Ebay had ~20% of equity owned by outside investors at IPO. Oralce had 8.3% at IPO. There is an inverse relationship between outside investment and founder equity. VC funding should be seen as just another tool, not the goal of a startup. HN - for all it's benefits - sometimes obscures this basic fact.

I believe all three of them were profitable when they took their first outside investment. That seems to make a big difference.