{"id":1903,"date":"2014-08-16T16:40:08","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T20:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.renthop.com\/news\/?p=1903"},"modified":"2014-08-16T16:41:09","modified_gmt":"2014-08-16T20:41:09","slug":"demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twice a year, Y Combinator holds\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0to officially debut and graduate a batch of startups presenting to investors and press. \u00a0An event called\u00a0Alum\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day takes place the night before. \u00a0It’s the last chance for the startups to practice and rehearse their presentations to a field of YC alums [1].<\/p>\n

Next Tuesday is the 19th YC\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day. \u00a0Mine was the 9th, in the summer of 2009 (usually called S’09). Back then 26 companies presented for about 6 minutes and YC partners encouraged\u00a0us\u00a0all to include live demos of our product if possible (apparently the audience pays much more attention if there is some chance of the\u00a0demo\u00a0going awry).<\/p>\n

In more modern times, over 80 companies deliver\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0speeches lasting only 2-3 minutes, each deck running off a shared computer with screenshots, graphs, and occasionally videos and physical stage props (robots on a Segway or Back To The Future like hover boards).<\/p>\n

Even more drastic than the format, the audience at\u00a0Alum\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0now spans representatives from 9 years of \u00a0founders (and I definitely see 05 through 08 alums in addition to my fellow S’09 batch mates). \u00a0Some alums have long sold their startups and become angel investors. \u00a0Others graduated only 6 months prior. \u00a0In any event, a nearly standing-room only audience of founders fills the auditorium each session and I’m perplexed by a simple question: \u00a0What\u00a0keeps\u00a0everyone coming back?<\/p>\n

Obviously, first and foremost, we are there to help our fellow YC founders. \u00a0All of\u00a0us\u00a0received tremendous amounts of aid from the YC community and we love giving back whenever we can. \u00a0Still, with literally hundreds of founders in attendance, are there other benefits for attending\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day? \u00a0 Here are my guesses, mostly my own reasons for going, and I’d love to hear from other alums and compile some results:<\/p>\n

1.)<\/strong> \u00a0Mini-reunion with other YC Alums<\/strong> — It’s always great to see my batch mates but we’re often very busy running our startups! \u00a0Twice a year is a great frequency to hold a reunion and\u00a0Alum\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0becomes a great catalyst and rally point.<\/p>\n

2.) \u00a0Scout the latest wave of ideas<\/strong> – We know many YC companies pivot mid-program and others iterate and refine niche ideas into grand visions. In any case, many of the startups spent time scouting out the latest and most promising pitches. \u00a0I consider the evening a tour of the newest ideas swirling around Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

3.) \u00a0Early Look for Angel Investing<\/strong> – Quite a few alums make occasional angel investments. \u00a0In all of my (very few) angel deals, I only invest a tiny amount in companies that happen to interest me. \u00a0I probably wouldn’t have even made it into the round had I not introduced myself to the founders prior to the swarm of professionals on\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day.<\/p>\n

4.) \u00a0Meet with YC partners<\/strong> – A great YC benefit is lifetime office hours as needed. \u00a0Usually that entails giving some high-level updates and asking a few specific questions about the road ahead. \u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0is a terrible night for office hours because the partners are preoccupied, but it’s a great chance for a quick chat and follow up to get on the calendar.<\/p>\n

5.) \u00a0Watching your friends graduate<\/strong> – I had several close friends participate in earlier batches than me. \u00a0That’s how I first heard about YC and decided to apply. \u00a0Over the years I’ve encouraged many friends to follow and it’s always great to see them on stage. \u00a0Don’t worry, I believe admissions to YC is as merit-based as can be, but like lines in a fraternity, the social connections between alums are quite complex [2].<\/p>\n

6.) Bdev, Sales, and Networking<\/strong> – Fellow YC companies make great beta testers, service providers, and business development partners. \u00a0By default I trust a YC company far more than most startups to do right, whether it’s going the extra mile to seal the deal on a partnership or to give excellent customer service if we try their product. \u00a0Also, the event is founders-only so everyone can be sure they are talking with top level decision-makers.<\/p>\n

7.) \u00a0Excuse to visit the South Bay<\/strong>\u00a0– Our startup is in New York and increasingly more alums are moving here. \u00a0However, during the 3 month program almost every event takes place in Mountain View, CA. \u00a0I have many fond memories living on Castro Street, but I’ll admit it’s a trek. \u00a0Maybe the SF dwellers think the same way.<\/p>\n

These are roughly my top 7 reasons for attending the last 4 Alum\u00a0Demo\u00a0Days. \u00a0I’m sure others have great reasons I haven’t considered. \u00a0As usual, I’ve booked my tickets and fly from NYC tonight! \u00a0I hope\u00a0to see many familiar faces next Monday!<\/p>\n

[1] \u00a0Some people hear the term Alum Demo Day and think it’s a YC sponsored event for older, previously graduated YC companies to present to investors. \u00a0 Maybe that’s a fine idea, but the only companies presenting in this batch is the current class.<\/p>\n

[2] \u00a0Fast Company once tried to create a social graph of many YC Alums, but they quickly found the web extremely complex and intertwined. \u00a0They finally went to print with an infographic called Y Connector, but they had to cut out almost all of the people and some of the most interesting connections (http:\/\/infographics.fastcompany.com\/magazine\/163\/y-connector-xl.html<\/a>).<\/p>\n

By Lee Lin, one of the co-founder of\u00a0RentHop<\/a>, a marketplace for apartments rentals<\/a>, that participated in the Summer 2009 batch of Y Combinator.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twice a year, Y Combinator holds\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0to officially debut and graduate a batch of startups presenting to investors and press. \u00a0An event called\u00a0Alum\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day takes place the night before. \u00a0It’s the last chance for the startups to practice and rehearse their presentations to a field of YC alums [1]. Next Tuesday is the 19th YC\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day. \u00a0Mine was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-entrepreneurship"},"yoast_head":"\nDemo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back - Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Twice a year, Y Combinator holds\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0to officially debut and graduate a batch of startups presenting to investors and press. \u00a0An event called\u00a0Alum\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day takes place the night before. \u00a0It’s the last chance for the startups to practice and rehearse their presentations to a field of YC alums [1]. Next Tuesday is the 19th YC\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day. \u00a0Mine was […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/renthopapartments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-16T20:40:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-08-16T20:41:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lee Lin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@renthop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@renthop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lee Lin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lee Lin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5877a1d4b27a98e84d9840c6aea99af7\"},\"headline\":\"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-16T20:40:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-16T20:41:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/\"},\"wordCount\":904,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Entrepreneurship\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/\",\"name\":\"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back - Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-16T20:40:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-16T20:41:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides\",\"description\":\"Real Estate Blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RentHop\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/renthop-logo-2022-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/renthop-logo-2022-1.png\",\"width\":1044,\"height\":266,\"caption\":\"RentHop\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/renthopapartments\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/renthop\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/renthop\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@renthopofficial\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5877a1d4b27a98e84d9840c6aea99af7\",\"name\":\"Lee Lin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b4b1bbaae3cb6097f29213cbd5fd183?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b4b1bbaae3cb6097f29213cbd5fd183?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lee Lin\"},\"description\":\"Lee is a data geek from MIT who spent years at quantitative hedge funds cranking out models to explain and predict financial markets. Real estate has always been a big part of Lee's life. He grew up helping out at his parents' Jersey Shore motels, became a landlord his first year out of college, analyzed mortgages on a fixed-income trading desk, and acquired a New York real estate license. At RentHop, he combines his nerd talents and real estate knowledge to constantly tweak the secret HopScore. He currently lives near Bryant Park and his favorite restaurant was Cafe Zaiya (now known as Tomiz).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/author\/lee\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back - Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back","og_description":"Twice a year, Y Combinator holds\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day\u00a0to officially debut and graduate a batch of startups presenting to investors and press. \u00a0An event called\u00a0Alum\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day takes place the night before. \u00a0It’s the last chance for the startups to practice and rehearse their presentations to a field of YC alums [1]. Next Tuesday is the 19th YC\u00a0Demo\u00a0Day. \u00a0Mine was […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/","og_site_name":"Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/renthopapartments","article_published_time":"2014-08-16T20:40:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-08-16T20:41:09+00:00","author":"Lee Lin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@renthop","twitter_site":"@renthop","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lee Lin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/"},"author":{"name":"Lee Lin","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5877a1d4b27a98e84d9840c6aea99af7"},"headline":"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back","datePublished":"2014-08-16T20:40:08+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-16T20:41:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/"},"wordCount":904,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Entrepreneurship"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/","url":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/","name":"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back - Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-08-16T20:40:08+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-16T20:41:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/demo-day-why-hundreds-of-y-combinator-alums-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Demo Day: Why hundreds of Y Combinator alums keep coming back"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/","name":"Real Estate Topics, Tips, and Guides","description":"Real Estate Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"RentHop","url":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/renthop-logo-2022-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/renthop-logo-2022-1.png","width":1044,"height":266,"caption":"RentHop"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/renthopapartments","https:\/\/x.com\/renthop","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/renthop","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@renthopofficial"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5877a1d4b27a98e84d9840c6aea99af7","name":"Lee Lin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b4b1bbaae3cb6097f29213cbd5fd183?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b4b1bbaae3cb6097f29213cbd5fd183?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lee Lin"},"description":"Lee is a data geek from MIT who spent years at quantitative hedge funds cranking out models to explain and predict financial markets. Real estate has always been a big part of Lee's life. He grew up helping out at his parents' Jersey Shore motels, became a landlord his first year out of college, analyzed mortgages on a fixed-income trading desk, and acquired a New York real estate license. At RentHop, he combines his nerd talents and real estate knowledge to constantly tweak the secret HopScore. He currently lives near Bryant Park and his favorite restaurant was Cafe Zaiya (now known as Tomiz).","url":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/author\/lee\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Allyson Waddell","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18040,"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions\/18040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}