Ask HN: Can being a failed YC company hurt you?

1 points by barnabees 5 years ago | 1 comment

I was looking through the list of inactive companies on Y Combinator's startup directory and got to wondering: does it hurt to be an inactive company in their directory? Like, will potential future investors see that your last company failed and hold that against you?

elros 5 years ago |

Disclaimer: I've never founded anything that required investment nor have I joined any companies that made a significant exit, though I have been involved in creating material used to attract investors as well as meetings to discuss funding rounds in places I was involved with, some of which were successful in achieving that goal.

I'd say that no, it wouldn't hurt you. Everyone fails more often than succeeds, and being in such a list shows that you have presumably a higher amount of connections and experience than someone who is not there. With failure also comes learning, which is something that should be kept in mind. Additionally the fact you have failed before (and learned from it) and are still going at it shows resilience and determination.

Do take my thoughts with a grain of salt given I'm involved in the European/Latam scenes which may function differently from the SV scene.