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YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#31

Post by gumbo »

ericmsimons wrote: post #15
follower wrote: post #11

> If this bump in the road rattles you enough to close shop, you shouldn't be an entrepreneur. I question the value of telling someone they "shouldn't" be an entrepreneur. Even that they "aren't" an entrepreneur. Closing shop doesn't have to be a permanent thing. Didn't get accepted for this round of YC? Decide what that means for you, then continue to live your life.

If rejection makes you stop building the company that you envision, love, and put all of your effort behind, then you will never succeed running a startup. This may be a bold statement, but I'd love to hear what Jobs, Gates, Zuck, or anyone else with expertise in the area have to say.

I definitely agree with this. If you applied to YC to have your project validated by @pg and associates. Then you should think twice about your real motivations. Only close shop when you're sure your idea is not a good one or that you KNOW that you're not able to achieve it.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#32

Post by alexl »

ericmsimons wrote: post #29
alexl wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sincerely hope that you did get the point - that was a "kamikaze" application not meant to get me in, but meant to get them out of their self righteous loop! You appear to not have read the whole thing. Okay, you didn't have to, of course. But you completely proved my point: that's what they also do. This is why I tried my best to get their attention woken up at least for this one application. Maybe they'll start w…

I get that it was a "kamikaze" application. The fact of the matter is that YC looks for hackers, which you are not. It doesn't mean you're lesser. It just means that you shouldn't be surprised when you get rejected from YC. I don't understand why/what you're protesting. If you want them to look beyond software startups, that would be very foolish of them as their area of expertise is software.

Well, I don't live in The Valley. Not in the US, actually. I thought it would be reasonable to assume that people calling themselves investors would look at anything. Right now it looks like that guy from Mountain View was right: if the iPhone's popular, everyone's doing something related to the iPhone. Which is fine, as it's their choice. But it seems that if you utter the word Blackberry, you get fined or arrested for disturbing public order. And if you even think of Nokia, Gov. A. Schwarzenegger himself will punch you in the throat.

Okay, I didn't know that. I will remember it next time I have to deal with such people. Good to know.

What I think is obviously missing? Simple, Y Combinator's main page displaying a huge banner that says "we don't care about anything non-software, go away." It would have warned me right from the start. They never explicitly say it, they just heavily hint at it (e.g. they ask for your github ID, which you don't need unless you do some sort of coding) and I'm here to say quit hinting and just admit it out loud. But I believe that's also typical - what we hint at, it's actually an axiom. What we recommend, it's actually required. I believe that's not right. Simple as that. No hard feelings.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#33

Post by ericmsimons »

alexl wrote: post #32
ericmsimons wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that it was a "kamikaze" application. The fact of the matter is that YC looks for hackers, which you are not. It doesn't mean you're lesser. It just means that you shouldn't be surprised when you get rejected from YC. I don't understand why/what you're protesting. If you want them to look beyond software startups, that would be very foolish of them as their area of expertise is software.

Well, I don't live in The Valley. Not in the US, actually. I thought it would be reasonable to assume that people calling themselves investors would look at anything. Right now it looks like that guy from Mountain View was right: if the iPhone's popular, everyone's doing something related to the iPhone. Which is fine, as it's their choice. But it seems that if you utter the word Blackberry, you get fined or arrested…

You're taking what Silicon Valley media reports and slapping it onto the face of YC. YC's most successful startups are not "iPhone Apps". DropBox, Heroku, CloudKick, Justin.TV, etc. These are real guys tackling real problems. Your sarcastic remarks belittle their accomplishments, which is immature at best.

"Though we fund all types of startups, we're especially interested in web/mobile applications. We've been thinking about that problem longer than anyone else, and by now can visualize much of the space of possibilities."

This means that they are more comfortable investing in an area where they're the experts. If you're going to blindly apply to a VC without reading their "About" page, that is you being irresponsible, not a problem with the VC.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#34

Post by alexl »

ericmsimons wrote: post #33
alexl wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I don't live in The Valley. Not in the US, actually. I thought it would be reasonable to assume that people calling themselves investors would look at anything. Right now it looks like that guy from Mountain View was right: if the iPhone's popular, everyone's doing something related to the iPhone. Which is fine, as it's their choice. But it seems that if you utter the word Blackberry, you get fined or arrested…

You're taking what Silicon Valley media reports and slapping it onto the face of YC. YC's most successful startups are not "iPhone Apps". DropBox, Heroku, CloudKick, Justin.TV, etc. These are real guys tackling real problems. Your sarcastic remarks belittle their accomplishments, which is immature at best. "Though we fund all types of startups, we're especially interested in web/mobile applications. We've been thinki…

My point exactly - again! "They are more comfortable in that area" means "they don't actually invest outside that area." I feel I could have saved some time if I knew this before I applied for the first time.

But yeah, I get it, you can't conceive them ever being wrong, for some reason. I have nothing against that, it's an opinion and it's as personal as a haircut.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#35

Post by ericmsimons »

alexl wrote: post #34
ericmsimons wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're taking what Silicon Valley media reports and slapping it onto the face of YC. YC's most successful startups are not "iPhone Apps". DropBox, Heroku, CloudKick, Justin.TV, etc. These are real guys tackling real problems. Your sarcastic remarks belittle their accomplishments, which is immature at best. "Though we fund all types of startups, we're especially interested in web/mobile applications. We've been thinki…

My point exactly - again! "They are more comfortable in that area" means "they don't actually invest outside that area." I feel I could have saved some time if I knew this before I applied for the first time. But yeah, I get it, you can't conceive them ever being wrong, for some reason. I have nothing against that, it's an opinion and it's as personal as a haircut.

No, it doesn't mean "they don't actually invest outside that area", it means that you have to have a kick ass team and product for them to even consider taking you. You don't have a team, which is what probably killed your application from the start.

Again, this is all posted on their website. Digging around on the internet would reveal even more information. You should have done this in the first place before applying to a VC.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#36

Post by alexl »

ericmsimons wrote: post #35
alexl wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point exactly - again! "They are more comfortable in that area" means "they don't actually invest outside that area." I feel I could have saved some time if I knew this before I applied for the first time. But yeah, I get it, you can't conceive them ever being wrong, for some reason. I have nothing against that, it's an opinion and it's as personal as a haircut.

No, it doesn't mean "they don't actually invest outside that area", it means that you have to have a kick ass team and product for them to even consider taking you. You don't have a team, which is what probably killed your application from the start. Again, this is all posted on their website. Digging around on the internet would reveal even more information. You should have done this in the first place before applyi…

Yeah, but that whole single founder thing is so messed up. They don't really send you the message that they rarely take single founders on board. You have to find horror stories on the net. One of them is about a guy who had two other co-founders or so, but those couldn't just move for three months. They had families and lives. So the guy moves to SF and they tell him "we really hate single founders." So, if the other co-founders are not there, it's like they don't exist at all. I do have a guy, an engineer who would do a lot of the required work, but moving him to the US is an idea from another planet. He is part of the team. There's no doubt about that. He just doesn't want to be a legal co-owner. He doesn't want that responsibility. He's also much older than me and has a different perspective. But Y Combinator, suffering from ADHD, won't have the patience to consider all that. That was kinda my whole point. I'm still not sure you got it.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#37

Post by ericmsimons »

alexl wrote: post #36
ericmsimons wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it doesn't mean "they don't actually invest outside that area", it means that you have to have a kick ass team and product for them to even consider taking you. You don't have a team, which is what probably killed your application from the start. Again, this is all posted on their website. Digging around on the internet would reveal even more information. You should have done this in the first place before applyi…

Yeah, but that whole single founder thing is so messed up. They don't really send you the message that they rarely take single founders on board. You have to find horror stories on the net. One of them is about a guy who had two other co-founders or so, but those couldn't just move for three months. They had families and lives. So the guy moves to SF and they tell him "we really hate single founders." So, if the othe…

You would not have even written that paragraph had you ever tried to run a startup under either of these circumstances:

1. You tried (legitimately) running a startup as a single founder.

2. You tried running a startup where a majority of the co-founders were not working on location.

I've been in both situations multiple times, learned the hard way.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#38

Post by alexl »

alexl wrote: post #36
ericmsimons wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it doesn't mean "they don't actually invest outside that area", it means that you have to have a kick ass team and product for them to even consider taking you. You don't have a team, which is what probably killed your application from the start. Again, this is all posted on their website. Digging around on the internet would reveal even more information. You should have done this in the first place before applyi…

Yeah, but that whole single founder thing is so messed up. They don't really send you the message that they rarely take single founders on board. You have to find horror stories on the net. One of them is about a guy who had two other co-founders or so, but those couldn't just move for three months. They had families and lives. So the guy moves to SF and they tell him "we really hate single founders." So, if the othe…

Wow, we reached the limit of the sausage string. I have to reply to my own comment :)

I still believe I can do it "alone," i.e. with just that other guy. I'm just gonna go get the needed money elsewhere and forget about Y Combinator. That blog post or whatever you want to call it, is my opinion on them.

Re: YC s11 Rejected Applicants: This is the real test.

#39

Post by ericmsimons »

alexl wrote: post #38
alexl wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but that whole single founder thing is so messed up. They don't really send you the message that they rarely take single founders on board. You have to find horror stories on the net. One of them is about a guy who had two other co-founders or so, but those couldn't just move for three months. They had families and lives. So the guy moves to SF and they tell him "we really hate single founders." So, if the othe…

Wow, we reached the limit of the sausage string. I have to reply to my own comment :) I still believe I can do it "alone," i.e. with just that other guy. I'm just gonna go get the needed money elsewhere and forget about Y Combinator. That blog post or whatever you want to call it, is my opinion on them.

I would consider it slanderous but to each their own. I think there are more respectable (and polite) ways of protesting though.
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