delivered polished presentations and together will raise hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming months.
The first demo day took place in a small building near Harvard. A couple of VCs attended, but I think they were just being polite, because they certainly had no intention of investing in any of the companies. The audience was mostly personal friends of Paul and Jessica.
12 companies presented, and the presentations were 10 minutes each (these days they are 2 minutes). Not a single company raised money. Most of them died within a few months and the founders went back to school or got jobs.
Here are some of the trends I’ve seen over nine years of demo days.
● Companies are much more ambitious now. In 2006, getting acquihired by Google for a couple million buckets was considered a fabulous outcome and basically the goal of every company. Today, there are six YC companies worth over a billion dollars, and as a result new startups aim much higher.
● Companies are joining YC at a much later stage. When I started YC, most companies wrote their first line of code in the first week in the program. Today, many of the companies have been working on their business for a long time and some even have substantial customers and revenue before applying. If the companies in my batch applied to YC today, I doubt that many of them would get in.
● Founding teams are much more diverse, and much older. In 2006, almost every founder was between the ages of 20 and 25, majored in computer science and was building a website. Today the average age is over 30 and the founders come from all walks of life – lawyers, doctors, real estate agents, and domain experts of all kinds.
● The companies are working in much more diverse areas. This is maybe the most publicized change – that YC has gone from being all about software to doing everything from pharmaceutical research to fusion. But even within software, things have gotten much more diverse. In 2006, founders were essentially all making software for ourselves, which meant they had to be things that college students would want. Today, YC companies make software for everyone from transit route planners to parking lot operators.
● YC is less personal. Getting into YC in 2006 was like joining an outcast band of adventurers. Our little band of rebels didn’t have much going for it, but in our shared struggle we made lasting personal connections. Getting into YC in 2015 is more like getting into Harvard: you will be showered with resources and doors will open for you. But you’re traveling a well-trodden path.
It’s been incredible to watch YC grow from a bunch of college students with big dreams to the very center of innovation of the technology world. Every year I think “this must be the peak of YC”, and yet the quality of the companies has been monotonically increasing so I keep being wrong.
This didn’t happen on its own; Paul, Jessica, Sam and the other YC partners made it happen by force of will, hard work, and smart decisions. I don’t know what the future of YC is, but as long as those people are still running it and doing pioneering things like the YC Fellowship program, I think we could still be in the early part of a much bigger story.
Hi there!
You mentioned that over the years, founders of the newer batches are on average older than those in the early years and that their companies are also in a later stage. Is there still a realistic shot for early stage companies that have, for example, finished their Beta testing phase with its first users and customers?
I am asking this question because of the fact that I am planning to apply as a 19 year old with a company that by then has had its proof of concept with an mvp and its first customers (hopefully!).
I am aware of the Fellowship program but we really want to set our goal to the traditional YC batches.
Many thanks in advance and greetings from Switzerland!
Joachim
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Hi Joachim,
It’s very hard to answer without knowing more about your company. Certainly, there are still plenty of founders under 20 who get accepted.
Here is one tip, though. If you apply directly to YC, and you don’t get in, they generally will not send you any feedback about why. This can make it hard to learn for next time. If instead, you email a number of YC alumni your application and ask for feedback, many of them will offer feedback about how to improve your application, just because they like to help. They can also offer a realistic estimate of your chances, though no one will know for sure until you try.
Hope that helps and good luck!
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Dear Jared,
thank you very much for your reply! That surely helps and I hope that there may be one day where we meet…
Greetings
Joachim
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It’s an amazing photo. There is no a single female in the audience.
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thats pretty much what the VC commuunity looks like…
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Sadly, the investor community is less diverse than the founders.
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Females are ~6% of of all VC’s. It’s no surprise there aren’t many here.
It’s a lack of talent, not discrimination.
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Huh? Are you serious? Lack of talent? What world do you live in? Most VC’s are not that smart or talented but just went to the right schools and/or grew up in the right place. Thankfully, it is changing, but not fast enough!
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Pingback: Nine Years of Demo Days: How YC has changed
about the 2nd trend : We can consider that the YC Fellowship is an experiment to go back to the origin of what was Y Combinator
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I just looked at 52 in the batch and you are right: they are much, much later than seed stage startups. It’s impressive if YC can get these companies who have already raised a few million to accept a downround at a valuation of $200K
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did any company from 2006 survived until today?
thanks
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Scribd is the only one that survives independently. Several others have been acquired.
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