[sabj]

Here's a question to PG:

I can imagine many reasons, but I'd be interested to hear from you why you chose to share these numbers at this time?

[portman]

Possibly prompted by PG's interview with Charlie Rose last week on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt.

I was present, and a two things were clear from the interview:

1. Charlie Rose had a few wildly incorrect assumptions about YC. (e.g. "so, to date, you've invested, what, $100M?")

2. Paul Graham had not given a lot of thought to aggregate numbers. When asked, he about total the total value of the YC portfolio, he could only guess.

Edit: interview link http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/14928956

[pg]

Yes, the interview I mention in the first sentence of the post was the Charlie Rose interview. When he asked how we were doing, I quoted some numbers based on a back of the envelope calculation that turned out to be way off (an underestimate, fortunately).

[portman]

BTW, I found that interview very enlightening.

I hadn't realized how nice you are. Your real-life persona completely contradicts the caricature I had developed in my mind after years of reading your essays.

I was expecting Vulcan (hyper-smart, non-sentimental), but instead got Camp Counselor (humble, encouraging).

You should do more on-stage stuff.

[pg]

Seeming Vulcan is probably an artifact of conciseness.