Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future · chapter 7 · id zero-to-one-c7-03-y-combinators-portfolio-demons

“Y Combinator's portfolio demonstrates power law dynamics where a tiny fraction of companies account for the vast majority of total value.”

holdsconfidence: high⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending

Receipts

Paul Graham -- Black Swan Farming (2012)source alive

YC's returns are dominated by a few outliers. YC's returns from Dropbox and Airbnb alone would have made the entire portfolio profitable many times over, even if every other investment had gone to zero.

Y Combinator company database and public valuationssource alive

Combined YC company valuations exceeded $600B by mid-2020s. Airbnb ($75B+ IPO), Stripe ($50-95B private), DoorDash ($55B IPO), Coinbase ($15B+ IPO), Instacart, and Dropbox account for the overwhelming majority. Fewer than 20 companies out of 4,000+ represent over 75-80% of total

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