48 Hours

It was two days before Demo Day at Y Combinator and Daniel Gross had moved from product to product like I had changed majors at college. The guy had nothing for Demo Day. The textbook thing to do for Paul Graham was to say, you know what, you had your 12 weeks, tough, you are out. But Paul Graham took the road not taken, and that made all the difference.

Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited

Greplin happened during the final 48 hours.

Jessica Mah: The Most Promising 19 Year Old Tech Entrepreneur In America

Or maybe she is 20 now. But still. Daniel Gross and Jessica Mah you have you to watch out for. Jessica's InDinero, the Mint.com for businesses, is headed for a hundred million plus kind of exit in a few years. Daniel will be swimming in the billion dollar range, if only because his product, Greplin, is just more fundamental. But Jessica has started by monetizing from day one. Three years from now they will not be by the roadside, a has been. They will be bigger than anything we can imagine right now.

Chris Dixon Is In The Big Leagues Now

Chris Dixon Just Impressed Me Like Never Before
Screw Twitter, Screw Facebook
Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited

EatUps Don't Seem To Have A Monthly Rhythm

Image via CrunchBaseToday has been my day for New York City, for Microfinance, for Greplin.

Chris Dixon Just Impressed Me Like Never Before
Screw Twitter, Screw Facebook
Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited
Very Much Would Like To Go Into Bihar
Some Serious Biking
TED Talks: Wael Ghonim, Bill Gates
Passion For Microfinance, Passion For Social Media
Walking/Running: Putting One Foot After The Other
Love Is A Symbol
Going High Tech: Selfish Reasons
Microfinance Alone Can't Cure Poverty
Focus, Focus, Focus
I Love This City

But last night I was at the First FoodSpotting First Friday. I was surprised by how many people showed up. At one point I counted 31 people.

Chris Dixon Just Impressed Me Like Never Before

Image by Zach Klein via FlickrFor Chris Dixon to have been an early investor in Greplin, I mean I am mighty impressed. You have to have been party of some kind of an inner circle, you have to have earned your way to being part of that inner circle. Being part of that inner circle was not enough. I mean, the Y Combinator companies present in front of lots and lots of angels and investors. To be able to spot Greplin for the winner that it is, early on, I mean, I am impressed.

Take this for a compliment Dixon. You are even more impressive than I already thought you were. You just earned your Super Angel title in my world. Super Angels pay super attention to the really, really early stage companies. They go straight to the source. They put their ears to the ground. And then listen. For the horse hooves.

Screw Twitter, Screw Facebook
Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited

Screw Twitter, Screw Facebook

My number one gripe with both Twitter and Facebook - services I love - has been that - fuck it - I can't even search through all of my own tweets, I can't even search through my own Facebook wall.

Looks like they both needed an outside party to come along and take care of the problem. Daniel Gross, you are a billionaire for doing this.

Greplin



Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited

Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited

Image via CrunchBaseDon't get me wrong. I am and have been huge on Paul Graham and Y Combinator. Recently I read the name of a friend - 19 years old - in a magazine article. She apparently had graduated from Y Combinator and had just raised a million dollars in funding. I emailed her. Hey, is that you? Yes, it is me, she said. You should also raise money, right now is a great time to do so.

Paul Graham, Brad Feld, Me, BBC

But I have said at this blog a few times that I don't see any iconic company emerging out of Y Combinator. Y Combinator has had a propensity to produce middling companies. A $200 million exist is not impressive.

Greplin

And let me make it very clear I have not been reading up on Y Combinator companies. There must be gems being spewed out every few months. But I only read about companies that show up in the news.