51–60 of 114 posts
One of the things I have heard a lot of founders say when asked if they are considering doing YC is that they are already "down the road" with their company - as in, they have already launched, or have customers, or investor attention. I know dozens of startups that went through YC at this stage, and they will all reiterate how beneficial YC was for them. If you're running a startup I really cannot think of a singula…
If you want a little honest feedback on your application before you submit it, feel free to contact me. I was the first engineering hire at justin.tv, I'm the cto of ZeroCater now, and I love talking about startup ideas.
Do you go a month of working on your idea, only to realise you're at a dead end - and be asked to think of something else?
Do you fall back to one of your second ideas?
Do mentors suggest working on something else?
I'm curious - cheers.
Exciting, can't wait to keep my rejection streak going :)
I'm curious to know the financial situations of those who apply to YC. You don't have to give specifics, but has anyone gone through YC with a lot of school debt? (>$20k, >$40k?) How did you manage this? For those who haven't gone through YC but do have a lot of school debt or otherwise, how do you think you'll manage?
When you have debt and a huge-but-not-immediately lucrative opportunity in front of you, I imagine you'll manage like entrepreneurs have for centuries. Sleep on couches, eat ramen, rack up some more debt (credit cards?), dodge or persuade your creditors, etc... And hope that it works out.
I'm curious why YC likes 2-3 founders over 4-5. Do more people = more potential for internal drama? Or are larger groups more resistant to changing on the fly? I would think that 4-5 talented go-getters would be better than 2-3.
Empirically big groups do noticeably worse. I'm not 100% sure why, but my guess is that the problem is not with big groups per se, but what having a lot of cofounders says about the founders. I think when a startup has a lot of founders, it's often because the founders are afraid of starting a company, and thus recruit everyone they know to be in it with them. Another theory I've heard is that a startup does as well…
Exciting, can't wait to keep my rejection streak going :)
I am wondering what you have learned from each rejection, mind sharing?
socialadmanager.com - 2x it was that my product lacked focus and the value it created was as obvious as I thought it was.
spotted.at - 1x I learned that even if I had been funded I would have failed because the product was simply not something that people would pay for.
i.crowdfunded.it - 1x I learned that I did not understand the customer / market etc... enough to complete the YC App.
The biggest lesson is that I (a single founder) have tunnel vision. If I had a co-founder it would have been easier to see all of these problems because I would have had another perspective.
I am applying this cycle and even though I won't get in I don't see it as a rejection. Instead I see it as a way to ask some of the smartest people around if they would/would not use my product and if I am articulating my value prop in a clear and concise manner.
The product I am applying with this cycle has paying users and is complete VS previous years where I just had working prototypes so the thing I am really looking forward to this time is hearing what they think of my product. I have stopped caring if I get in or not.
One of the things I have heard a lot of founders say when asked if they are considering doing YC is that they are already "down the road" with their company - as in, they have already launched, or have customers, or investor attention. I know dozens of startups that went through YC at this stage, and they will all reiterate how beneficial YC was for them. If you're running a startup I really cannot think of a singula…
Nitpicking: No interest in moving to the Bay Area would seem to be one.