Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
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Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
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Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#2[deleted]
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#3One of the requirement listed to apply via the author's company is native fluency in English. How do they evaluate that? If it's some test, I am not aware of any test which measures this. If it depends on where you are born? Is that kind of stratification legal?
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#4One of the requirement listed to apply via the author's company is native fluency in English. How do they evaluate that? If it's some test, I am not aware of any test which measures this. If it depends on where you are born? Is that kind of stratification legal?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_English_as_a_Foreign_L...
I have seen this used in Grad school applications by ESL students.
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#5A lot of points resonate with me, but here are some counterarguments to me that resonated quite well:
1. As a first-time founder, YC (the community + the program itself) is a great education. I've learned a ton about different growth channels at a "growth bootcamp", about different possible business models (through the companies that have come and done talks and those in our small group), and about the pitfalls of a startup (through the former founders who are both in the batch and presenting at the talk). All of these have compressed a lot of informal learning into formal/less-informal lessons
2. You still get to choose how to run your company, unless you give up majority voting shares of your company and/or board control. Even that decision is ultimately up to you. It's important to go into every conversation having a good idea of what is best for you and your company, and then to consider what is best for the investor. You will face pressure, but it's essential to have your own perspective in mind and be steadfast in crucial circumstances
3. The community and credentialing is amazing. YC has a reputation that helps to hire and partner with other important companies and people
4. I put this last, but to some founders, this is the most important part. If you are raising money, Demo Day is just a completely unique circumstance to do it
I definitely don't regret doing YC, but I seriously considered not doing it before. I'd bootstrapped all of my past companies, but points 1 and 2 here were the ones my friends mentioned that convinced me to do it
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#6Good luck bootstrapping biotech or robotics company! Of course it’s better to be sole owner, but it does not work when building product takes years.
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#7I think the biggest difference between today and 20 years ago when I first go into Silicon Valley is that most founders are generally already planning their exit. There are a lot of startups whose mentality is "get big quick enough so that we can get bought out by Google/Facebook/Amazon/etc". And unfortunately this is a legitimate play because it leads to quick payouts so it motivates founders and VCs alike.
It's a fair mentality but it changes the nature of the game because most founders back in the 20th century wanted to helm their company until their last dying breath. So the fact that this person is already targeting a $50M exit makes it less interesting to me. I just don't think I would get excited working for someone I know with that short term of a mentality.
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#8One of the requirement listed to apply via the author's company is native fluency in English. How do they evaluate that? If it's some test, I am not aware of any test which measures this. If it depends on where you are born? Is that kind of stratification legal?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_English_as_a_Foreign_L... I have seen this used in Grad school applications by ESL students.
There's also the ECPE https://michiganassessment.org/test-takers/tests/ecpe/
But neither test "native"-ness. Just fluency.
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#9One of the requirement listed to apply via the author's company is native fluency in English. How do they evaluate that? If it's some test, I am not aware of any test which measures this. If it depends on where you are born? Is that kind of stratification legal?
Of course it’s legal and there are numerous language proficiency tests.
I don’t see what the problem with that could possibly be, just like requiring a candidate to have a certain amount of proficiency in Python.
Re: Why I turned down my Y Combinator interview
#10Can someone elaborate on this? It makes no sense to me:
The risk profile of your company increases dramatically when you take VC funding. You start spending more money than you are earning, your focus shifts to raising your next round, and your VC now has veto authority over the sale of your company. Your company is now a ticking time-bomb.
You can literally NOT do those things. All the VC has is signaling. Theh can’t block your future raises, only have drag/tag along rights, first refusal or whatever.