Most of us assume that success in early stage investing is based largely on the skill of the investor(s) in conducting due diligence, coaching their companies, building dealflow, etc. However, the best research to date shows that we have no strong evidence of a causal link.
My personal guess is that skill does play a role, but that we all over-emphasize it. I believe that just as Vanguard turned the public equity investing models on their head by replacing expensive fund managers with index-based investment, the angel world may be ripe for this as well.
That is where this article comes in. Some top players have decided to essentially play the index game by betting on ALL Y-combinator companies to the tune of $150k each, and under VERY generous terms.
This isn’t just an index bet. It’s an elite index, not unlike the difference between betting on all college seniors vs. all Harvard seniors: there was a lot of sorting on the way in, and a lot of prime education and connections en route.
If I had the money and the same connections, I’d do the same. Congrats to Yuri and Ron, and also to Y-Combinator.
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