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How to Apply to Y Combinator

ycombinator.com

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Re: How to Apply to Y Combinator

#101

Post by 10ren »

pg wrote: post #39
alain94040 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny thing is that given the space allocated to cover all those scenarios, the applicant ends up in a situation very similar to game theory (a post yesterday on HN pops to mind). You, as the applicant, have to figure out what PG will consider non-obvious so you cover those, but keeping in mind that if there is anything obvious that PG would have thought you should cover, then you should cover those as well, but…

Actually there is a standard for non-obviousness: what's not obvious to your competitors. We have a question specifically about that. What do you understand about your business that other companies in it just don't get? The amusing thing is, this question turned out to be an instance of itself. Many of the YC clones who copied our application form cut this one, because its purpose wasn't obvious.

I had thought that question was clearly about competitive advantage through new and unique perspectives, as part of evaluating the business/technical idea. As such I'd expect the clones to include it. I'm twice mistaken.

I now see it's also about noticing non-obvious things, as a way to evaluate the founders; and that this better fits YC's philosophy of funding people not products.

Re: How to Apply to Y Combinator

#102

Post by jamiequint »

paraschopra wrote: post #100
jamiequint wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC for us was much more about the connections than the money. It makes getting in the door a lot of places much easier, VCs/Angels are big on referrals and YC is kind of an insta-referral to anyone you want to talk to. The value of YC also depends largely on what kind of company you want to start. If you're looking to start a small shop making $500k-$2M (max) a year in revenue with 2-3 people than YC probably isn't f…

No offense, but I am curious about the number of YC startups who are currently doing (or done in the past) "$500k-$2M (max) a year in revenue with 2-3 people"?

I only know one, which is exactly my point. You won't find many of them because that isn't the type of company YC was designed to fund. You will find more than a few companies that have raised multiple rounds of VC and are in growth mode (Justin.tv, Xobni, Scribd, Songkick, Dropbox, Loopt, etc) because those companies better match the type of company that YC naturally fits.

Re: How to Apply to Y Combinator

#103

Post by smikhanov »

pg wrote: post #40
thedob wrote: post #31

One thing that's confused me about the "Please tell us about the time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage." question is the parenthesis. My guess is that they're included because you'll accept either a computer, or non-computer related example. If it's confused me, chances are it may confuse others as well.

The reason for "(non-computer)" is that we wanted to distinguish between hacking in the sense of programming, and hacking in the sense of beating the system.

"Beating the system" makes me think of rebellion. Is this really what you looking for in applicants? Does non-conformism really matter that much?

Re: How to Apply to Y Combinator

#104

Post by Mz »

siong1987 wrote: post #89
Mz wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would one determine which category they likely fall in ($2M max or $10M+ potential)?

You can ask yourself: Can your startup make 500M in 10 years time? If the answer is YES, then, you're in that group.

I don't know if that's a useful answer for me. There is currently about $3B/year being spent on something I have a cheaper, better solution for. The problem is everyone thinks I'm crazy. There is a huge gap between current thinking on the problem and my thinking on the problem. So most sources of revenue currently available to pay that $3B/year bill would be unlikely to be available to pay for any product I put out there. Also, since my solution drastically shrinks costs, it wouldn't be a $3B/year market. $3B is grossly inefficient. I can't begin to guesstimate what the market would be worth for my solutions.

Re: How to Apply to Y Combinator

#108

Post by pegobry »

dhouston wrote: post #73
lacker wrote: post #14

It would be great to see previous successful applications, if they don't mind. (Unsuccessful ones would be interesting too but that might be weird for them.)

Hopefully I won't feel stupid posting this, but I wished someone had done the same thing when I applied. (pg -- if you'd rather I not share this, feel free to delete) Original Dropbox YC app: http://files.getdropbox.com/u/2/app.html Had to remove some names and one sensitive thing but otherwise unedited

That is awesome. Great application.

I wish more people would post their applications.

Re: How to Apply to Y Combinator

#109

Post by pegobry »

Re: describing your product matter-of-factly instead of grandiosely.

At a Startup School, Greg McAdoo of Sequoia described how they wanted each company to have a one-sentence masterplan and described how they made Cisco change their self-description from "We make boxen that do X,Y,Z" to "Cisco Systems networks networks".

If you're applying to be the next Google and most importantly if you guys look for the next Google, I think that sort of implies that the founders have some grand vision for the future of the company and that's the thing they'd want to put forward -- and that you'd want to see put forward so that you're confident they can be the next Google.

I guess what I'm asking is, would it have been better for 1976 Apple to apply saying "We sell a neat microcomputer kit for $666" or "We want usher in a technological revolution by making computers so darn pretty and easy to use that everyone will buy one"?

The former is more accurate, but it's the latter that really represents what the company is about and what its potential is.

Re: How to Apply to Y Combinator

#110

Post by LogicHoleFlaw »

icey wrote: post #15
jacquesm wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you privy to the applications ? 80% would seem to be a fairly high number. I think that there is a nice benefit from applying to YC for many small start-up companies, which is that for the first time (on that level of funding I'm assuming it's the first time) you have to get precise about stuff. So even if you do not get selected you're still going to be a big step further.

I'm not privy to anything, as the only thing I have to do with YC is posting here. However, I acted as a technical adviser to some investors during the first dotcom boom in the 90s. Even in the face of specific requests, there were a shocking number of people who started their responses clearly intending to go into detail, and ending up with a heavy dose of hand-waving. Having since moved on, I still do hiring and se…

A friend of mine was a sound, power, and lighting technician for some pretty prestigious concert venues. According to him, the "green m&m clauses" of certain bands' touring agreements were a test specifically to see if someone from each venue had actually read the band's technical specification requirements. If you got to the concert location and the green m&ms were not ready, it was time to panic and start finding out where the power was going to cut out when you turned on all the kit...
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