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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

#361

Post by sebastiennight »

Applied for the 3rd time (B2B AI SaaS, 300% YoY growth, $109k revenue last month).

Decided to take a risk with the founder video. On my first 2 applications I did what everyone does and shot 100 takes to get one "right"... On this one though, I shot the whole video in one take (with warts and all) and used our own software to edit it, and then used that as the demo as well[0].

In a way, it feels like I can't win on this video thing

- if we follow instructions to "not edit" the founder video, the result is 100 takes for a basic video that is unworthy of a video-based startup.

- If we use our own tool, the video is "too polished" (even though it took less work to do!).

Hopefully the application stands on its own merits. A year ago I took the first rejection hard. I really really hate applying for stuff or having some kind of "jury" reviewing things when the only truth is what the market wants and whether people use what I've created. So as an engineer I prefer marketing to fundraising, by far.

If we don't get into YC I'll just keep bootstrapping. I see the value though, because with the right pointers we could grow way way faster. So, fingers crossed!

[0]: https://my.onetake.ai/b9502ad6/9dcd6eb6/

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

#363

Post by tptacek »

nubela wrote: post #295
tptacek wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spent most of the last 20 years in bootstrapped companies, helping grow two of them into 8 figures (which, when you don't have a board, is pretty neat). Bootstrapping is where my heart is, and almost all of the best memories of my career are from times when those kinds of companies were at the knife's edge of maybe having some kind of market fit and maybe just starting to have an identity and maybe just getting up…

You don't need YC to raise funds.

You don't. It helps a lot.

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

#364

Post by alexashka »

> If you've ever thought about applying to YC, here's a tip: just do it

Please don't.

Imagine you are looking for a plumber and there are 1000 postings, 900 of them people who've watched a couple of youtube clips about plumbing.

Does that sound like a good idea to you?

This is what's ruined the internet (and society). Instead of domain experts being thoughtful, we have marketers being full of shit. Oh well :)

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

#365

Post by justhw »

sebastiennight wrote: post #361

Applied for the 3rd time (B2B AI SaaS, 300% YoY growth, $109k revenue last month). Decided to take a risk with the founder video. On my first 2 applications I did what everyone does and shot 100 takes to get one "right"... On this one though, I shot the whole video in one take (with warts and all) and used our own software to edit it, and then used that as the demo as well[0]. In a way, it feels like I can't win on t…

Your app is great. Good luck.

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

#366

Post by tibbar »

tempusalaria wrote: post #304
tibbar wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you actually get 1% at seed stage and the company goes through a "few rounds" of funding (and subsequently exits), you're doing great . You've basically won a small lottery and have an excellent chance of being a millionaire. The problem with startup equity is that this is a very rare scenario, and most of the other scenarios aren't so good. If the company doesn't exit, your equity is worthless. If they exit at a…

That’s my point. Even in massive outlier upside cases getting a 1% equity deal at seed is not really worth more than just being a standard FAANG worker. And that requires many rounds of funding an and dilution and an exit. It’s worth remembering exits are very hard right now and founders have far more liquidity options. There have been multiple unicorns I’m aware of in the past 5 years with founders taking 8 figures…

It can certainly be worth more; I know engineers personally who became wildly wealthy, tens of millions of dollars from their equity—— but you’re right that most of the good outcomes are comparable to working in big tech over the last few years. (Worth noting that big tech itself has had some remarkable stock gains, which plays into this as well.)

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

#367

Post by pm »

vertis wrote: post #320
Rapzid wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I dropped out of the University of Wollongong in ~2001 (points if you know where that is without looking it up), I've had a great 23 year career so far. I agree that the cofounder dating was intimidating, and even some of the people fit into that category. Far more didn't though, and I've found an exceptional cofounder through it, which is one of the most exciting things in a very long career. (I'll get around to doi…

i was hanging around the Gong around then; I'm in Rads and was attempting to make a game with some friends from there at the time.

Those were some fun times.

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

#368

Post by bckr »

tobinfricke wrote: post #271
_delirium wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The "Ivy League" consists of precisely these eight schools: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. Honestly I feel like some of these are negative indicators when it comes to engineering cred. Meanwhile, stellar engineering schools like Caltech, Stanford, and MIT are in a league of their own. This comment is mostly to complain that using "Ivy League" as a shorth…

Silicon League?

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

#369

Post by dang »

lelanthran wrote: post #349
dang wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you and wish that we were more careful with this sort of signaling risk. However, there are tons of college dropouts and uncredentialed software people who make it in to YC. What I'm basically trying to tell everyone, and hoping to convince a few, is: don't listen to any of this, just do it.

Does it have to be US citizens, living in the US? How about a native South African, born in SA?

Anyone can apply - you needn't be a US citizen (I'm not, for example) and you are most welcome to be South African.

Edit: I asked my informant and they said that YC has funded 6 South African founders since 2017, which I guess is how far that data goes back to. We agreed that it seems like there should be more!

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

#370

Post by toughyear »

spdustin wrote: post #277

I've thought about it, but the target market for my project isn't a high growth one; it's US middle school teachers (years 6-8, typically). Public schools aren't exactly flush with cash—individual teachers even less so—and while I (and my school teacher wife) think I'm on to something that would change teachers' lives, I can't imagine a world where that market would lead to a six figure MRR. Starting to think I need…

if your idea can be morphed into non-profit one, YC does fund it - but they suggest for charging small fee for your service or product. Worth checking out in that case.
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