can anyone confirm the Start fund's $150K convertible debt note is still on the table for every YC startup?
Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
71–80 of 156 posts
Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#72PG: What would your advice be to someone with no co-founder? Apply anyway and see what you think, or don't even bother and wait until you've found someone to work with? I appreciate the issues with single founder companies however am finding it hard to locate someone with the required interest and skill in my area.
Get a cofounder. If your startup succeeds, you could spend 5 years or more working on it. It's rounding error to spend 6 months making a concerted effort to find a cofounder first. And while it can be hard to find a cofounder, it's not as hard as starting a successful startup.
Thanks for the reply. Based on your response and the responses of others, I think that I will in all likelihood apply with the intention of searching for someone to work with (perhaps local to SF) if my application progresses. If it does not, it will allow me to focus my search on my local area. Thanks again :-)
Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#73Are you looking for a co-founder?
I've created this Google survey so that you can put in a little information about yourself, and what you're looking for:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDAtOWh...
When you fill it out, you can see the other responses.
Perhaps you won't find a co-founder, but at least you might meet other people to talk to.
[edit: This is my first survey on google docs, so if I need to change any of the sharing permissions let me know.]
[edit 2: Here is the spreadsheet of results. Please respect the contributors, and don't use the spreadsheet unless you actually filled out the survey yourself. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnaOC0UphlFtdDA... ]
Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#74PG: What would your advice be to someone with no co-founder? Apply anyway and see what you think, or don't even bother and wait until you've found someone to work with? I appreciate the issues with single founder companies however am finding it hard to locate someone with the required interest and skill in my area.
Get a cofounder. If your startup succeeds, you could spend 5 years or more working on it. It's rounding error to spend 6 months making a concerted effort to find a cofounder first. And while it can be hard to find a cofounder, it's not as hard as starting a successful startup.
For me has been extremely hard to find a cofounder. Hey there people from Dallas TX, do you want to create something awesome and needs a developer!? Please contact me.
Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#75PG: are music related products still something you are avoiding? We have found a clever way around the liability and would like to apply with it.
Music startups are ok so long as you don't have to license label music.
Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#76Are you looking for a co-founder? I've created this Google survey so that you can put in a little information about yourself, and what you're looking for: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDAtOWh... When you fill it out, you can see the other responses. Perhaps you won't find a co-founder, but at least you might meet other people to talk to. [edit: This is my first survey on google docs, so if I n…
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Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#77Are you looking for a co-founder? I've created this Google survey so that you can put in a little information about yourself, and what you're looking for: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDAtOWh... When you fill it out, you can see the other responses. Perhaps you won't find a co-founder, but at least you might meet other people to talk to. [edit: This is my first survey on google docs, so if I n…
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Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#78I've been interested in applying to YC for quite a while, but recently I graduated and moved to the south bay (near Mountain View) for work. It really stood out to me this time that $11,000 + $3,000n is not a lot of money. With 3 founders that's $20,000. 3 founders working in the tech industry can make $20,000 PER MONTH on typical salaries. It seems like it would be more appealing to people without good paying work,…
"It seems like it would be more appealing to people without good paying work"
Good paying work is golden handcuffs.
Many of the people who started on the net (90's) were able to do so because they had nothing else significant going on at the time. If they had a high paid corporate job, or even a "normal" paying job, were an attorney, or even ran a small business, they had neither the time nor did it make sense to take chances.
If you have nothing, as Dylan said, you have nothing to lose.
Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#79Are you looking for a co-founder? I've created this Google survey so that you can put in a little information about yourself, and what you're looking for: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDAtOWh... When you fill it out, you can see the other responses. Perhaps you won't find a co-founder, but at least you might meet other people to talk to. [edit: This is my first survey on google docs, so if I n…
I wanted to jump in here and to caution that finding a cofounder with the specific intent of applying for this round of YC would be a bad idea. Keep in mind that a co-founding relationship is very much a relationship, and you have to "date" a bit before you get married — having a startup is like having a child, you want to know a potential cofounder is the right person to found a startup with first.
That said, be inspired to try finding a cofounder now, work with them for a few months and keep S13 in mind — it might all fall into place by the time the next round comes around. And if you can't find a cofounder, don't be afraid of being persistant and just learning the skills necessary to build and launch startup solo, since a great cofounder is likely to come along if you already have an intriguing product launched.
Re: Applications Open for Winter 2013 YC Funding
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if you manage to get in without a co-founder, you'll probably still want a co-founder. I've talked to several YC alums without a co-founder looking to hire an employee who can serve as a co-founder.
I absolutely do however I want to find someone as enthusiastic as I am, not somebody who is just coming along for the ride because I convinced them it's a great idea. Where I am currently (location-wise), finding the former will be harder than the latter, I suspect, and if possible I would rather work with someone locally rather than remotely.
I totally agree with you, you don't want to take finding a co-founder lightly. Just meant it as a heads-up. Apply as a single-founder anyway :)