garry

We are absolutely taking steps internally to prevent this.

Nicely done Gabe!

Thanks Finbarr. The group partners and MD's and I know these are important and valuable programs, and there is a lot more we need to be doing for alumni and the experience after companies do YC.

I don't have more to share now, but know that I really value you and this note.

I will say that large % of the batches turn out to still be good companies later, sometimes much later. The journey of being a founder sets people up to do a lot more: YC alums are often great C-level executives at other fast growing startups, and/or just because their first startup doesn't work doesn't mean they don't go on to create great companies later.

The key thing about networks is Metcalfe's law: the power of a network is the square of its nodes. This is also what makes the Internet more and more valuable over time.

Those things together mean scale increases value for founders, and what we've learned is those effects are most potent early.

Changes of this sort cannot happen in a very short amount of time. The timing was coincidental.

It's not, this is about making YC awesome for early stage founders right at the beginning.

We're asking for a backstop for deposits for small and medium sized businesses that will not survive without being able to make payroll.

Choice of bank historically has been one of the lower priority things people have to worry about. I think this changes now.

If your personal bank went out of business through no fault or gain of your own, most individuals would feel that it would be fair for you as the depositor should be made whole. That's the same with a business, and as important since this represents the payrolls of thousands of people.

This isn't some sort of complex bid call option strategy. This is a checking account, and one choice out of many that founders make regularly.

To my knowledge SVB was never required, and startups always had choice.

These are deposits at a bank. We're advocating for protection of 37,000 small business accounts, a small number of which are YC.

We discovered about 30% of YC companies would not be able to make payroll even after the $250,000 insured amount if they were to wait months for their payments. That is detailed on the FDIC website currently as the process for remediation.

This petition represents the lived experience of thousands of founders, and this is how we are communicating this is a real problem that DC needs to be aware of.

Again, this is not about saving SVB, the bank that made decisions that led to this, nor their equity holders. This is about saving innocent depositors.

We're trying to help our founders, and this is a moment where awareness of this problem in DC and in the halls of power matter.

$250,000 will be available initially, which is doable for payroll of up to 15 to 25 people for one month, generally if you're a startup.

FDIC website indicates remediation time in the months-to-years. This is the concern.

We are asking for regulation to prevent this failure from occurring again.

I grew up food insecure.

These are businesses that had a reasonable expectation for their deposits to be there, and we are not advocating for a bailout of SVB's management or equity holders.

We are asking for new regulation that would prevent this from occurring.

Many startups chose SVB because they were the ones willing to open a bank account for them at all.

I remember going to a branch of Bank of America to open a bank account for Posterous and not being able to.

The equity holders and management of SVB are likely to be wiped. In the petition we specifically call this out: we are not asking for their risks to be "socialized."

Depositors have a reasonable expectation that when they choose a bank (especially a publicly traded bank that is regulated) that their deposits are safe. If this is not true, then most people will only bank with the largest banks. That's not a good situation.

We're asking for depositors to be made whole and for regulation to prevent this from happening to depositors in the future.

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57341

We are advocating better regulation to prevent this from happening in the future. It's in the petition.

FWIW I've never had that perspective, so I'm not sure why you are saying that.

These are depositors of a bank. Most startups only have one bank.

Startups should live or die because they create good products and solve real problems in real markets, not because they made an arbitrary choice like which bank they started using.

There's also a real risk of bank contagion if it is only safe to deposit in the largest banks.

Twitter has been a tough one - I got involved in local politics which has been a challenge. Large accounts typically do have to block a lot to make it usable, and in particular I've had problems with folks doxxing my former home address (I had to sell that house and move), and making threats of violence against me.

I'm sorry if I got it wrong, and I am happy to unblock if I did get it wrong.

YES! I absolutely will! youtube.com/garrytan

I spent 5 years as a partner at Y Combinator previously, left to work on Initialized Capital (which is in good hands now with incredible early stage investors Jen Wolf and Brett Gibson), but now will be returning in the new year to work on the next phase of Y Combinator with many of my old friends and colleagues.

Believe it or not, my journey to Y Combinator started similar to how you may experience YC — through being a regular lurker and reader on Hacker News.

I went to Startup School, me and my cofounders applied, we got an interview, and we got in. I was an engineer, designer and PM. I'd built teams and products, but I'd never built a company.

YC gave me a shot, a community, knowhow, and the ability to access capital, talent, and customers.

YC changed my life. I want it to help a lot more people achieve their dreams and goals. It did for me, beyond my wildest dreams.

One answer: @dang

Can confirm we own a portion of Coinbase but not the whole thing (if only) :-)

Ideas are just a multiplier on execution. Derek Sivers was a big influence on startups when I came up in 2008. Classic: https://sive.rs/multiply

Derek Sivers says ideas are a multiplier on execution. Zero execution with 1000x idea still is equal zero. But the right execution with the right idea is magic.