[shagie]

https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/smallbusiness/1003/gall...

    Funding: Cereal sales; Y Combinator incubator
    Amount raised: $30,000 from cereal; $20,000 from Y Combinator
    Launched: August 2008

> Months later, the AirbnB team was accepted by the Y Combinator incubator, which gave them three months of support and training and an additional $20,000 to fly to New York -- their biggest market at the time -- to meet users, throw launch parties and promote the site. By the time they exited the incubator and presented their project to investors, AirBnB was profitable. In return, Y Combinator took an equity stake in the company. AirBnB's founders won't say exactly how much they gave up, but Y Combinator's typical deals involve a 2% to 10% stake.

The business model was valid before YC noticed them and they were profitable when they left after the incubator.