mattty

It will be interesting to see YC manage the tension of being founder-friendly at later stage companies. Statistically[0], the later stage the company, the likelier it is the founder isn't running the show.

Is founder ceo succession inherently less likely at YC startups due to YC selection process?

[0]: The Founder's Dilemmas, Wasserman, p.299

Try Epaulet or Taylor Stitch

If you find this interesting, Wasserman expanded his thesis into a book[0], an academic study of startups. Highly recommended.

[0]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Founders-Dilemmas-Anticipating-Ent...

And here's an IFTTT recipe to go with it: https://ifttt.com/recipes/201372-email-subscription-to-famou...

Good article highlighting the equally valid modes of rationalising different options.

A useful book that can help one think through these (and many more) types of decisions is "The Founder's Dilemmas"[1]. In it, Wasserman (former professor of mine) explores the trade-offs one must make in founding, with examples. Very helpful.

[1] http://www.noamwasserman.com/book/

Disagree with the premise. Excel is a great product because it's so flexible. The same product that financiers use to create valuation models can be used by your mum to create a grocery list, or your small business to create an invoice. A spreadsheet is a blank canvas which can be used to create pretty much anything, and doesn't force the user to use it for a single use case or in one specific way.

A useful counterpoint from Ben Horowitz: http://bhorowitz.com/2012/05/18/is-now-the-time-to-hire-mbas...

The analysis is a little flawed in that it assumes the composition of the incoming class has remained consistent each year. In fact, Dean Nohria, who took over in July 2010, shifted the composition of the incoming class (the class of 2013) away from finance (finance as a pre-MBA industry showed a decline of 7%pt vs 2012 class[1]).

This in part explains the shift in choice of career post-HBS.

[1] http://poetsandquants.com/2011/06/06/harvard-down-on-finance...

This is really neat! Would be a great addition to a cs-tuition program for kids.

Most likely a convertible note - the investment is taken as debt that converts into equity when the venture raises a priced round (viz. a series A). Neither party has to value the venture at the seed stage, which is usually for the best as it's too early to tell.

Congrats John!

Exactly. The clue is in the name :)

Clicked your dropbox link, thought "those look familiar", check back, it's velocio!