5 ms·

YC W20 Online Demo Day moved up due to investor interest

90 points by coolswan 7y ago

Grustaf 7y ago
Why are they giving us details like sorting options on the website, it’s not going to be open to the public is it?
- jedberg 7y ago
  This post is for the VCs and investors, but since YC is very transparent, they make the post public.
technotony 7y ago
This is smart. If coronavirus is growing by a factor of 10 per week then we are all going to be in lockdown/isolation in two weeks time and probably not focusing on doing seed deals.
- AVTizzle 7y ago
  My thinking exactly.
  - TaylorGood 7y ago
    Ancillary to this health wave being an exception. Here is what I posted on Twitter earlier: "Business owners with unaligned or rigid products or services unable to adapt are actively sinking. I’ve halted most everything and have never felt so much pressure to iterate for something and the coming months of shifting consumer priorities."
- daniel_iversen 7y ago
  I'm sure that played a huge part, if not the main reason why the date is moved up. That makes sense.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
mobileexpert 7y ago
I don’t really understand this, doesn’t YC strongly encourage investors, to the point of punishing those who violate, to wait until Demo Day? That way they get to build good market conditions for raising.
- maram 7y ago
  >> doesn’t YC strongly encourage investors, to the point of punishing those who violate, to wait until Demo Day? That way they get to build good market conditions for raising. I’m not sure what’s your source because the first paragraph contradicts what you are saying “Over the last few days, a large number of investors have accelerated their outreach to our current batch of founders. They are moving quickly to make investment decisions, and we’re going to match their pace and accelerate our schedule by one week. YC W20 online Demo Day will now be on March 16.”
  - dang 7y ago
    It's discouraged but people do it anyway. It's in YC's interest to help all the startups in the batch; presumably they decided this was the best way. (I have no inside info; in fact I just found out about this from the HN submission.)
    - maram 7y ago
      Thanks
- dataisfun 7y ago
  They do in theory but there are countless excel spreadsheets in circulation with a full list of companies way in advance of demo day. If you're not plugged in and arrive at demo day, many VCs have reached out to companies way before you see them present.
- edouard-harris 7y ago
  YC does encourage both investors and founders to wait until Demo Day, but not to the point that they actively punish violators. There are many on both sides who break ranks and do it anyway.
maram 7y ago
>>They can sort companies by industry and geography, and will be able to export the list of companies to a spreadsheet. 4 days ago I commented here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22506013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22506013 “I think YC should add a sheet for us to write our comments/ratings and decision” I shared my experience on how I get bored and excited. Many people reached out since then asking me to share my spreadsheet. This sheet will be very helpful. Whether YC partners read my comment or not I’m so grateful for this feature. THANK YOU YC<3
- arshmand 7y ago
  Would love to see the spreadsheet/notes that you have been taking. Email is in profile. Thanks!
  - maram 7y ago
    will do
    - arshmand 7y ago
      Updated my profile with my email address. Thanks!
  - barry-cotter 7y ago
    Your email is not in your profile. YC has your email but they don’t share it. Your profile is currently. > Founder WorkRamp (YS S16). www.workramp.com
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
phsource 7y ago
I'm glad they're moving Demo Day up. The whole point of YC is to level the playing field for all kinds of founders, and this would help keep the focus on Demo Day rather than the behind-the-scene investor meetings that tend to benefit connected, established founders. Personally, as a YC W19, first-time founder of Wanderlog [1], I didn't do any fundraising before Demo Day. But I heard from friends in the batch about cold emails, "informal" dinners, and all kinds of shenanigans to get ahold of founders earlier. Demo Day helps even things out by giving attention to all startups in YC, and not just the companies with connections. Everyone's given the same amount of time on stage, and off stage (in any other year), everybody's milling about in a huge hall. You can't tell who's the recent college dropout, and who's a former co-founder of a co. with a billion-dollar exit. I can totally see investors really taking the coronavirus/lack of an in-person Demo Day [2] as an excuse to double-up on their outreach, leading to an even more imbalanced process. Good work on the YC Partners' part for short-circuiting this and helping the first-time founders and the traditionally disadvantaged [1] A trip planner for vacation itineraries: https://wanderlog.com https://wanderlog.com [2] https://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-w20-online-demo-day-now-on-march-16/ https://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-w20-online-demo-day-now-on-m...
- nugget 7y ago
  >and who's a former co-founder of a co. with a billion-dollar exit I know your point wasn't entirely literal but it made me curious as to how many YC founders are in this position...Kyle with Twitch and then Cruise is the only one that comes to mind.
  - phsource 7y ago
    Suhail from Mixpanel (S19) and Laks from Zenefits (W19, my batch) were both in recent batches! So they definitely exist. Much more common is the non-huge-exit but still successful second-time founders
    - xenospn 7y ago
      Mixpanel got acquired? I don't think Suhail had an exit (yet).
physcab 7y ago
Should continue to do online demo day in conjunction with live ones. Would be a great way to scale the platform
- glennon 7y ago
  YC's Demo Day attendee portal has had an online component at least since Winter 2018--the first I attended. The pitch videos were made available a few minutes delayed from real-time live.
tosh 7y ago
Is there any way to participate as investor? I did not immediately find a way to sign up for it but would be very interested.
- benmccann 7y ago
  You need to apply to attend. The application has already passed for this batch (https://apply.ycombinator.com/events/246 https://apply.ycombinator.com/events/246), but you can check back later to apply for the next one.
  - tosh 7y ago
    ty for the pointer!
tvladeck 7y ago
Seems like a classic case of market unraveling: http://marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/06/unraveling.html http://marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/06/unraveling.html

90 points by coolswan 7y ago

Grustaf 7y ago

Why are they giving us details like sorting options on the website, it’s not going to be open to the public is it?

jedberg 7y ago
This post is for the VCs and investors, but since YC is very transparent, they make the post public.

technotony 7y ago

This is smart. If coronavirus is growing by a factor of 10 per week then we are all going to be in lockdown/isolation in two weeks time and probably not focusing on doing seed deals.

AVTizzle 7y ago
My thinking exactly.
- TaylorGood 7y ago
  Ancillary to this health wave being an exception. Here is what I posted on Twitter earlier: "Business owners with unaligned or rigid products or services unable to adapt are actively sinking. I’ve halted most everything and have never felt so much pressure to iterate for something and the coming months of shifting consumer priorities."
daniel_iversen 7y ago
I'm sure that played a huge part, if not the main reason why the date is moved up. That makes sense.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

mobileexpert 7y ago

I don’t really understand this, doesn’t YC strongly encourage investors, to the point of punishing those who violate, to wait until Demo Day? That way they get to build good market conditions for raising.

maram 7y ago
>> doesn’t YC strongly encourage investors, to the point of punishing those who violate, to wait until Demo Day? That way they get to build good market conditions for raising. I’m not sure what’s your source because the first paragraph contradicts what you are saying “Over the last few days, a large number of investors have accelerated their outreach to our current batch of founders. They are moving quickly to make investment decisions, and we’re going to match their pace and accelerate our schedule by one week. YC W20 online Demo Day will now be on March 16.”
- dang 7y ago
  It's discouraged but people do it anyway. It's in YC's interest to help all the startups in the batch; presumably they decided this was the best way. (I have no inside info; in fact I just found out about this from the HN submission.)
  - maram 7y ago
    Thanks
dataisfun 7y ago
They do in theory but there are countless excel spreadsheets in circulation with a full list of companies way in advance of demo day. If you're not plugged in and arrive at demo day, many VCs have reached out to companies way before you see them present.
edouard-harris 7y ago
YC does encourage both investors and founders to wait until Demo Day, but not to the point that they actively punish violators. There are many on both sides who break ranks and do it anyway.

maram 7y ago

>>They can sort companies by industry and geography, and will be able to export the list of companies to a spreadsheet. 4 days ago I commented here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22506013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22506013 “I think YC should add a sheet for us to write our comments/ratings and decision” I shared my experience on how I get bored and excited. Many people reached out since then asking me to share my spreadsheet. This sheet will be very helpful. Whether YC partners read my comment or not I’m so grateful for this feature. THANK YOU YC<3

arshmand 7y ago
Would love to see the spreadsheet/notes that you have been taking. Email is in profile. Thanks!
- maram 7y ago
  will do
  - arshmand 7y ago
    Updated my profile with my email address. Thanks!
- barry-cotter 7y ago
  Your email is not in your profile. YC has your email but they don’t share it. Your profile is currently. > Founder WorkRamp (YS S16). www.workramp.com
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

phsource 7y ago

I'm glad they're moving Demo Day up. The whole point of YC is to level the playing field for all kinds of founders, and this would help keep the focus on Demo Day rather than the behind-the-scene investor meetings that tend to benefit connected, established founders. Personally, as a YC W19, first-time founder of Wanderlog [1], I didn't do any fundraising before Demo Day. But I heard from friends in the batch about cold emails, "informal" dinners, and all kinds of shenanigans to get ahold of founders earlier. Demo Day helps even things out by giving attention to all startups in YC, and not just the companies with connections. Everyone's given the same amount of time on stage, and off stage (in any other year), everybody's milling about in a huge hall. You can't tell who's the recent college dropout, and who's a former co-founder of a co. with a billion-dollar exit. I can totally see investors really taking the coronavirus/lack of an in-person Demo Day [2] as an excuse to double-up on their outreach, leading to an even more imbalanced process. Good work on the YC Partners' part for short-circuiting this and helping the first-time founders and the traditionally disadvantaged [1] A trip planner for vacation itineraries: https://wanderlog.com https://wanderlog.com [2] https://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-w20-online-demo-day-now-on-march-16/ https://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-w20-online-demo-day-now-on-m...

nugget 7y ago
>and who's a former co-founder of a co. with a billion-dollar exit I know your point wasn't entirely literal but it made me curious as to how many YC founders are in this position...Kyle with Twitch and then Cruise is the only one that comes to mind.
- phsource 7y ago
  Suhail from Mixpanel (S19) and Laks from Zenefits (W19, my batch) were both in recent batches! So they definitely exist. Much more common is the non-huge-exit but still successful second-time founders
  - xenospn 7y ago
    Mixpanel got acquired? I don't think Suhail had an exit (yet).

physcab 7y ago

Should continue to do online demo day in conjunction with live ones. Would be a great way to scale the platform

glennon 7y ago
YC's Demo Day attendee portal has had an online component at least since Winter 2018--the first I attended. The pitch videos were made available a few minutes delayed from real-time live.

tosh 7y ago

Is there any way to participate as investor? I did not immediately find a way to sign up for it but would be very interested.

benmccann 7y ago
You need to apply to attend. The application has already passed for this batch (https://apply.ycombinator.com/events/246 https://apply.ycombinator.com/events/246), but you can check back later to apply for the next one.
- tosh 7y ago
  ty for the pointer!

tvladeck 7y ago

Seems like a classic case of market unraveling: http://marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/06/unraveling.html http://marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/06/unraveling.html