5 ms·

Here's a question to PG: I can imagine many reasons, but I'd be interested to hear from you why you chose to share these numbers at this time?

• portman 15y ago
  Possibly prompted by PG's interview with Charlie Rose last week on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt. I was present, and a two things were clear from the interview: 1. Charlie Rose had a few wildly incorrect assumptions about YC. (e.g. "so, to date, you've invested, what, $100M?") 2. Paul Graham had not given a lot of thought to aggregate numbers. When asked, he about total the total value of the YC portfolio, he could only guess. Edit: interview link http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/14928956 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/14928956
  • pg 15y ago
    Yes, the interview I mention in the first sentence of the post was the Charlie Rose interview. When he asked how we were doing, I quoted some numbers based on a back of the envelope calculation that turned out to be way off (an underestimate, fortunately).
    • portman 15y ago
      BTW, I found that interview very enlightening. I hadn't realized how nice you are. Your real-life persona completely contradicts the caricature I had developed in my mind after years of reading your essays. I was expecting Vulcan (hyper-smart, non-sentimental), but instead got Camp Counselor (humble, encouraging). You should do more on-stage stuff.
      • pg 15y ago
        Seeming Vulcan is probably an artifact of conciseness.