[gsharm]

Big successes and sustainable businesses aren't necessarily the same thing. This is an important distinction because a sustainable business is a viable option for many, and "big success" isn't. And the biggest ones are going to leapfrog such schemes anyway. It's like American Idol for programmers. What you're doing is interesting, but it's questionable whether it's promoting the right values.

[robryan]

Seems more like the big goal is to become a big success in their own right. If that doesn't come about then either a fairly big exit or a talent acquisition is much better for all parties than calling it quits.

[pg]

Big successes and sustainable businesses aren't necessarily the same thing.

I'm not sure what you mean by "sustainable businesses," but if you mean profitable businesses, big successes necessarily are that.

[enjo]

Is that true? Was Photobucket or MySpace a "big success"? They certainly sold for a lots of money, but profitable was never a strong suit was it?

[pg]

By big successes I mean companies big enough to go public.

[tatsuke95]

Honest question: by that definition, how many YC companies have been big successes?

I scanned this list, and don't see many public companies... http://yclist.com/

[dot]

I guess Airbnb and Dropbox could go public if they wanted. The stock market likes companies that print money!

[gsharm]

Yes, but profitable businesses aren't necessarily big successes.