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Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#101

Post by CRASCH »

Sorry to hear about the majority which all got a no. Keep your chins up and your hopes alive.

I would not worry about it. It might be time for a reality check though.

Step back and take a look at your idea. Does it have legs. Is it something that people want. Can you monetize it. Don't take your own opinion seriously, ask people if they would use it and see ads or pay for it. If you can't find anyone who would, come up with another idea.

Figure out what it would take to get to the next step. If the answer is a boatload of money or a team of people then it may be time to come up with another idea that has a lower bar to clear. If the answer is a couple of months of working nights for the founders go for it.

One more thing. I've been lurking here for awhile and I see the passion and desire to make things happen here all the time. It motivates me to work harder and make it happen for my project. I think this small community is a great virtual community. We can all use it to push each other to succeed. I know I am. I wonder how many YC rejects will succeed? I'm guessing a lot more than normal.

I couldn't apply with my reality. I'm too old. I need too much money. I can't move. etc...

But it does not matter. I will finish my project and I will release it and see if it has legs.

I can't wait to see more new products announced here by the YC rejects. I'll keep lurking...

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#103

Post by TheTarquin »

martythemaniak wrote: post #68

Got invited for an interview! :) This was actually my third time applying to YC. First time I applied (last summer) the application and idea were pretty crappy, so we never came close. We had a slightly better application during the winter round and almost got an interview. I guess the third time was the charm. This is great news of course, but it only increases your chances - the real test will be at the interview.

Congrats. A no go for us this time, but we'll rally the forces and try again next time around.

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#104

Post by bigbang »

aschobel wrote: post #29

Just got the "rejection" letter, I'm a bit disappointed I couldn't get the team reviewing the proposals as passionate about the project as I am. I think being a solo founder hurt me, but I've been working on the project full-time for four months (over 12k lines of code). This won't slow me down. =) What is your company going to make? We make it easy to jot something down from any device and then share that note with…

i like the concept. Right now, I email myself the small interesting tidbits i find or in some txt file which I later forget abt it. if executed well, i can see many ppl using it .or atleast me:)

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#105

Post by wheels »

schaaf wrote: post #52

When I was visiting Harvard one time before undergraduate college applications, my tour guide mentioned something that stuck with me -- that after a round of auditions for the highly selective a capella groups on campus, the students that were passed over for all the existing groups decided to band together and form a new group. And that that group ended up training more seriously and later that year came in first in…

I've just created a LinkedIn group for Hacker News (unrelated to this thread, but reading it reminded me I was planning on creating it). I'll post the details here and in a new article when it's live. I've also added my LinkedIn profile to my HC profile.

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#106

Post by hendler »

Got a no.

Hoping for some personalized feedback, some intel. When you are first starting out, generally that's the most important thing - since even if you get a "yes", what your going to get besides $5k+$5kN is lots of community and feedback. Cash can be burned through, especially that little. I mean, McAffee has a Stadium and computers still get viruses. But the truth, well, that's a bit more persistent.

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#107

Post by rms »

wheels wrote: post #105
schaaf wrote: post #52

When I was visiting Harvard one time before undergraduate college applications, my tour guide mentioned something that stuck with me -- that after a round of auditions for the highly selective a capella groups on campus, the students that were passed over for all the existing groups decided to band together and form a new group. And that that group ended up training more seriously and later that year came in first in…

I've just created a LinkedIn group for Hacker News (unrelated to this thread, but reading it reminded me I was planning on creating it). I'll post the details here and in a new article when it's live. I've also added my LinkedIn profile to my HC profile.

There is already a group with 150 members here:

http://www.linkedin.com/search?search=&sortCriteria=3&#3...

Does that link for people? I can't figure out a better way to link to it, it is called "Y Combinator News Group"

>The groups directory is not currently open. We are working on creating a searchable directory for all groups. If there are groups you wish to join, you may click on the group logo from the profile of a group member and request to join.

Looks like LinkedIn groups are mostly broken. So this is my profile, you can join the group if you click the group link in my profile. http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=7886605...

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#108

Post by wheels »

rms wrote: post #107
wheels wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've just created a LinkedIn group for Hacker News (unrelated to this thread, but reading it reminded me I was planning on creating it). I'll post the details here and in a new article when it's live. I've also added my LinkedIn profile to my HC profile.

There is already a group with 150 members here: http://www.linkedin.com/search?search=&sortCriteria=3&#3... Does that link for people? I can't figure out a better way to link to it, it is called "Y Combinator News Group" >The groups directory is not currently open. We are working on creating a searchable directory for all groups. If there are groups you wish to join, you may click on the group logo from the profile o…

Hmm, yeah, this seems pretty b0rked. Ok, I'll see if I can dig something up a little more useful.

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#109

Post by hendler »

schaaf wrote: post #52

When I was visiting Harvard one time before undergraduate college applications, my tour guide mentioned something that stuck with me -- that after a round of auditions for the highly selective a capella groups on campus, the students that were passed over for all the existing groups decided to band together and form a new group. And that that group ended up training more seriously and later that year came in first in…

Inspiring.

Re: Tell YC: Summer 08 decisions out

#110

Post by nextmoveone »

I didnt apply this time around, but...

You have to realize that while Hacker News may be a community, Y Combinator is actually business. Businesses tend to strive to efficient processes.

Applying to Y Combinator is like applying to any other competition, so don't take the lack of direct feedback personally. If you got a rejection letter, it didn't state things like "You didn't pursue enough extracurricular activities, plus the grammar in your essay was horrible".

I think that what people that werent accepted should do is become a part of this community. Because while you may not get feedback from your application, we will give that feedback, we will give you that support when you are down, we will be the first users of your website, heck we may even be your first competitors.

So, dont drop your idea or stop coming here because you werent accepted or didnt get feedback. It's not personal. Really.

Good Luck!

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