One very interesting example I know is Algolia. They first applied when they were very early stage, in 2013 if I'm correct. They got rejected mainly because of their poor ability to track user metrics. Then they re-applied in 2014 and got selected for the Winter batch. Last year they raised $18M after an epic roadshow with all key VCs sending termsheets. My opinion is that YC strongly values your ability to be focused, execute and track/analyze data instead of technology and product/market fit - especially in early stages.
Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
11–20 of 61 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#12A key rejection metric that's likely more important than YC is whether new companies are getting new customers or not. It's convenient that YC also likes this metric.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#13SendGrid and Buffer are the two biggest I have heard of. Surely there must be more? Otherwise either their success picking good companies is amazing or the program itself is a huge advantage?
Buffer is a pretty remarkable company that kinda took me by surprise.
I dismissed it initially as just another business trying to capitalize on the social media frenzy
Since then, they've become a really solid product with a $10M revenue run rate.
More important has been their efforts towards transparency.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#14We've been turned down twice with ConferenceBadge.com, once at the interview. It's now projected to make around $750 000/year. We were rejected for good reasons, it's definitely not a billion dollars business. More recently we've been rejected three times with Missive, ( https://missiveapp.com ), still not financially successful, but starting to receive a pretty good vibe from early users + big potential. I wrote abo…
> ConferenceBadge.com ... projected to make around $750 000/year
Nice ! Love how the quarters accumulate (reference to your $.25 pricing per badge)
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#15SendGrid and Buffer are the two biggest I have heard of. Surely there must be more? Otherwise either their success picking good companies is amazing or the program itself is a huge advantage?
Revenue details of Buffer : https://buffer.baremetrics.com/
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#16Good founders use rejection for information and motivation. I'm pretty sure the list will be large.
This might not be the best place complain about this, but unless you get an interview with YC, its not a great way to get information or motivation.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#17> YCombinator is not the only way to launch a startup It would be a stretch to even say it's a common way to launch a startup
It's a testament to this advertising machine we're currently posting on.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#18We've been turned down twice with ConferenceBadge.com, once at the interview. It's now projected to make around $750 000/year. We were rejected for good reasons, it's definitely not a billion dollars business. More recently we've been rejected three times with Missive, ( https://missiveapp.com ), still not financially successful, but starting to receive a pretty good vibe from early users + big potential. I wrote abo…
> We were rejected for good reasons, it's definitely not a billion dollars business.
That's an important point. YC is an investor, and they're going to reject otherwise good ideas because they may not fit the YC investment profile and objectives. It's not necessarily a judgment on the business.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#19I applied to YC six times over the last 2.5 years with the same idea - https://yathletics.com . Got rejected every time but interviewed with them twice. The first time I applied was before I launched our first product and had $0 in revenue. The last time I applied, our yearly revenue was almost $1M, and we're still just getting started.
The reason for rejection was same at both times - I didn't have a clear strategy of how to grow my company into a big business. (For those that don't know, YC gives you a pretty clear explanation of why they rejected you and what they want you to do better.)
We make products that our users absolutely love and have seen phenomenal growth, and YC understands that. But it seems like it's very important to them that you are able to clearly articulate what your business will look like in ten years when it's a billion dollar company.
I have no doubt that I will make my company into a billion dollar business. But I simply don't know how I will take over the world yet. I strategize what needs to be done over the next 1 year and focus only on that. Sure, it might not be a trait for successful founders, but I firmly believe that staying focused on building great products is key to my business. The vision for how I will turn this into a billion dollar company will gradually come with time.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#20I suppose Pinboard counts. :-p