Y The founders of the combinator who collect less money, a signal to “change vibration”, says VC

The silicone valley is captured by the perspective of AI, not only as a performance enhancer, but also as a catalyst for the creation of successful companies with much more team teams than in the past.

Stories are full of startup companies quickly reaching tens of millions of revenue with the number of number only 20 peopleS With less overhead costs, some start -ups may be inspired to accept less at risk funding, especially at the most stages.

Terrence Rohan, an investor with an otherwise fund that has been investing in Y Combinator since 2010, says he noticed a “change of vibration” from some founders in the current account of the famous accelerator.

He described how one founder feels about this on x Last week: “People climbed Everest and needed oxygen. Today, people climb it without oxygen. I want to do Everest and use as little oxygen (VC) as possible. ”

This founder did not say this just because of a lack of interest in VC. The circle was signed, said Rohan, which means that a lot of VC requested in.

The Smart Founder was the reaction of Alexis Ohanian, the founder of the VC Seven Sien Six company and Reddit co -founder.

Increasing less money the founders maintain a larger share of ownership of their companies. Doing this, the founders are giving themselves a smoother business and may eventually come out of options, Rohan told TechCrunch. In fact, it becomes more and more for startup companies for YC to raise less capital than they are offered by investors, TechCrunch reported last yearS

Less funding, big mistake?

But Parker Conrad, co -founder and CEO of Rippling, launching HR Tech with a $ 13.4 billion estimatedHe did not agree that the existence of less capital would help the start to succeed.

“The way this will be played is a competitor, will collect a lot of funding, invest more deeply in research and development, build a better product, and will absolutely crush this person with sales and marketing. You have to play the game on the pitch, ”he wrote on xS

While building a good product with a small engineering team may be possible, Conrad points out that having more funding can accelerate the growth of the company.

Rohan told TechCrunch that Conrad’s Point is classic, but he thinks “the game on the pitch is changing.”

“People get to significant revenue faster and less people, and it is a belief that they can maintain these revenue with less people,” Rohan said.

It is early on the AI ​​market to say if Rohan and the founders of the uptakes are right. Initial examples suggest that rapid growth companies still increase as much as they can.

For example, AnySphere, which makes the popular AI coding assistant cursor, It has been reported to have reached $ 100 million In annual recurrent revenue (ARR) earlier this year with a team of only 20 people. AnySphere is reported in conversations Secure capital When a $ 10 billion estimated only months after it raised its previous round.

Meanwhile, Elevenlabs, startup for AI power, hit a similar ARR with only 50 people. The company has announced its Series C of $ 180 million When a $ 3.3 billion estimated in January, a circle that was probably provided when the company’s ARR was around $ 80 millionAs TechCrunch reports earlier.

Meanwhile, the main composition of AnySphere has increased to 90 people and eleven to 200, according to data provided by Pitchbook.

Other startups of AI They also provide financing at a fast pace, demonstrating that startup companies are still eager to accumulate capital, even if they maintain a relatively low staff size.

“They are very charming and convincing and throw money,” Rohan said, adding that these companies are likely to receive low dilution funding, which means they are not giving up considerable property.

But the founders of YC are now much more aware of the pros and cons of risk capital, he said.

Many start -ups that provide funding for inflated estimates in 2020 and 2021, were later forced to raise capital with significantly more estimates known as a circle down.

It may be more important that raising a lot of risk capital from Elite VC companies is no longer the goal for some YC founders.

“It’s just a different tone and conversation against” I want to lift this circle and then I want to have Sequoia and Benchmark to lead my Serie A, “Rohan said.