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Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

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Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#21

Post by tptacek »

datascienced wrote: post #19

Another question (as a seperate comment incase dang is replying to the other one): This is the equity deal: https://www.ycombinator.com/deal What if I don’t want to raise any more than the 7% (which in itself is $125k I don’t really need but happy to give 7% for the higher P(success)) What if I want to bootstrap from that point or at least keep options open?

My understanding is: it's fine. You're not required to do follow-on financing. Perceived preferred access to the market for syndicated convertible rounds is a big reason people do YC, though, so I think most people do end up raising.

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#22

Post by dang »

estebarb wrote: post #10

Makes sense to apply just with less than a MVP?

Yes - there's no such thing as 'too early'. Of course if you've been working for a while, you should certainly show what you've made so far.

If you consider the rather common case of a YC application where the founders (1) have been working on X, (2) get into YC, (3) eventually drop X, and (4) eventually find something else that goes better...you're essentially skipping to step (4). (Not that the analogy holds in every way, but it does for "should you apply" purposes.)

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#23

Post by _akhe »

Re: "won't get in"

How do I balance this encouraging advice with everything I've heard online about YC basically being a post-Ivy League thing? Seems like there's basically a 0% chance a random person would get into YC. And often those who did get in went to Stanford, Harvard, etc. and don't even have a product - sometimes they don't even know what they're going to build yet.

I wrote the idea of VC stuff off long ago. My wife and I have a profitable business here in SF that would be perfect as a startup, but the concept of raising funds to expand literally hasn't even crossed our minds because it seems so geared toward post-grads - like something only Stanford and Harvard people get access to after they graduate.

Not only that, we're profitable, and can even articulate a realistic vision about how it becomes the next $100M household name, but the numbers I've read online that most VCs want to see are not realistic - or if we were hitting those numbers I wouldn't even need a VC, we would be able to fund our own expansion.

So we're just doing it on our own.

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#24

Post by alephnerd »

_akhe wrote: post #23

Re: "won't get in" How do I balance this encouraging advice with everything I've heard online about YC basically being a post-Ivy League thing? Seems like there's basically a 0% chance a random person would get into YC. And often those who did get in went to Stanford, Harvard, etc. and don't even have a product - sometimes they don't even know what they're going to build yet. I wrote the idea of VC stuff off long ago…

> YC basically being a post-Ivy League thing

I have a lot of friends of mine who are decade+ YoE first time founders who have done very very well in YC.

Lots of Enterprise SaaS companies have went thru YC and done very well - you just don't hear about them as much because Direct Enterprise Sales doesn't require as much marketing.

There are similar B2C successes by older founders and non-Ivy/Ivy Tier founders.

> we're profitable, and can even articulate a realistic vision about how it becomes the next $100M household name

You could easily pitch a Seed or Pre-Seed round depending on the numbers and location right now.

I guarantee you that you are a 2nd or 3rd degree connect with plenty of VCs.

Leverage that network you have and doors will open

The YC label does help to open doors if you don't know or don't have the network to do it.

(Note: this advice is US centric)

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#25

Post by dang »

_akhe wrote: post #23

Re: "won't get in" How do I balance this encouraging advice with everything I've heard online about YC basically being a post-Ivy League thing? Seems like there's basically a 0% chance a random person would get into YC. And often those who did get in went to Stanford, Harvard, etc. and don't even have a product - sometimes they don't even know what they're going to build yet. I wrote the idea of VC stuff off long ago…

All I can tell you is it's not true and that's why I posted this!

(and if it's true that everything you hear about YC is telling you otherwise, then YC has a serious messaging problem)

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#26

Post by dang »

datascienced wrote: post #19

Another question (as a seperate comment incase dang is replying to the other one): This is the equity deal: https://www.ycombinator.com/deal What if I don’t want to raise any more than the 7% (which in itself is $125k I don’t really need but happy to give 7% for the higher P(success)) What if I want to bootstrap from that point or at least keep options open?

tptacek answered your question, but here's a rule for answering similar questions in the future: YC supports what founders choose. That's partly because it's the DNA of the organization (whose origins go back to a time when founders were much lower on the startup totem pole than they are today) and partly because it's a losing bet to do anything else (which is related).

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#27

Post by 999900000999 »

_akhe wrote: post #23

Re: "won't get in" How do I balance this encouraging advice with everything I've heard online about YC basically being a post-Ivy League thing? Seems like there's basically a 0% chance a random person would get into YC. And often those who did get in went to Stanford, Harvard, etc. and don't even have a product - sometimes they don't even know what they're going to build yet. I wrote the idea of VC stuff off long ago…

I had ambitions of cranking out an MVP and pitching it to VCs in my late 20s. After a year of solid rejection ( including YC not even responding), I gave up.

You end up spending alot of time trying to pitch your work. I've had a few idea guys expect me to build MVPs for free with an offer of like 1% or something silly like that. Never any pay, poorly thought out concepts.

I've accepted I'm never going to be rich, it's easier this way.

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#28

Post by alephnerd »

dang wrote: post #25
_akhe wrote: post #23

Re: "won't get in" How do I balance this encouraging advice with everything I've heard online about YC basically being a post-Ivy League thing? Seems like there's basically a 0% chance a random person would get into YC. And often those who did get in went to Stanford, Harvard, etc. and don't even have a product - sometimes they don't even know what they're going to build yet. I wrote the idea of VC stuff off long ago…

All I can tell you is it's not true and that's why I posted this! (and if it's true that everything you hear about YC is telling you otherwise, then YC has a serious messaging problem)

> YC has a serious messaging problem

It does. I've met some founders who went with Tribe8 (edit: Team8) or Sequoia Surge due to YC messaging issues and the (imo incorrect) perception that it's B2C or SMB B2B SaaS oriented.

The Open-Core RFS will probably help though, but maybe highlighting additional successes beyond B2C or Coinbase types would help.

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#29

Post by dzink »

The market is tanking again and interest rates may go up and or continue into next year. YC graduates are expected to present and raise their seed rounds around Demo Day in 3-4 months. Raising any kind of money sets an interest rate that you pay with your equity % to investors (at high interest rates they expect to own more equity as time goes by.) What are the current fundraising terms you guys see for YC startups because the timing looks dicey for this cycle?

NVDA just tanked 10% today and with it a whole bunch of AI valuations. Did YC startups from in the 2022 batches see positives or negatives?

What is the upside to fundraising in the next few months vs waiting for a better environment? If we have a startup and it’s profitable, does it make sense to apply it to wait?

Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24

#30

Post by vlod »

_akhe wrote: post #23

Re: "won't get in" How do I balance this encouraging advice with everything I've heard online about YC basically being a post-Ivy League thing? Seems like there's basically a 0% chance a random person would get into YC. And often those who did get in went to Stanford, Harvard, etc. and don't even have a product - sometimes they don't even know what they're going to build yet. I wrote the idea of VC stuff off long ago…

When the startup I co-founders applied to Techstars, we had to fill in the lean canvas diagram and it makes you think and write down a whole bunch of stuff that we were lacking. channels in, user-acquisition strategies etc.

That process was super worth it. Ultimately we got rejected, but going forward I'll use that (well I try) to do that when joining/founding any startups.

Worst case scenario is they say no, best case scenario... :-)

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