Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 441 posts

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

#261

Post by lispybanana »

Rapzid wrote: post #35
_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…

The LinkedIn page for a lot of these companies showing you "Where they studied" can be a bit intimidating. Chockablock with Stanford and Ivy League. I was filling out the Co-Founder matching service application and it has a required text area for education. The placeholder text examples? Standford MS in Comp Sci, NYU BS in Physics. As a college dropout with "some college" but a 14+ year career in systems/software eng…

Discouraging, sure, but now the real question: did you apply anyway? :) I hope you did!

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

#262

Post by _akhe »

tlogan wrote: post #141
_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…

That’s essentially how the whole world operates. Y Combinator isn’t an exception. Do you think a wealthy investor would prefer to fund an unknown individual, or someone whose father is a well-established law professor at Stanford? However, I do believe that YC tends to be somewhat more egalitarian and merit-based compared to others, although it’s not by a significant margin.

> That’s essentially how the whole world operates

What if regarding slavery or horses as transportation people were like "that's essentially how the world operates", not that investing has anything to do with those, but that this excuse doesn't add a ton of insight if you think about it.

There are a lot of ways the world has operated that are not fair or optimal. It would be a logical fallacy - an appeal to tradition - to use that as an argument against the way things could be, or according to OP the way things should be (are intended to be).

Investing is a regulated activity that affects the economy and individuals, so I think it's at least worth exploring things like nepotism and exclusivity when it comes to the flow of capital. And it's obviously important to notice when the same relatively tiny group of people keep receiving the majority of "acceptance" (investment) while the vast majority outside that circle are totally ignored and/or marginalized.

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

#263

Post by _delirium »

llamaimperative wrote: post #111
bdjsiqoocwk wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mean, I didn't even graduate college :P Yes, but did you go to one of those colleges where dropping out is even better than graduating? Because most of us didn't even get the chance to drop out of one of those.

I'm a YC founder and I dropped out of not-one-of-those colleges (RPI). My cofounder dropped out of high school. Why not just give it a shot? Find the powerful parts of your story (I'm sure they exist) and share them! We applied, as GP advocates for, mostly to sharpen our thinking. Just the application process would've been worth the time, even if we had gotten declined immediately. The interview 10x'd that value, the…

I would definitely count RPI as one of "those" colleges! I guess everyone has a different list, but for me, RPI is in the same category as Rose-Hulman, Olin, Harvey Mudd, etc. Perhaps not Ivy League level in the sense of being a household name, but still known among people in the field.

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

#264

Post by dilyevsky »

NickInSF wrote: post #105
ultimoo wrote: post #85

Big fan of YC and pg. I'm waiting for some immigration related things to fall into place before I apply, but it's been several years. Potentially crass question: what is the age or industry experience distribution of a typical YC batch these days? Would a founding team in their early 40s be dinosaurs in a room full of young stars? Asking for a friend.

I had the same question. Most YC founders seem to be new college graduates instead of seasoned FAANG folks. I'm in the latter camp and believe I'm better off leveraging my connections because I've aged out of YC.

Co-founder and I are “seasoned FAANG” folks. We went through YC last summer. It’s true - many founders are on younger side, but a good number seemed (i didn’t actually card anyone) to be same age as us and we didn’t feel out of place. Would recommend.

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

#266

Post by uptownfunk »

My friend is part of a team of PhDs working on hard tech research problems without much interest in becoming a viable business (in the sense of counting dollars). It seems like YC would not be the right fit for them, is that correct? They seem to have gotten interest from other VCs but they have the impression that YC is more of a traditional firm focused on startups that are very close to revenue or are post revenue

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

#267

Post by lordofgibbons »

nubela wrote: post #251

I'll play devil's advocate. I have applied to YC for at least 8 times in my 20s? They rejected me everytime. Not even an interview. I now run a $XM SaaS (scale-up, not startup) growing at Y00%/annum. 100% bootstrapped with a healthy profit margin. Thanks YC. The only thing I'd say that YC is good for is their network of existing startups. Then again, startups aren't the best customers IMO given that they die too much…

Congrats on the bootstrapped business! Could you please share some of the marketing for founder resources you mentioned? I'd like to avoid taking investments too.

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

#268

Post by deepGem »

I have applied to YC with multiple ideas in the past and have been rejected without interview. In my current iteration what I have going against me - solo founder, late 40s, building in a crowded consumer space.

I have no idea what YC looks for and it doesn't matter. I will still apply last minute. Almost all my past applications helped me refine and rethink about my ideas.

It is highly discouraging to hear a reject but that's the life of a founder.

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

#269

Post by snowmaker »

ssroovy wrote: post #106
dang wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're already signed up, because you can use your HN account to log in. (All YC accounts are HN accounts and vice versa.) The process is that you fill out a form and make a 1 minute video* and click 'submit'. (* I know...I hated the video thing too... but it gives a sense of what someone is like that doesn't come through in text, and you just talk for a minute about what you care about. nothing fancy.) (edit: also,…

Video is fine(it's just a minute), but why LinkedIn URL is required(not optional)? LinkedIn is about education, career, and networking. I am under average in all of them, so I'm not registered. This is the only thing which holding me back from applying. Otherwise, I work full-time on kick-ass product for months with 1000+ commits.

Sorry about that! Based on this thread, we removed the requirement for a LinkedIn profile.

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

#270

Post by grepfru_it »

999900000999 wrote: post #219
grepfru_it wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m in the same boat, except now actively planning to take off to work on a side project. Rather than spend another year building a prototype for a potential $100M idea (last two landed me really nice jobs) I have my eyes set on ideas that will generate $3-6M/year that I can realize on my own with minimal/no outside funding. I may apply to this YC round for giggles, but totally get the same feeling as you that I’m pr…

What market are you targeting 3 to 6 mil a year is amazing for a solo startup. I'm basically a hobbyist game dev outside of work and games are just so risky as a business.

- AI (sell them shovels)

- Hospice

Games should be developed for fun. I would totally fund game development with profits from another venture.

Post reply on HN