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Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

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Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#11

Post by mrburton »

joeblau wrote: post #6

I've been rejected from YC at every stage, but I still think there is a lot of value in building relationships with the community. There are tons of people from all sides of the spectrum that you can learn from and apply again. Also YC gives away so many of their secrets if you just pay attention and know where to look.

I feel the same way. I'm moving to Mountain View and wouldn't have an issue helping companies that need it.

It's emotionally hard even with YC Family supporting you.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#12

Post by loceng »

BIackSwan wrote: post #9

Would love to see the anti portfolio list of YC.[1] FWIW - We have been rejected 3 times from YC over the last 3 years. We did not take it personally as OP said, put our heads down and got working on our startup. After lot of hard work, setbacks and near death experiences, we are now currently growing ~10% MoM and generating millions in ARR. YC or any other investor/accelerator should never be the make or break thing…

Going through the exercise alone, regularly - say twice per year - is extremely valuable, without needing to actually submit or save the answers in the application form they provide. The questions are nicely structured and hit on important points.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#13

Post by mrburton »

quantumwoke wrote: post #8

There are many stages for a nascent startup to fail. Getting into the incubator is only the first step, and perhaps the easiest to give up at. I would encourage all people who got rejected to fail-fast and keep trying . I have a friend who got into an incubator with a crypto idea and very positive feedback on the idea. Six months after funding, the whole thing imploded due to personal conflict. At the time, my friend…

I have a few friends who fought to grow their company out over years and ended up doing very well.

Funding just means more resources to execute the idea, but doesn't ensure success at all.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#14

Post by Mononokay »

Mononokay wrote: post #4

There's something that was in the original rejection letter from the Summer Founders Program that should ring true in the mind of everyone rejected: 'It's quite likely, in fact, practically certain, that groups we rejected will go on to create successful startups. If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email making fun of us; we want to learn from our mistakes.' Granted, this year it's been replaced with t…

It's worth noting that both 500Startups and Techstars exist, and are probably the closest things to YC that aren't YC, if you're looking for something like it.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#16

Post by Mononokay »

BIackSwan wrote: post #9

Would love to see the anti portfolio list of YC.[1] FWIW - We have been rejected 3 times from YC over the last 3 years. We did not take it personally as OP said, put our heads down and got working on our startup. After lot of hard work, setbacks and near death experiences, we are now currently growing ~10% MoM and generating millions in ARR. YC or any other investor/accelerator should never be the make or break thing…

BVP's anti-portfolio is absolutely beautiful. It's so difficult to tell a success from a failure.

Sequoia, on the other hand . . .

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#19

Post by verroq »

Mononokay wrote: post #4

There's something that was in the original rejection letter from the Summer Founders Program that should ring true in the mind of everyone rejected: 'It's quite likely, in fact, practically certain, that groups we rejected will go on to create successful startups. If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email making fun of us; we want to learn from our mistakes.' Granted, this year it's been replaced with t…

I'd think that anyone that's bitter about being rejected won't send them an email so they can make more money.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#20

Post by Hydraulix989 »

quantumwoke wrote: post #8

There are many stages for a nascent startup to fail. Getting into the incubator is only the first step, and perhaps the easiest to give up at. I would encourage all people who got rejected to fail-fast and keep trying . I have a friend who got into an incubator with a crypto idea and very positive feedback on the idea. Six months after funding, the whole thing imploded due to personal conflict. At the time, my friend…

On the flip side, the toughest thing sometimes with startups is to decide when to draw that line in the sand where you can say "okay, this isn't working, time to move on." You tend to bias yourself and your success. The YC partners are smart and have generally been right every single time when something I was working on wasn't going to work.
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