Ask PG: Is There A Startup You Regret Not Funding? (Like Fred and AirBnB)

Re:Ask PG: Is There A Startup You Regret Not Funding? (Like ... by david_shaw on Wednesday September 05, 2012 @01:19AM (#4478125)

I'm neither Paul Graham, nor a venture capitalist. I've never invested in a startup.

However, I have been involved in the process with potential investors deciding whether or not to invest in a company -- on both sides of the table. I can't answer your question, but I might be able to lend some relevant conversation on the topic.

Investors, especially those who specialize in early-stage startups, take a lot of risks. We all know that most startups will fail -- and those that don't are not always wildly successful. There are plenty of ramen-profitable startups that will piddle out, and plenty more that never even get to that point.

Because of the inherent risk involved with investing in general, it makes sense to take as risk-averse an approach as possible. That's why YC-backed companies are built on such solid, great ideas (the best foundation possible) -- and even many of those, even with Y Combinator's full support, still fail.

Whether or not pg has regrets is a question that only Paul himself can answer (and I hope he will), but my opinion is that his approach is the same that I take towards my investment portfolio: maybe a slight tinge of missed opportunity, but the decision whether or not to put money into a company is calculated rationally. Because of this, there's no real regret to be had.

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Re:Ask PG: Is There A Startup You Regret Not Funding? (Like ... by klochner on Wednesday September 05, 2012 @01:59AM (#4478195)

and you slept at a Holiday Inn last night?

[edit] I meant Holiday Inn Express

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Re:Ask PG: Is There A Startup You Regret Not Funding? (Like ... by chmike on Wednesday September 05, 2012 @04:21AM (#4478464)

Could you explain your comment ? It don't understand the relation with the comment you responded to.

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Re:Ask PG: Is There A Startup You Regret Not Funding? (Like ... by klochner on Wednesday September 05, 2012 @04:28AM (#4478479)

It's an american joke, my apologes for both using a cultural reference and making a pretty snarky comment.

A more "HN-spirited" comment would have been:

   You aren't speaking from any real authority or 
   experience, and your 5 paragraphs could have been summed 
   up with the following: "when you gamble you don't expect 
   to win them all, so regret is baked into the equation".
   Please be more concise with your comments and get to the 
   point.

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Re:Ask PG: Is There A Startup You Regret Not Funding? (Like ... by Confusion on Wednesday September 05, 2012 @06:26AM (#4478720)

tl;dr the only way to catch them all is to fund them all

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Re:Ask PG: Is There A Startup You Regret Not Funding? (Like ... by tehwebguy on Wednesday September 05, 2012 @04:27AM (#4478474)

There is a series of commercials where someone who is handling a task well explains that they are not a professional but they slept at a Holiday Inn Express the previous night.

The original commenter's post read like the beginning of one of these commercials.

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