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Comment by gizmo | Hacker News Reader

Then the interesting question is: would you be willing to sell YC in the next couple of years if the price is right?

(My hunch is that you're not going to sell YC anytime soon -- even though you probably could sell it -- simply because you're not done yet.)

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YC is different. We didn't even think of it as a company at first, just an interesting project. It has turned out to be one of those cases where a side project takes over your life (sort of like Facebook, though much more gradual), but that wasn't planned. We just kept getting more applications and either had to grow or start rejecting people we thought were good.

I never considered what I'd do if someone wanted to buy YC, because companies like YC aren't buyable. But even if someone wanted to buy it I could not imagine selling it, because I don't need the money and it wouldn't be worth the risk that the acquirer would ruin it.

I think those are the exact arguments Steve used about Apple (and Mark about Facebook). It was an interesting project; didn't plan it; it took over his life; other people would ruin it; the money was't an important factor.

Interesting. Thanks.

This, in my opinion, is how one manages to do what they love.

"because I don't need the money and it wouldn't be worth the risk that the acquirer would ruin it."

last night i watched the movie "meet joe black" and that sentence reminded me of a quote that "william parish" said when he realized he was going to die.

"I don't want anybody buying up my life's work! Turning it into something it wasn't meant to be. A man wants to leave something behind. And he wants it left behind the way he made it. He wants it to be run the way he run it, with a sense of honor, of dedication, of truth. Okay? "

i'm not saying it's the same thing, but, it did remind me of the movie.

I think Steve would now consider you an entrepreneur.

I don't think YC can be sold. Too much of what makes YC special is tied up in pg and interpersonal connections with angels and other investors in SV. I don't think you could just hand off the process to a VC firm or something and expect to get the same level of applicants.

Maybe someday that won't be true, and maybe I'm wrong today, but my hunch says that once it's sold, it will begin to decline, and everyone who might consider buying it knows that.

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