My team and I were rejected back in the day for our first startup idea, which ultimately didn't work but we eventually pivoted to a company now doing $100M+ in annual revenues. I don't really blame YC for the rejection as the original idea probably wasn't very good, but just pointing it out there that you can still be really successful without being in YC.
Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
51–60 of 61 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#52I 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…
Do you have any blog posts about how you got started? I'm interested in how tech people can get started in more traditional businesses.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you tell us what the startups did - "legal space" is very large and it's nice to know of successful bootstrap ideas - I think it helps me look out the window for my own
Imagine you get a speeding ticket and wanted to hire a lawyer to fight it (not exactly sure if traffic tickets in the UK what they are in the US...basically a tax on the populace). Here is the problem : to hire a lawyer, you must discuss your case with a human from the law firm who can evaluate the facts and generate a fee. In other words for a legal fee to be competitive you obviously can't charge the same for a sea…
Perfect - thank you. There are probably a whole heap of legal and other bureaucratic areas open to this approach - will keep an eye out.
Car park fines being one obvious one. Claiming for late train arrivals (seriously)
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a testament to this advertising machine we're currently posting on.
It's actually fascinating along those lines how much of a halo is around something that you read everyday and pay attention to. For example I don't read reddit and never have. If I sat on a plane next to someone important from reddit (except for Alexis) I could care less. But if I sat on a plane next to someone from YC (or even a top commenter on HN) I would definitely be all into talking to them because of the halo.
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Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#55I 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…
This is not just a YC thing, it's par for the course for most SV VC's. Their MO is to spread lots of bets around, expecting 99% of those bets will go to 0, 0.9% may just break even, and 0.1% may be the next Google, Facebook, etc. and make back far more than all their other losses combined. That's a bit of a simplification and exaggeration, but the general idea is that if you want to raise money in SV you need a plaus…
This is a great comment, and I whole heartedly agree that the questions you are asking are along the lines of what most VC's will have in their heads.
I don't see my business as solving any real problems. But I believe you don't need to solve real problems to have a business. I can very well frame my business as one that solves a problem, but that would be marketing speak rather than reality. There are billion dollar companies that don't solve problems and that's esp. true in the apparel industry.
I'm not going to delve any further into my thinking of the 'problem solving' approach because there is a more important point that was possibly misunderstood in my original comment. A lot of the responses to my comment are based around the merits of the idea itself, but YC has been pretty clear that they fund people over ideas. The way I look at it, the idea is just a medium for them to get to know the founder(s). There is no such thing as a 'billion dollar idea'. Most billion dollar businesses did not become that way over a short period of time [1], esp. not in the apparel industry. Every company started with something small and what you do in your initial years is just the stepping stone of creating opportunities to become something bigger.
But back to the point - I believe YC uses your idea to understand the founder, and my point was that one of the traits they look for is the founders ability to clearly articulate what their business will look like in ten years. The emphasis here is on the founder's characteristics rather than the merit of the idea itself. So, while I agree with your thought process on what a VC looks for, I disagree that YC looks for the same thing. That's why they are an incubator rather than a VC firm.
On a less related note: I don't apply to YC for the sake of raising funding. My company generates enough revenues, and we have enough positive cash flow and great credit terms with vendors. The value addition I seek from YC is more to do with better figuring out the business rather than access to capital. The reason YC is the only investor I talk to is a very personal one: My company would not exist without HN. I don't have a background in engineering, but since I started reading HN 5 years ago, I really resonated with the community (although I never participated). Back in those days, there used to be more front page articles about startups and the community seemed more tight-knit. I started learning how to code through codeacademy and that was the inflection point that gave me the confidence that I can actually build things, which eventually resulted in me building YA. I worked with many YC companies and still do business with some of them. So, the real reason I apply to YC is because I've gotten a ton of value from it's community and naturally want to have a closer association to them and the partners that run the organization. The sad part is that as they grow bigger (which is better for the world), the appeal of being in the insider community gets smaller. I just hope I get to participate in a cycle before that feeling goes away all together.
[1] Companies like Uber & Airbnb are exceptions
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#56I 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…
Do you have any blog posts about how you got started? I'm interested in how tech people can get started in more traditional businesses.
I don't but I plan to write about it soon. I've written some articles in the past that will give you some idea (links below), but I now have supplementary thoughts that I want to add to those articles to give a more complete picture.
https://medium.com/@arbabmazumdar/3-things-i-learnt-while-bo...
https://medium.com/the-crowdfunding-bible/how-i-raised-250-0...
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#57One 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 focuse…
Plus one on that. Also because YC already had a similar bet in this area.
Oh yeah I forgot about that, you're right
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#58You have to define success. YC is a big accelerant for the right kind of founder and ideas. It doesn't mean all other kinds of founders and ideas are bad - they just have to be able to stand on their own legs to remain sustainable (profitable) and meet their success criteria.
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not just a YC thing, it's par for the course for most SV VC's. Their MO is to spread lots of bets around, expecting 99% of those bets will go to 0, 0.9% may just break even, and 0.1% may be the next Google, Facebook, etc. and make back far more than all their other losses combined. That's a bit of a simplification and exaggeration, but the general idea is that if you want to raise money in SV you need a plaus…
This is a great comment, and I whole heartedly agree that the questions you are asking are along the lines of what most VC's will have in their heads. I don't see my business as solving any real problems. But I believe you don't need to solve real problems to have a business. I can very well frame my business as one that solves a problem, but that would be marketing speak rather than reality. There are billion dollar…
Good observations, will keep that in mind too if I ever apply, and good luck!
Re: Ask HN: What are some examples of successful companies rejected by YC?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm a runner, and just ordered two pairs of socks! seems like a great business to me. I have no insight into what could/couldn't be a billion dollar business, but I'm also positive that not every successful company needs to be a billion dollar business.
I'd really like to hear a followup on how these socks compare to Thorlos and Balegas.
I like the socks quite a lot. they are much thinner and more lightweight than balegas, but they fit my foot a bit better and they breathe really great.
If you like a thinner sock, these are the best I've tried.