Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#71

Post by jeffreyshaw » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 3:20 AM UTC

suhail wrote: post #47

Stay hungry, stay alive, and be relentlessly resourceful (as PG says). You'll figure it out. A long standing tradition: If you got rejected, please forward your rejection email to free@mixpanel.com and we'll hook you up with a free Mixpanel plan to help out while you're figuring it out. - Suhail

I love this tradition; and for the first time would like to make a similar offer:

Anyone who got rejected from YC S13 forward your rejection email to freewine@undergroundcellar.com and I'll send you a $25 gift card for free wine from http://UndergroundCellar.com

I'm not suggesting you drink your problems away, but a relaxing glass of wine can be a nice way to wind down before you get back to those 14 hour hack days.

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#72

Post by SeoxyS » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 3:30 AM UTC

DanielRibeiro wrote: post #40

I'm just hoping to give a few people some perpective on such rejections: - Damien Katz (creator of CouchDB) was also rejected[1]. He went on and got $2 million from Redpoint Ventures [2] - On this video[3], Jessica Livingston interviews Drew. It shows that he was also rejected the first time he tried out YC. - The oscar of rejected but finally accepted: I got into YC after applying six times [4] - Peteris Krumins als…

Chartboost got rejected from YC in S11. These days we're at $21M in funding led by Sequoia for Series B and ~55 employees. :)

It's not the end of the world.

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#73

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 3:34 AM UTC

iamwil wrote: post #56

DanielRibeiro wrote: post #40

I'm just hoping to give a few people some perpective on such rejections: - Damien Katz (creator of CouchDB) was also rejected[1]. He went on and got $2 million from Redpoint Ventures [2] - On this video[3], Jessica Livingston interviews Drew. It shows that he was also rejected the first time he tried out YC. - The oscar of rejected but finally accepted: I got into YC after applying six times [4] - Peteris Krumins als…

Oscar of Rejected wasn't exactly on my list of life goals. But I'll take it.

[deleted]

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#74

Post by jhdavids8 » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 3:39 AM UTC

We got rejected with http://pathgather.com. First time rejection from YC. Oh well...back to work on our beta release :)

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#75

Post by ruswick » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 3:52 AM UTC

With acceptance rates so incomprehensibly, almost farcically low (the rate was under 2% last year, and must be approaching if not already surpassed 1%), I don't see much value in reading into one's rejection.

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#76

Post by shrig94 » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 3:58 AM UTC

FlightCar was rejected on first pass--don't feel bad guys! The reason most startups fail is because the founders give up. So don't give up and keep hustling!

--Shri (Founder, FlightCar)

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#77

Post by kamaal » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 3:59 AM UTC

This reminds me of days around 11 years back, when I was studying for engineering college entrance exams.

We would have entrance exams for coaching classes which prepared students for main entrance exams, basically the elite coaching institutes would ask candidates undergo a entrance test and pick up only the best.

Many of my friends were rejected, including me. Some were selected. In the end in the main exams we did better than the guys who were selected for the coaching class. It just turns out after we were rejected we were motivated to push ourselves further more than others.

Rejection can do wonders if taken in the right spirit. You basically go into the phase to 'prove something' to not just yourself but every one around.

This is a very well drafted email.

>>Another reason you shouldn't take this personally is that we know we make lots of mistakes.

Says it all. YC companies fail too.

And there are a lot of non-YC companies that win. At the end YC is like the coaching class entrance exam, not the main engineering entrance exam.

Your main test is how and what you do on the ground.

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#78

Post by joell » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 4:05 AM UTC

boringkyle wrote: post #62

Any rejectees in Toronto want to meet up for a mind meld this weekend?

Didn't apply/get rejected but am always up to meet new techies in the city.

email is in my profile.

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#79

Post by michaelkscott » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 4:25 AM UTC

strukturedkaos wrote: post #30

We, Body Boss ( http://bodybossfitness.com ) didn't even have a product last time year, and we thought just having a good idea was enough for acceptance. In the past year, we've boostrapped like crazy, built a product, launched and acquired plenty of customers to validate our idea. YC rejection for the 2nd year in a row has done little to dampen our spirits and ambition. Here's to another rejection that motivates us…

Wow. Very impressive site.

Re: Tell HN: YC rejection emails have started going out

#80

Post by PAULHANNA84 » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 4:39 AM UTC

kamaal wrote: post #77

This reminds me of days around 11 years back, when I was studying for engineering college entrance exams. We would have entrance exams for coaching classes which prepared students for main entrance exams, basically the elite coaching institutes would ask candidates undergo a entrance test and pick up only the best. Many of my friends were rejected, including me. Some were selected. In the end in the main exams we did…

Very well put! Nice! :)