Don't despair if Y Combinator said no. Rejection reveals your true motivation. The key? Wanting to go on.
Well said.
The YC Rejection thread
101–110 of 145 posts
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#102So... Rejected from YC happy hour in Palo Alto? Sounds like a good way to cuss and discuss!
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Age is seriously but a number. Who cares if your 18 or 52. In fact having a dynamic team with experience people and young people is great. Our company is run by a guy that is in his late 30s and the co founder is in his early 30s and I can honestly say that a young guy couldnt do half the stuff these guys can... Sometimes age is totally a good thing :) And btw im 24 and on my second startup so I beat you 18 year old…
Correction: you haven't beaten the 18/19/20/whatever year-old shits...yet. Give us a few years to be 24 :) Age does matter. People of different age have different priorities, bottom line. Our 52 year-old has children our age and is much less concerned with the exciting opportunities engendered through YC and much more focused on just getting the business off the ground with something to show for it.
No, it really doesn't. And thats not true either, ive met plenty of maried and with kids entrepreneurs that rock it! Dont hate, its totally uncool.
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#104Re: The YC Rejection thread
#105I wonder if all the rejection e-mails had the same text. Mine started with "We're sorry" and ended with "Y Combinator Staff" and has the following MD5: f459a7d636ac85cdcd680b135bcfc521 Edit: easy multi-line md5 here: http://www.webhost.org/widgets/md5encrypter
OT: Did it bother anyone else that the site calling it an "MD5 Encrypter" with the "Encrypt Data" button and all. Where is the decrypter?
trapdoor functions anyone ?
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
So you're letting $10,000 hold you back from your dream? For real?
I think second to the valuable networking opportunities YC provides, the money that could be spent not worrying about rent and the bills for at least a couple months is not insignificant. I know personally it's not a huge deal to have that money and we're continuing regardless of rejection, but that kind of money could possibly shave off a few months of development time where I don't have to worry so much about class…
I don't know how to say this gently, but YC money should be harder to accept. After all, they don't have a pre-existing relationship with you, and friends and family do.
It's a bit as if you're saying that it is easier to accept money from 'strangers'.
Personally I think that if your idea has merit and 10k is the big issue that you should get an extra job, save like the devil for the next 10 months to a year and then do it anyway. And face up to the fact that if 10k is the real problem that your idea may not have as much merit as you think after all.
I know this sounds quite harsh but good ideas + good teams are not going to go down because of a little bit of $.
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
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).
Excuse me, I'm still young and arrogant and want to be rich and famous before I'm 25. Perhaps that's not the best mindset to approach this from.
I think you should add 'whip smart' to that list.
I've been going through some of your writings and I'm quite impressed.
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#108As far as we're concerned, they've failed an IQ test. ;)
To all you guys & girls that got 'rejected', don't be down, be UP. This is your chance to prove the spotters at YC wrong. Do it anyway, by any means that you can think of and make them regret not selecting you.
Even if only stellar ideas were presented with great teams behind them then YC would still be able to select only a limited amount of those. Chances are that you'll make it and those chances are not that much different from the projects that did get selected.
And you have at least one extra motivation, to make whoever made that selection at YC think, oops... we should have picked that one.
Being selected by YC is not a guarantee of success and not being selected by YC is not a guarantee of failure!
Best of luck to all of you, both those selected and those not selected.
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Correction: you haven't beaten the 18/19/20/whatever year-old shits...yet. Give us a few years to be 24 :) Age does matter. People of different age have different priorities, bottom line. Our 52 year-old has children our age and is much less concerned with the exciting opportunities engendered through YC and much more focused on just getting the business off the ground with something to show for it.
No, it really doesn't. And thats not true either, ive met plenty of maried and with kids entrepreneurs that rock it! Dont hate, its totally uncool.
Maybe if we were both more clear about the point we were trying to make, we would agree :) Fact of the matter is that age isn't a sole determining factor of one's entrepreneurial mindset, but it nevertheless plays a role, albeit small or significant depending on the person. I've partnered with a mid-30's guy who in the end wasn't fulfilling his responsibilities because he was in the midst trying to get a job and feed his wife and son.
I'm now experiencing a partnership with a mid-50's guy. I'm working alongside him and several others my age. What can I say? I am experiencing exactly what I speak of right now. We have different personal goals but the beauty of it all is that no matter our personal goals we are all headed in the same direction.
So no hating here. Both young and old make for great entrepreneurs, just many times with different personal goals. What exactly are we arguing?
Re: The YC Rejection thread
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same here. We have a team of 20-year olds an one 52 year-old. The grandpa of us bunch didn't see the same excitement in this opportunity as the young'uns did. Rejection here as well...would have been a heck of a summer in San Francisco, instead it will have to be an awesome 4 months in Bloomington, IN, home of Indiana University!
Age is seriously but a number. Who cares if your 18 or 52. In fact having a dynamic team with experience people and young people is great. Our company is run by a guy that is in his late 30s and the co founder is in his early 30s and I can honestly say that a young guy couldnt do half the stuff these guys can... Sometimes age is totally a good thing :) And btw im 24 and on my second startup so I beat you 18 year old…
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