Ask HN: Who got rejected in earlier cycles of YC application and made it anyway?

Post by p6 » Mon, Mar 15, 2010, 1:34 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #19

blader wrote: post #14

I was rejected the first time, got in the second time, but dropped out a week later to run a different company. We were profitable at 32 employees and got acquired by Zynga last month.

It is probably not an accident that this is phrased in such an odd way, with the subjects of the sentences missing. It should read " we got in the second time, but I dropped out a week later." What happened is that Siqi and a cofounder started YC, then a week in Siqi bailed and left his cofounder in the lurch because a side project of his had unexpectedly taken off. We suggested making the side project be the focus o…

Post by pg » Mon, Mar 15, 2010, 2:33 PM UTC

froo wrote: post #52

pg wrote: post #26

We've definitely missed good startups. But one advantage of having so many competitors is that we're much more likely now to learn when we screw up. When a startup from one of the other YC-like organizations does well, I often check their YC application to see how we missed them. Usually it's because they were good guys but working on a terrible idea, which they later changed. So in response to that we now make a con…

Ok, what about if the opposite was true? How do you handle situations where the idea is (in your opinion) great but the person is perhaps lacking for whatever reason? Is this a situation where you pass or do you take a proverbial punt? Have you done so in the past (don't need to name names to save someone's ego)

Post by gilesbowkett235 » Mon, Mar 15, 2010, 4:33 PM UTC

tophercyll wrote: post #18

I don't have a "YC missed out on investing in our insanely profitable company" story, but I did get rejected before finding myself at a YC company anyways. Evan Miller (emiller) and I applied for Summer 06. Evan had to do most of the work on our application because I had deadlines with my publisher on my Ruby book. I was proud that I was writing a book, so I mentioned it in my bio. In retrospect, I wonder if that doo…

Post by freshfunk » Mon, Mar 15, 2010, 6:09 PM UTC

SwellJoe wrote: post #30

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm, hold on a second. So I have a cofounder and a startup, but I also do little side projects here and there on my own, mostly for fun / learning. Am I to understand that if one of them blows up and I elect to leave and pursue that instead of my current startup, I've committed "treachery" against my cofounder? If my cofounder had something like that happen to him, I'd be incredibly happy for him (and a little jealou…

As in everything: It depends. I don't know this story beyond what two people have just said. But, I know that if I commit to something, I expect my co-founder to also be committed to it (within the bounds of what we've agreed upon). Working on other projects now and then is fine and normal...it's what hackers do. But, if you've committed to build a business with someone, it's not really the idea that makes the busine…

Post by SwellJoe » Mon, Mar 15, 2010, 6:24 PM UTC

freshfunk wrote: post #57

SwellJoe wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As in everything: It depends. I don't know this story beyond what two people have just said. But, I know that if I commit to something, I expect my co-founder to also be committed to it (within the bounds of what we've agreed upon). Working on other projects now and then is fine and normal...it's what hackers do. But, if you've committed to build a business with someone, it's not really the idea that makes the busine…

Good point. Maybe what happened was that he didn't know whether they'd get in YC or not so was OK with being part of the application. Then they found out they got in and he realized he had to make a decision between the two projects and it took him one week to make that decision.