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We Make Mistakes

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: We Make Mistakes

#21

Post by MCRed »

One of the things that I've found so challenging about applying for accelerators is that it's difficult to find examples of companies that got in or that didn't get in, and what they did for their applications. Every time I have come across one, I've learned a bit - like "that didn't work" or "that was a great idea" - around how they apply, pitch themselves or their product, etc.

Anyone who was rejected want to share any of their application info, like team or product demo videos, or their website and a one line pitch? I know you might not want to for competitive reasons, and I understand.

But there's always things we can learn from each other, so if you want to share I'm sure I'm not the only one who would appreciate seeing what didn't work. :-)

Re: We Make Mistakes

#22

Post by MCRed »

brentxphillips wrote: post #20

So how would YC classify passing over interviewing former United Nations staff working on reducing the turnaround time and effort it takes aid groups to raise funds to develop, launch and sustain operations responding to the worst humanitarian crises the world has seen in an era? Does this fit in the mistake category or the we’re just naively stupid and don’t have the time to bother spending 5 minutes hearing about y…

That's the problem you're trying to solve. There are many possibilities for why that didn't result in a successful application. For instance:

1) your solution might not seem viable

2) your solution might seem viable but you don't seem like you can pull it off

3) your solution might be great and you might have a great team, but there were stronger teams in the round

Re: We Make Mistakes

#23

Post by ericd »

brentxphillips wrote: post #20

So how would YC classify passing over interviewing former United Nations staff working on reducing the turnaround time and effort it takes aid groups to raise funds to develop, launch and sustain operations responding to the worst humanitarian crises the world has seen in an era? Does this fit in the mistake category or the we’re just naively stupid and don’t have the time to bother spending 5 minutes hearing about y…

They've got much more interest than they can deal with, such that even very good teams can be passed over. Just try again next time, and try not to take it personally. And in the meantime, keep on working on it.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#24

Post by kiba »

MCRed wrote: post #21

One of the things that I've found so challenging about applying for accelerators is that it's difficult to find examples of companies that got in or that didn't get in, and what they did for their applications. Every time I have come across one, I've learned a bit - like "that didn't work" or "that was a great idea" - around how they apply, pitch themselves or their product, etc. Anyone who was rejected want to share…

So, people optimize the application process to get in. That decrease the SNR for Y Combinator, which mean they have to work hard to separate the posers from the real thing.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#25

Post by MCRed »

pptr1 wrote: post #12

"Don’t let funding take your eye off the goal: making something people want. Everything else, including going through Y Combinator, is there to support that goal but is not the goal itself." Exactly...

This is particularly challenging, since, given the amount of effort it takes to make an application, if you apply to multiple accelerators during "application season" it's easy for it to be a full time job.

It's very easy to believe "if only we just got in... we'd have the money to do X".

Re: We Make Mistakes

#26

Post by bm1362 »

brentxphillips wrote: post #20

So how would YC classify passing over interviewing former United Nations staff working on reducing the turnaround time and effort it takes aid groups to raise funds to develop, launch and sustain operations responding to the worst humanitarian crises the world has seen in an era? Does this fit in the mistake category or the we’re just naively stupid and don’t have the time to bother spending 5 minutes hearing about y…

YCombinator isn't the only way to start a business. Don't let bitterness cloud your goal.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#27

Post by rpedela »

brentxphillips wrote: post #20

So how would YC classify passing over interviewing former United Nations staff working on reducing the turnaround time and effort it takes aid groups to raise funds to develop, launch and sustain operations responding to the worst humanitarian crises the world has seen in an era? Does this fit in the mistake category or the we’re just naively stupid and don’t have the time to bother spending 5 minutes hearing about y…

As always with things like YC, it isn't black and white. Sometimes the rejection is not because they didn't like you or think the idea isn't important, but rather someone else was better in their opinion. And as the title of the post says, they understand their opinion can be wrong.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#28

Post by aliakhtar »

MCRed wrote: post #21

One of the things that I've found so challenging about applying for accelerators is that it's difficult to find examples of companies that got in or that didn't get in, and what they did for their applications. Every time I have come across one, I've learned a bit - like "that didn't work" or "that was a great idea" - around how they apply, pitch themselves or their product, etc. Anyone who was rejected want to share…

I'll share a bit. I'm a solo, international founder. I applied with a barely usable, very limited prototype, of a technically challenging project (involving A.I and machine learning). My video was viewed twice, and my demo was viewed, but no other action was taken within it. I was rejected.

I expected that, given that my prototype was pretty bad, and I have a lot going against me. It definitely lit a fire under me just to apply though - and the questions that the application asks, are things you really need to think about. I definitely don't regret applying. And the fact that my demo & video were viewed - makes me think that perhaps my idea is somewhat promising.

I plan on improving my product a lot and re-applying next batch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12DAjoONx9E&t=35s

Re: We Make Mistakes

#29

Post by MCRed »

kiba wrote: post #24
MCRed wrote: post #21

One of the things that I've found so challenging about applying for accelerators is that it's difficult to find examples of companies that got in or that didn't get in, and what they did for their applications. Every time I have come across one, I've learned a bit - like "that didn't work" or "that was a great idea" - around how they apply, pitch themselves or their product, etc. Anyone who was rejected want to share…

So, people optimize the application process to get in. That decrease the SNR for Y Combinator, which mean they have to work hard to separate the posers from the real thing.

I wasn't thinking about gaming the system so much as... well... how to best bring clarity to the subject.

It's not just the quality of the idea, team and product, but the quality of the presentation -- and that's always a challenge when you're in the early stages and not necessarily fully certain about, say, the product's nature.

And by presentation I don't mean how slick it is, but how effective it is at conveying what you're trying to convey (which can be undermined by slickness.)

Anyway I was asking for the ones that failed, not the ones that were successful (as I assume they would want to keep things under wraps until demo day.)

Re: We Make Mistakes

#30

Post by dropit_sphere »

sfeng wrote: post #4
the_cat_kittles wrote: post #3

"We Make Mistakes" is such a pretentious title because you think people hold ycombinator in such high esteem that you need to say that

They're trying to be kind to the people they just refused, I'm not sure why that's pretentious. If you applied, presumably you wanted to get in and reminding them that it's not necessarily them or their company which is wrong is a kind thing to do.

Actually, I think this is the most important part of the process. When you're small you have the luxury of making mistakes and no one cares. When you wield some power/prestige and your actions affect other peoples' lives, people start coming to you with grievances. The worst part is that often those grievances are "deserved" --- I guarantee that some startup w/o an interview request will make it big, and one that gets accepted will slink off and die. That doesn't mean that YC is failing, just that the problem is really hard.
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