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Is the Corporation a Dying Business Model?

An investment firm that generously funds startups in their early stages is creating a powerful network of resourceful and experienced businesspeople. Could it replace corporations?
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What’s the Latest Development?

A California investment firm that generously funds startups has created a wide community of professionals which, by combining the intellectual resources of many small companies, could replace our corporate model of business. Called Y Combinator, the firm’s co-founder Paul Graham describes the idea as a ‘peer-to-peer replacement’ for the traditional company. “Comparing himself to an air-traffic controller, Graham says much of his time is spend making introductions and helping the YC community solve problems within the network.”

What’s the Big Idea?

Y Combinator principally calls for new business ideas, investing about $18,000 into each startup it wants to fund. It is already responsible for innovative companies like Dropbox and Airbnb which, while certainly benefiting from the seed money, also drew on the unique talent pool of Y Combinator alumni. There are 317 new startups in the latest group of potential companies the firm has decided to fund. “Now,” says Graham, “you have 1,000 people you can go to to deal with problems, and you don’t have all the restrictions of a big company.”

Photo credit: shutterstock.com

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