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Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

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Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#51

Post by davemel37 »

Question: Did you spend 72 hours straight doing everything you can to make your application reflect who you really are and what you have to offer?

Want to solve a pain point? why not start with your own. Clearly, getting noticed and recognized by YC Partners is a pain point for you and many others.

Almost 100 years ago Napolean Hill offered a solution. Spend a few weeks researching your target, and approach them with a real value proposition, an offer they can't refuse.

Or work on the problem of getting noticed by YC partners by hacking the application process, identifying all the entry points to reach them, create a platform for incubators to crowdsource out their problems and pain points to their applicants, or just find a way to become friends with their mothers.

If there is a will, there is a way goes both ways. If you really had a burning desire, you would have found a way, and if you haven't found a way, your will isn't up to the task.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#52

Post by dfc »

harryh wrote: post #26
proexploit wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're correct a long-term push is different from a 72 hour scramble but they're only looking to "win" an interview, not a place in a starting class. I think it's reasonable a team could be unsuccessful at filling out an application (which previously required an idea) but still be extremely strong candidates. I hope YC accepts, they don't stand to lose anything (save time) and there's no obligation to accept…

Ya, I'd tend to think it's at least worth pg sending them a challenge. That being said, I don't think that what successful YC applicants are doing should be characterized as "filling out an application." The application just captures their past work in a form. It's the actual past work that matters, not the simple transcription. I think my larger point is that an awesome 72 hour hack session probably isn't as good of…

Why would he limit the number of potential solutions to one? If they wanted to try this it seems like it would better to put the challenge to everyone.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#54

Post by dfc »

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #32

I've got a problem for you to solve. This is not a complete sentence. Solve that. ;) In the spirit of showing you that we can thrive at Y Combinator, and that we are more than who we are on paper.

Awesome, free grammar advice from someone who writes:

"I have got a problem"

Thanks for the LOLz...

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#55

Post by _delirium »

endlessvoid94 wrote: post #43
patio11 wrote: post #39

Life skill for you: putting a message into a bottle and then flinging it onto the Internet could get it read, but that isn't the way to bet. Here's a hypothetical for you: how many people do you think have social permission to contact a YC partner and say "X is awesome and deserves a look." I'd ballpark that in the hundreds to low thousand range. Many of them are accessible on the Internets and less overwhelmed with…

> applications (in general) are a backup filtering mechanism for people who haven't figured out a more effective way to get what they want yet. It blows me away how many people don't get this.

The flipside is that there are a surprising number of organizations with lots of money that haven't figured out a better way of distributing it, so applications can still be a good way of getting funds. One of my acquaintances, for example, just got $100k in seed funding (with no equity in return) entirely based on a 15-page application sent to a funding body, having had no previous contact with the funder.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#56

Post by DavidChouinard »

patio11 wrote: post #39

Life skill for you: putting a message into a bottle and then flinging it onto the Internet could get it read, but that isn't the way to bet. Here's a hypothetical for you: how many people do you think have social permission to contact a YC partner and say "X is awesome and deserves a look." I'd ballpark that in the hundreds to low thousand range. Many of them are accessible on the Internets and less overwhelmed with…

Agreed. Figuring out a way around the admissions process is the admissions process.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#57

Post by davemel37 »

I would venture to say the application process worked like clock-work. YC is looking for people to mentor, educate, and smooth out the bumpy road ahead for, to discover modest people, who acknowledge their weaknesses and are willing to humble themselves and learn from everyone around them.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#59

Post by tstegart »

Do it PG! Do it! I want to see a slam dunk! I want to see EPIC failure! I want to see if they're all talk or can walk the walk. This is like the reality tv episode of entrepreneurship. Just once, I want to watch and wait with baited breath as the challenge is issued, the gauntlet is thrown down, the problem put out and the solution successfully solved! Don't make it easy, make it tougher than any problem one of your own companies can solve. Make it so tough people will look around and wonder, can it be even done? Also, make them play dramatic music at their office constantly for all 72 hours.
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