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Ask HN: Has YC ever accepted an ecommerce startup?

3 points by diolpah ↗ HN
Web retail is my industry, and I am fully aware of how unsexy it is compared to the plethora of mobile, social, and saas startups that have been the mainstay of YC's selections.

That said, it's also a very profitable industry, and there's no reason that a YC-funded ecommerce company can't be wildly successful. Yet, as far as I can tell by reviewing yclist.com, they have never accepted one. Am I blind, am I missing something, or is there something fundamental about the web retail model that YC absolutely hates?

5 comments

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revorad
I doubt YC would turn down a Bezos. I think you've built amazing businesses with Ties.com and Scarves.com. Apply to YC. Keep kicking ass anyway.
diolpah
Thank you for the sentiment, but I have no intention of applying.

I was just curious why the list appears to be so devoid of ecommerce companies. I strongly suspect the answer is somewhere along the lines of "same reason Henry Ford didn't manufacture buggy whips".

Besides, giving up 6% at only a $283k valuation would be insane, no matter how great the YC network is :)

staunch
You may want to negotiate a better deal than that, but I doubt you're so far along that it would be "insane".

http://www.paulgraham.com/equity.html

diolpah
staunch, I wish I could upvote you more. This is an excellent article you linked to, and it may very well be the case that the YC network adds sufficient value to make up for the "insane" valuation. Thank you.

That said, I'm still hoping for an answer to the original question. I find the lack of ecommerce companies very strange.

staunch
I know the answer: Yes they would absolutely invest in an ecommerce retailer company. They have no "categories" or "types" they avoid religiously.

The filter isn't "ecommerce" but whether it's a "scalable" idea or not.

They might ask "How could you envision your company becoming Really Big in the future?"

Bezos would have said "We're doing books now, but our plan is to be the Wal-Mart of the web".

If you can convincingly argue that your niche businesses in scarves/ties are the gateway to a scalable business you would probably be a good candidate for YC.