> YC once tried an experiment of funding seemingly good founders with no ideas. I think every company in this no-idea track failed.
We were a no-idea company in the S12 batch. We ended up starting Streem [1], which was acquired by Box in 2014 [2] and ended up integrating and becoming Box Drive [3]. While we didn't build an enduring company, I'd say it was a moderate success by some metrics.
YC had two no-ideas in S12 and another one or two in W13 before they shut the track down. Unclear if that's enough data to spot a trend, but YC is smart and likely had other data to back up the decision. Looking back, it was a painful process to go from "no idea" to what eventually became Streem. I don't think I'd ever go and decide to start another company without an idea in the future.
The line about the experiment made me consider if "no ideas" is a symptom or a cause.
Borrowing from epidemiology, I think "no ideas" might be an effect modifier. That is, it is just an intermediate step when going from the exposing factor to the outcome (the outcome, we know, is failing start-ups). It would be interesting to know what the real proximal cause is, or at least a really good proxy for it.
Maybe YCombinator could benefit from the input of a biostatistician or similar statistical expert to design some cohort studies on start ups.
Didn't ycombinator pick a number of startups with bad ideas or non-ideas and encouraged them to pivot? Or encourage new teams to form around a different idea?
For example Reddit's original team wanted to do a "My Mobile Menu", and also Aaron Swartz pivoted from Infogami to merging with Reddit.
I would almost count this partially under the "no idea" category.
Glad to hear that you’re having a good experience with the Brex card! We would love to hear your feedback on the card, and what you would like to see in Brex Cash. We are doing a limited roll-out for Brex Cash, however, as YC alumni ourselves, we are prioritizing this community and would like the opportunity to show you the product and let you see for yourself if it’s a strong fit for your business. Shoot me an email: ritik [at] brex.com
> - checks are still a thing in business, what is remote deposit story?
You’re absolutely right - which is why are in the process of adding the capacity to send and receive checks. Remote deposit capture is what we're looking into for the "receive checks" piece.
> - ACH fraud a big thing - do you have ACH positive pay? Ie originator ID and limit?
Yes, we are able to offer ACH positive pay. Generally, per the payment network (NACHA) guidelines, if a fraudulent transaction is identified by Brex or by a customer, we are able to return it to the originating bank. This helps to prevent customers from ACH debit fraud, and allows us to keep track of potentially malicious activity for future transactions.
This may not solve your problem, but if you have a company entity registered in the US, we can support you no matter where you live or have your headquarters domesticated!
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'd just like to note my interest in building a narrow bank type credit union for individuals on top of Brex if enough core functionality is exposed programatically. Might end up at Bancorp in the interim though.
1) 1.6% or more yield on your cash balance. (Savings accounts in the US offer 0.06-0.16% interest on average.)
2) Zero fees on ACH and wire transfers. (Average wire fee is $23.)
3) Get Brex reward points every time you do a transaction. (Haven't seen an account give reward points for each transaction but I could be wrong.)
4) One account for all your deposits. (Typically have two accounts -- checking and savings -- with checking typically earning less yield and savings accounts having a transfer limit of 6 transactions/month).
5) Easy-to-use online interface designed to give you back time to run your business. (Of course, very easy for me to say this so I'll let the customer feedback do the talking as we roll Brex Cash out).
Living in Europe, if this is really true then the US banking system sucks even more than I thought.
What you describe is basically a normal (northern) European bank from the sound of it.
The only difference is the interest rate, in my own bank I get lower rate until I hit a certain threshold, but it's the same account and there are no limitations on withdrawals etc. If you offer 1.6% from the first dollar than that is slightly better.
Predatory lending and fraud isn't really a feature of business banking. Predatory and fraudulent lending isn't restricted to business - though perhaps may be more lucrative. Banks do rather have the deserved reputation of lending an umbrella to ask for it back should it rain.
The bullets the GP lists were standard features of the high street business accounts I've had. Didn't care about reward points, but I don't seek those on personal accounts either. :)
Yes, you get an account and routing number with your Brex Cash account, which you can enter into on Stripe (like you would your bank account's account/routing number) to receive your Stripe payouts.
It’s true that banks are able to offer money market fund sweeps, however, they are incentivized to hold funds as deposits (better for their bottom line), which often results in limitations on account activity, and checking account interest rates near 0%.
We built Brex Cash to give startups their time back -- so customers can spend time building their businesses, instead of optimizing deposits and spending across multiple bank accounts. Within the Brex Cash account, our goal is to provide startups with a safe and liquid place for their funds, with benefits of yield that larger companies are offered.
We were a no-idea company in the S12 batch. We ended up starting Streem [1], which was acquired by Box in 2014 [2] and ended up integrating and becoming Box Drive [3]. While we didn't build an enduring company, I'd say it was a moderate success by some metrics.
YC had two no-ideas in S12 and another one or two in W13 before they shut the track down. Unclear if that's enough data to spot a trend, but YC is smart and likely had other data to back up the decision. Looking back, it was a painful process to go from "no idea" to what eventually became Streem. I don't think I'd ever go and decide to start another company without an idea in the future.
[1] https://lifehacker.com/streem-offers-unlimited-cloud-storage...
[2] https://venturebeat.com/2014/06/16/box-acquires-streem-so-yo...
[3] https://www.box.com/drive