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Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

#11

Post by ultrasaurus »

wccrawford wrote: post #8
facebookChina wrote: post #2

I guess there are quite a few negative experiences. Esp those that were rejected by Y Combinator. I think Y Combinator is over-rated- atleast now (I am attracting downvotes-Go ahead) Their startups havent had really big exits, so far.Once they do,things might change.

I don't think you can count 'rejected by YC' as a 'negative experience'. It's pretty much the definition of 'non-experience'. It's like saying that the department store experience was bad because they wouldn't sell you a lawnmower at half price when you asked them to.

I was rejected by YC a couple years ago, and I mostly enjoyed it (I loved talking to the AppJet guys).

The fact that I didn't build the company I was pitching is prima facie evidence that I agreed with their assessment. (and in retrospect, I wasn't the right person to do that company and you could hear it in my voice)

Re: Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

#14

Post by dzlobin »

serverdude wrote: post #12

Did anyone here make it to the interview round and then get rejected? I wonder what the %age is of folks who make it to the interview stage.

IIRC, they invited ~90 companies? And given the last few class sizes we know they accepted ~35?

I could be off so feel free to correct those numbers

Re: Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

#15

Post by serverdude »

dzlobin wrote: post #14
serverdude wrote: post #12

Did anyone here make it to the interview round and then get rejected? I wonder what the %age is of folks who make it to the interview stage.

IIRC, they invited ~90 companies? And given the last few class sizes we know they accepted ~35? I could be off so feel free to correct those numbers

Thanx. Any clue how many total applications out of which 90 made it?

Re: Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

#16

Post by revorad »

tptacek wrote: post #5
facebookChina wrote: post #2

I guess there are quite a few negative experiences. Esp those that were rejected by Y Combinator. I think Y Combinator is over-rated- atleast now (I am attracting downvotes-Go ahead) Their startups havent had really big exits, so far.Once they do,things might change.

If anything, the valuation of a YC session has to have risen over the past couple years, because the alumni network is so huge. Meanwhile, the YC terms don't appear to have gotten less favorable. This point pretty much has to be the opposite of true. (NB: and I'm a YC skeptic).

Why are you a YC skeptic? Is it their investment model or the kind of companies they fund or something else?

Re: Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

#17

Post by dzlobin »

serverdude wrote: post #15
dzlobin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC, they invited ~90 companies? And given the last few class sizes we know they accepted ~35? I could be off so feel free to correct those numbers

Thanx. Any clue how many total applications out of which 90 made it?

Just gave this estimate in another thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1808263

Re: Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

#18

Post by [deleted] »

tptacek wrote: post #7
answerly wrote: post #3

I've never heard of a negative YC experience either. I'd guess I've met at least one founder from roughly 40% of all YC startups. This includes some companies that have failed or been absorbed into other YC startups. YC was/is certainly an amazing experience for us.

I can't track it down right now, but there were allusions made on HN awhile ago about at least one person who wasn't thrilled with the program. I'm pretty sure there aren't no bad experiences. That said, I've gotten to talk to a lot of people who have done YC now, and everyone I've talked to --- against pointed questions from me! --- has been thrilled with it.

[deleted]

Re: Any bad experiences with Y combinator?

#20

Post by tlrobinson »

I feel like you're going to run into a bit of a selection bias on Hacker News...

I know many founders of YC companies that ended up not being successful but I've never heard serious complaints from any of them. Some of them have even gone on to do YC again.

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