The YC Rejection thread • Hacker News Board

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#21

Post by mrtron » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:11 AM UTC

redleader wrote: post #19

silencio wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html Maybe worth a shot regardless, but from talking to other people I know applied and also rejected in the past few minutes (including myself), we seem to pretty much all fall under that "good but pushed out by the best" category.

I would like to know the weakest part of our application. So if it's the founders' experience we can work to improve upon that.

Haha - if they say it isn't the founders' experience you won't work on improving it?

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#22

Post by krisneuharth » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:12 AM UTC

Rejected for the first time here but already looking forward to next Winter for another opportunity.

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#23

Post by tokenadult » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:12 AM UTC

noaharc wrote: post #10

redleader wrote: post #7

Can we email them for some kind of feedback about the application?

Of course you can give it a shot. I bet they will be pretty busy, and won't be able to give you a very substantial answer, though.

As posted above:

http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html

Condolences to all who have to start the start-up without YC help. It can be done; best wishes.

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#24

Post by sam_in_nyc » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:12 AM UTC

mrtron wrote: post #15

sam_in_nyc wrote: post #11

I didn't want to post here, but alas, I am. I wish they would have included some feedback.

Would the feedback really matter much? What really matters is your determination and team. A few hundred words hardly puts them in a position to provide you valuable feedback on those factors.

Sure, other things matter more, but getting feedback certainly wouldn't hurt. Especially feedback coming from YC, because I respect their opinion and tend to think they know what they are talking about.

And, obviously, if I got feedback, I could always ignore it and be in the same position as I am now. I'd rather have more information than less.

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#25

Post by bluefish » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:13 AM UTC

I didn't apply, but I'd love to hear about the ideas behind your projects that got rejected.

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#26

Post by IMorgothI12 » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:13 AM UTC

There's probably too many rejections to give any feedback. I mean if there were 10,000 to 20,000 groups that applied it would be impossible to send a reason in the email to each group. Besides it all comes down to a numerical rating (sauce for the goose). Kudos to the bird with a golden egg.

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#27

Post by redleader » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:14 AM UTC

mrtron wrote: post #21

redleader wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to know the weakest part of our application. So if it's the founders' experience we can work to improve upon that.

Haha - if they say it isn't the founders' experience you won't work on improving it?

yes that's exactly what I meant

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#28

Post by mtpark » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:15 AM UTC

Wish we had launched our beta BEFORE the application.

Good luck to all of you. I think they mean well when they say they make lots of mistakes.

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#29

Post by silencio » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:15 AM UTC

unalone wrote: post #18

Yep! Rejected! We got our beta up and running this weekend, and we're fixing up bugs so we can expand and planning our commercial launch, so it's not the worst thing in the world. Better to get rejected at 18 when you've never done anything web-related before than to get rejected for the same circumstances at an older age. Hopefully I'll see all of you posting about your launches on HN! I'm certain I'll be posting in…

Why is age such a bad thing :) I'm 20 and we also got rejected, but one of us happens to be in her 50s and doesn't consider this the worst thing in the world (or even, the worst thing to happen to our startup).

Re: The YC Rejection thread

#30

Post by mrtron » Tue, Apr 07, 2009, 3:16 AM UTC

sam_in_nyc wrote: post #24

mrtron wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would the feedback really matter much? What really matters is your determination and team. A few hundred words hardly puts them in a position to provide you valuable feedback on those factors.

Sure, other things matter more, but getting feedback certainly wouldn't hurt. Especially feedback coming from YC, because I respect their opinion and tend to think they know what they are talking about. And, obviously, if I got feedback, I could always ignore it and be in the same position as I am now. I'd rather have more information than less.

True.