Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted • Hacker News Board

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#251

Post by mindcrime » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 2:29 PM UTC

allanmacgregor wrote: post #216

As someone that is now in the Team 2nd Chance, this has been a fun emotional rollercoaster. Two great lessons can be taken from this experience, first for those that got accepted, then rejected then accepted; dealing with rejection is an essential part of a startup or any business, shit happens and is how to deal with it that makes or breaks companies. Second, YC just thought a masterclass on how to handle mistakes a…

There's another lesson in this as well: There's still a group of people who aren't in this class... the people who didn't even apply in the first place. How many people were either too lazy to fill out the application, or thought "we won't get in, why bother", etc, who arguably would now be benefiting from this had they applied?

To me this is a good example of how, while you can't literally "make your own luck", you can make decisions that put you in a position to benefit from fortuitous events. (For the same of argument, let's assume that getting in to SS, even as one of the 15,000+ is still beneficial).

"You have to enter to win" as they say.

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#252

Post by deepGem » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 2:36 PM UTC

tragicjordan wrote: post #231

threeisoneis wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. They didn’t do anything except open up the grant application part to everyone (no cost to them) and promise everybody that they would get some credits (probably no cost to them). The course was always able to be audited. What this really does is make clear the desire of the people at ycombinator to open their pre screening program (which is what startup school is, essentially) to more startups. The value…

Agreed. I was excited by the prospect of being a part of a network of other vetted founders. If they're letting literally anyone in, it's no more useful than every other founders mastermind group on FB. Huge misfire by YC. Startup School had the chance to be a wonderful network of promising early stage companies - not only that, you've alienated a lot of the promising companies who were properly accepted. YC simply d…

> Agreed. I was excited by the prospect of being a part of a network of other vetted founders.

I feel compelled to say this. I am one of the founders who got an initial reject followed by an accept email. I read the accept email and felt good (I had not even read the reject email). When I learned that YC has accepted everyone, I felt better. Sure having access to a dedicated advisor has an advantage. The advisor can guide you and all that but it's ultimately your hustle. Now the playing ground is more or less levelled when it comes to hustle.

Also, how does this 'part of a vetted group' feeling help in your startup's success ? Agreed, it's a momentary boost in confidence, but beyond that I'm not sure how the vetting process adds any value. The way I see it, the vetting is more or less random.

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#253

Post by _9hey » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:19 PM UTC

Dang this is really cool! This is an act of faith on YC's part - they believe in us. If nothing else, I think this is a great culture-shaping move that should help bring what makes Silicon Valley special out into the rest of the world.

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#254

Post by lauremerlin » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:30 PM UTC

pilingual wrote: post #64

Hi everyone! I went through SS last year, and I was going to email them suggesting this exact solution. Know that trying to decide 1000 out of 15000 startups is incredibly challenging, especially given the fact that the application asks for very little data. So don’t ever think you weren’t meant for this, because it is a school program and everyone has the potential to dominate. This isn’t a zero sum game. As for sta…

You're certainly showing us what the original Jessica Livingston @YC rule means : no asshole, thank you for being a generous you ! Let's make this shine and inspire more YC alumni to become Advisors for this #epicbatch @startupschool

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#255

Post by lauremerlin » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:36 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #106

sudosteph wrote: post #86

I can't stay mad at y'all after this response. I am looking forward to making your application reviewer peeps feel silly after this is all over though. Team 2nd chance has a lot to prove, and I think many of us do really appreciate YC's new commitment to supporting ALL founders at this point, even if it took a mistake to get there.

Team 2nd chance has a lot to prove Hah! "Team 2nd chance"... love it! We should get t-shirts made with that on them and everything. You do make a good point though. This is a great chance for a lot of us to show the doubters that they were wrong, and to prove that we do belong.

What about the #epicbatch instead, for the t-shirts?

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#256

Post by vardhankoshal » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:48 PM UTC

So the folks who got the advisor track already started getting access to tools. Anyone without the advisor track who got access?

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#257

Post by desireco42 » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:49 PM UTC

jaysonelliot wrote: post #71

As someone who was critical at first of the way the situation was handled, I have to say that YC has been exemplary in their followup. The response from all of the YC folks in the threads was respectful and empathetic, and didn't try to make excuses or shift the blame. They just took the heat and acted with honor. I think we've just learned our first lesson from Startup School: how to handle a bad situation with grac…

I am with you. I was really upset as I called my young cofounder to tell her we were in. I felt she needs this way more then me and when I got a reject letter it was a huge letdown.

Anyhow, they offered good save, it will not be easy for them, and they came up with that quickly, before this blew up more.

I think they handled this way better then many CEO's handle their company firedrills.

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#258

Post by mLuby » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:54 PM UTC

deepGem wrote: post #252

tragicjordan wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I was excited by the prospect of being a part of a network of other vetted founders. If they're letting literally anyone in, it's no more useful than every other founders mastermind group on FB. Huge misfire by YC. Startup School had the chance to be a wonderful network of promising early stage companies - not only that, you've alienated a lot of the promising companies who were properly accepted. YC simply d…

> Agreed. I was excited by the prospect of being a part of a network of other vetted founders. I feel compelled to say this. I am one of the founders who got an initial reject followed by an accept email. I read the accept email and felt good (I had not even read the reject email). When I learned that YC has accepted everyone, I felt better. Sure having access to a dedicated advisor has an advantage. The advisor can…

There are so many wantrepreneurs and "founder networking" types that suck up valuable time. I'd hoped that YC had filtered those out and that accepted companies could assume their peers are as serious as they are.

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#259

Post by mLuby » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:56 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #244

tragicjordan wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that, but there was still some form of vetting - enough to disqualify 2/3 of candidates. I'm not making a big deal out of it. Quite the contrary - I don't care about Startup School anymore, whereas I did before. Note to anyone reading this: please build a mastermind group that requires an MRR of at least $15k. I'd pay good money to be a part of that.

I get that, but there was still some form of vetting - enough to disqualify 2/3 of candidates. But that's just the thing... nobody actually knows if that level of vetting is meaningful... it may perform no better than chance in terms of identifying "good" startups (however you define that). This experiment will actually be very interesting exactly in that it will help YC see if their vetting IS as good as they think…

MRR is a decent criterion because it means the market is responding favorably to their product (and it's not vaporware).

Re: Startup School: Every Company That Applied Is Now Accepted

#260

Post by tragicjordan » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 4:00 PM UTC

mLuby wrote: post #258

deepGem wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Agreed. I was excited by the prospect of being a part of a network of other vetted founders. I feel compelled to say this. I am one of the founders who got an initial reject followed by an accept email. I read the accept email and felt good (I had not even read the reject email). When I learned that YC has accepted everyone, I felt better. Sure having access to a dedicated advisor has an advantage. The advisor can…

There are so many wantrepreneurs and "founder networking" types that suck up valuable time. I'd hoped that YC had filtered those out and that accepted companies could assume their peers are as serious as they are.

Bingo.