I think the value that YC provides has to do more with its people and ethos than it's platform. Although they were the first incubator, I don't think it's the incubator model that makes them who they are (as we've seen many other competitors with the same model pop up) but rather it's the people and ethos that its founders engrained into the system that makes Y Combinator what it is. For that reason, I'm inclined to believe that the more of the traditional fundraising process Y Combinator moves into, the better it is for the overall ecosystem.
Perhaps because they discovered it on TC and wanted to give them the due credit. Or perhaps they felt the editorial content added value to their understanding or context.
Call me cynical, but perhaps - just perhaps - this was part of the reason for Benchmark's fallout with Travis. Perhaps they wanted to realize some of the gains in their shares of Uber and knew Kalanick would be (or already had been) opposed to it. Benchmark already made astronomical gains on their shares (at least on paper) and perhaps they were looking for a way to now cash in on some of those returns.
I think the answer to that is yes, in terms of potential. The global wine market from just the quickest Google search seems to be north of $300B. The cooking appliances market is massive as well.
When it comes to social networks, I believe the network affect generally leads to a winner takes all (or most). Certainly tech and usability is a determining factor, but another company would have nailed those and dominated the market anyway.
Advertising and expanding around the globe would be a good place to start. It's not cheap to find/put top-notch staff on the other side of the world to expand a business, open offices, recruit drivers and customers, etc.
That's not the author's words. That's just the words of some random passerby of the studio that the author quotes. I would assume Wei Lei, in taking the challenge, felt otherwise.
This happened to me once with Delta Airlines a few years back. I was ticketed for an upgrade to first class (via Medallion status), but when I went to board I was told that the stewardess had given the seat to another customer and I was moved to a middle seat in the back. As someone who tends to be non-confrontational and the fact that it was a short flight, I just went with it. I did complain when I got back via their feedback form and they compensated me with 7500 miles, which I now realize was woefully inadequate, but I didn't have much recourse.
I've realized lately that I often fool myself into thinking I'm proficient in some subject by picking up on concepts quickly. I think I "get" it because I can understand something on a conceptual level, but when it comes to practice, my deficiencies become apparent. I guess the tricky part is to push myself past those initial concepts to delve deeper into the subjects with practice. I need to slow down and remind myself that I don't really "get" it just because I can understand the concepts in a very broad sense.
I'm reluctant to admit it, but I did find this book really helpful. I'm generally a person that doesn't get sentimental about possessions and had already been doing regularly purge cleaning sessions pretty frequently, and I was still able to part with several large garbage bags full of stuff after reading her book.
That's true. Even during the dotcom bubble, internet incumbents used their high valuations to leverage questionable acquisitions. Yahoo's purchase of Broadcast.com for over $5B being the most notable example.
Same with a bunch of companies in there. Looker quickly comes to mind. Looker is a great company IMO but there's a lot of other great companies in the space.
Same thing happened to me. I had my laptop stolen in Miami while I was there briefly for work. Spent half the day waiting on police and they wouldn't even write up a report for me. Told me to take it up with insurance when I got home. Of course when I got home, the insurance company said they couldn't do anything for me without a police report.