YC applications for Winter 2017 are due a week from today and I like to answer questions about applying to YC.
I'm also happy to answer questions about anything else!
EDIT: Going to bed; thanks everyone!
I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
1–10 of 458 posts
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#2Do you think we'll be seeing more and more XaaS-like businesses growing ? Or do you think we'll move away from selling APIs ?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#3Does the likelihood of getting into YC increases after you have been rejected five times consecutively?
serious question
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#4Does the likelihood of getting into YC increases after you have been rejected five times consecutively? serious question
I don't think it increases or decreases. We've had companies get in after 5 rejections and sometimes do badly and sometimes do really well.
The negative signal for us is you apply 5 times in a row without anything improving or changing.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#5How well suited is YC for a company that only expect to have YC itself as investor?
i.e. might have no interest in presenting at demo day or pursue any further fundraising, but instead look for profitability and self-investment as the path to growth.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#6Do you think we'll be seeing more and more XaaS-like businesses growing ? Or do you think we'll move away from selling APIs ?
I think this trend is likely to continue for a very long time.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#7How well suited is YC for a company that only expect to have YC itself as investor? i.e. might have no interest in presenting at demo day or pursue any further fundraising, but instead look for profitability and self-investment as the path to growth.
We care that a company might eventually be huge. Usually that requires raising more money, but if it doesn't, that would be ok with us.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#8You (and by extension YC) always seem to mostly focus on the success stories of the alumni/group. Have you or will you consider talking about the failures? If you can't do it, is there a reason why?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#9When interviewing, what key points are you looking for?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of YC Group. AMA
#10How do you identify small but fast-growing markets?
Is it a good/bad idea to found a startup in a market that is no longer saturated but also has big players (such as social media?