The Post-YC Slump
"At the end of a YC batch, the general consensus among the partners is that about 25% of the companies are on a trajectory that could lead to a multi-billion dollar company.  Of course, only a handful of them do.  Most go on to be decent or bad."<p>"You have to keep up a high level of intensity for many, many years."<p>Don't take this the wrong way /u/sama, but could it be that perhaps business models are the problem and not founders not grinding away for years on "real work"? 90% of startups fail [1] [2]. I am highly suspect of the idea that this is caused by teams not being committed or working on "fake work". More likely, markets shift, business models aren't viable, and so forth. This is not a case of people "not giving it their all".<p>[1] <a href="http://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-startups-fail?share=1" rel="nofollow">http://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-startups-fail?share=...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/01/16/90-of-startups-will-fail-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-10/" rel="nofollow">http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/01/16/90-of-start...</a><p>EDIT: Its been proven scientifically that people encounter diminising returns past 40-50 hour work weeks. [3] Don't encourage grinding harder. Encourage finding where to exert the most leverage, and hiring best people you can hire <i>today</i>. Quality people + automation leverage (your software) + quality marketing is a solid formula (but not a guarantee) for success. Luck, while no one wants to admit it, is a non-insignificant component of success ("right place at the right time").<p>[3] <a href="http://www.lostgarden.com/2008/09/rules-of-productivity-presentation.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.lostgarden.com/2008/09/rules-of-productivity-pres...</a>