I just checked out the form and I'm pleasantly surprised. For some reason, I was sure it had questions like "what's your super power?"
Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
371–380 of 441 posts
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#372Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most (all?) countries do this. Consumer banking services will offer free transfers as a loss leader.
I think SEPA Instant in the EU is probably free, seeing as EU will require banks to provide SEPA Instant for free to their users (or at the same cost as normal transfers)
This isn't true:
> Contrary to what many believe, SEPA transfers are not entirely free. Sure, most banks do not charge for SEPA transfers, but some banks still do. When there are charges, you pay the same price for a SEPA transfer as you would for a domestic wire transfer. Regulation 924/2009 mandates banks to apply the same charges to cross-border euro transactions as they do for domestic transfers. Banks are prohibited from levying different charges based on the recipient bank's location. Therefore, if your bank in France charges you nothing for making transactions within France, then you will also pay nothing for euro transfers to Portugal, for example.
https://www.quanloop.com/en/investing/are-sepa-payments-real...
I was unable to find out what the cost to banks was, but it's possible there is one and it's covered by the monthly fees that European banks charge, which are relatively rare in the US.
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#373So does it bump your chance to practice mock interview questions? I feel it's a waste of time and energy. Or am I wrong to assume some of the brightest people YC accepts have it down pat?
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#374I applied 9 times and never got an interview. I've moved on from entrepreneurship (for now?), but would love to know what percentile I'm in for consecutive rejections as a consolation prize ;)
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#375Earlier quoted context omitted.
im not saying you have to graduate from ivy league to get into YC but bulk majority of people in YC are. they are almost always going to favour people from their own league. im basing this off people who are coming from YC and telling me how it is. some folks applied to YC in the past, get rejected and then find some Harvard graduate running with their ideas they submitted.
isn't this just correlation vs causation? 2 people submit the same idea. 1 gets in, the other doesn't. yc, basing their decision on the founder themselves and not so much the idea, chose person 1, who had more of the founder characteristics (determination, ... i forget the rest). maybe there's a higher chance that between 2 people, 1 from harvard 1 not, the harvard person has those characteristics. could be they "lea…
correlation doesn't rule out causation and anecdotes should be heeded with caution.
to YC you are just another lotto ticket out of the thousands of founders, be very wary about divulging information such as finances or what works.
its akin to going to a hedge fund, letting them in on an edge you discovered, and expecting them to not trade on that information without you.
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#376I find these kind of messages distasteful. When people are focused on building, they need feedback from the market. That rejection/feedback helps, but any other kind of rejection - especially a VC or investor rejection - hurts. You could argue that founders should be used to rejection, still this is a needless rejection - without any specific feedback and from a group not their TG - not something people should spend…
This is all a just-so story. Rejection is the air you breathe. One of the better things YC does is offer quick, no-nonsense rejections, which is a stark difference from the institutional VC market which will happily string you along, offering feedback and meetings for months with no intention of ever taking anything but an option on joining your round if a real buyer shows up.
Meanwhile: if you're so busy talking to leads that the time to apply to YC is damaging, you know why you're not bothering to apply. Fair enough! But nobody's selling you a bill of goods.
I totally get the whole jaded bootstrapper angle on this. You're on HN, and HN+YC can sometimes make entrepreneurship feel like college application season, rather than something that happens in the real world. And there are many good reasons (ie: circumstances to be in) not to apply!
But notice how people generally aren't calmly laying out what those circumstances are, and laying out the alternate paths. They're people venting about how YC is overhyped. It's emotional and I don't think it's very helpful.
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#377Applied 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…
Congrats on your success.
Why would you even want to join YC? They give the same deal to everyone. So you're lumped into a batch that basically has 30% of people in it with just an idea. It's pretty offensive if you actually proved yourself and your business idea. But don't worry, you prob still won't get in
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#378Thanks for sharing this. I have one question: given similar quality of applications, is it just a dice roll? I am asking this as a trying founder who: - has built early stage engineering at multiple startups - has applied many times and been rejected - is reading about many others who have been rejected and ended up building without funding It does not change my chances but it would expand my perspective.
I don't think it's just a dice roll, no, but it's a helpful metaphor for communicating the 'what have you got to lose' sentiment.
But I don't think I understand your question fully - do you want to explain?
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#379I wanted to sell samosa on the internet. Would YC be a good place to seek funding for such a business? Samosa because they are versatile across many dimensions: ingredients, taste, shelf-life, and can be easily made in a combinatorics space of these dimensions. They are kind of like how Bubba describes shrimp to Gump. I once wondered if YC is a good platform for such a business?
holy moly, if you setup a kickstarter for this, a bajillion desis would support it. curious though, are they going to be frozen samosas?
Re: Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
#380YC has increasingly come to resemble a selective community, with an almost cult-like allure. It presents itself to a broad audience, yet only those who share its unique ethos are granted admission. Nowadays, many applicants use the platform not just for entrepreneurial ventures but also to enhance their resumes. Consequently, a number of them lack genuine commitment. Moreover, YC is notorious for advocating an intens…
It is absolutely a cult which preys on the naïve. It’s amazing that young founders give up equity so cheaply to chase credentials that pay so poorly, on average, relative to FAANG. Someone will win in every YC batch, and it’s YC itself, which holds all the lottery tickets. Most everyone else loses.
In asymmetric high risk/reward environments, what YC does is not unusual. When a trade has 99% of failing but 1% will pay for all the bets and then some, you simply cannot take large positional bets that results in equal power dynamics.
They've built something heavily coveted and exclusive that people participating cannot see that they are gambling with their time and life.
It's very comforting to founders to feel safety in numbers when operating in an illiquid market (the goal is to sell your shares to a buyer whether its secondary market or IPO) but know this:
Illiquid markets are rife with manipulation and false positives.