Adding a thought here. It's easy to find a reason not to apply. But 100% of the companies accepted into YC applied. Don't let any stat deter you, you have to start somewhere.
Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
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Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no evidence they're being actively deceptive.
Perhaps passively so? Colin has a point that it is hard to interpret this data honestly without an idea of what pre-acceptance (applicant) numbers look like. If the goal is to dispel myths about what's required to get into YC, then this is not the data to accomplish that. However, if the goal is to show that exceptional applicants that do not fit the myths can be accepted, then sure, this data shows that.
I don't know how anyone could think they're going to get into YC without being exceptional in some way.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#33Even though YC may be a good fit for me, I won't apply to YC because I can't afford (or don't want to) to uproot my life to go to SF or NYC for the duration. I expect this has a lot over overlap with the average age of applicant (or accepted participants.)
YC will invest in your company, and part of that money you should be able to use to reasonably live in the area.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#34The biggest surprise for me was this: "Misconception: YC doesn’t accept companies without revenue. S16: 50% were not making money when they applied." Which means 50% were already making money when accepted. Given that I'm guessing way less than 50% of applications are making money, this would seen to be a big advantage. Of course, I could be wrong on that too. :)
Ultimately what you want to do is de-risk the potential investment by showing that you have significant traction, and having actual paying customers is a great way to do that.
Absolutely. It's a great sign.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#35Without knowing how many applications meet each criterion, advertising how many YC companies meet those criteria is more misleading than helpful. If 95% of applications are from pre-revenue companies, then the 50/50 split between acceptees which are with/without revenue would indicate that companies with revenue are 19x more likely to be accepted; if half of applications are solo-founder, the fact that only 8.5% of a…
There's no evidence they're being actively deceptive.
By "actively deceptive" I included "knowingly posting misleading information". This is based on a presumption that they were aware of the base rate fallacy issue; maybe I was being too generous in that assumption.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#36Adding a thought here. It's easy to find a reason not to apply. But 100% of the companies accepted into YC applied. Don't let any stat deter you, you have to start somewhere.
100% of the companies accepted into YC applied
Is this true? I know companies have been accepted which didn't apply before the deadline, and IIRC one of the early YC companies got in basically because they bumped into one of the principals and were told "you should be part of YC".
I wouldn't be surprised if there have been a few companies which due to unusual circumstances got into YC without submitting a formal application.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#37I'm curious as to overlap in the portfolio. It is my understanding that VC firms wont typically invest in competing startups but if you see a competitor in the previous batch does that hurt your chances?
I know you have at least a couple areas where you have had overlap but I believe they were all at least separated by a year or two.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#38I'm curious as to overlap in the portfolio. It is my understanding that VC firms wont typically invest in competing startups but if you see a competitor in the previous batch does that hurt your chances?
I know you have at least a couple areas where you have had overlap but I believe they were all at lease separated by a year or two.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#39One more question: do you accept services oriented companies? I am confused by the typical YC mantra about scale and by this response: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12275696 . Services companies like consulting are difficult to scale but they can be interesting.
Re: Common Misconceptions About Applying to YC
#40Without knowing how many applications meet each criterion, advertising how many YC companies meet those criteria is more misleading than helpful. If 95% of applications are from pre-revenue companies, then the 50/50 split between acceptees which are with/without revenue would indicate that companies with revenue are 19x more likely to be accepted; if half of applications are solo-founder, the fact that only 8.5% of a…
Thanks for the feedback. With this post I was hoping to clarify misconceptions that might be used as reasons not to apply. I tried to avoid doing an analysis that could be interpreted as a playbook for getting into YC because it would result in the same issue: "If I'm not like X I shouldn't do YC." Anyway, thanks for the feedback and it's cool to know there's interest around YC data.
Counterpoint: if the data strongly suggest a set of profiles are far more likely to be accepted it is perfectly rational to evaluate one's own profile first against that information in order to assess the effort required to overcome differences and evaluate the risk.