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We Make Mistakes

blog.ycombinator.com

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31–40 of 206 posts

Re: We Make Mistakes

#31

Post by esusinc »

kevin wrote: post #9
Udo wrote: post #7

Damn, I was thinking about trying for a "late" application, but apply.ycombinator.com seems to be down. Does anyone know if they still allow this, in principle? Or are batches now so saturated (with good ideas) that they dropped the option?

We do still allow late apps. We're working on the problem and hope to have it back up soon. Sorry guys!

As a first time applicant, is there a declination notification or is lack of response the indicator of being passed over? Also, it seems there is an advantage in submitting late as you may avoid applicant fatigue. True?

Re: We Make Mistakes

#32

Post by sparkzilla »

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…

Newslines - The Wikipedia of News (a mix of Wikipedia, daily news and YouTube). Very experienced entrepreneurial team. Only direct competitor to Wikipedia. Applied as a project that allows greater diversity for content creators (unlike Wikipedia 80% of our contributors are women and minorities) Full product online and getting good traction. http://newslines.org/ Check our Paul Graham newsline: http://newslines.org/paul-graham/ Will try again next time. It's fun to make the application, really helps you think how to describe your business simply.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#33

Post by graycat »

damurdock wrote: post #18

I'm reminded a bit of http://www.bvp.com/portfolio/antiportfolio , a collection of companies that applied to Bessemer Venture Partners for VC funds, were denied, and went on to make it big.

Sure, easily can conclude that BVP and other VC firms believe that they have a particular way to evaluate applications and make money. This does not mean that they have the ability or obligation, or even make an effort, accurately to evaluate every application that comes through their door.

So, likely, net, if they are making money, then they are happy about the money they are making, smile all the way to the bank, and just f'get about the rest.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#34

Post by esusinc »

ericd wrote: post #23
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.

As an East Coast located start up there is the feel of being on the outside looking in. There seems to be obstacles to overcome...be it culturally and geographically. As a startup in an growth industry (UAV/UAS)that happens to focus more on the service delivery and hardware side, how do you overcome the software centric focus of YC?

Re: We Make Mistakes

#35

Post by ilaksh »

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…

There are other accelerators and investors. Y Combinator can pick and choose anything. Your startup sounds very important but also incredibly challenging for any investor to get involved with. People in Silicon Valley may be pretty afraid of that kind of goal.

I would also be angry if they wouldn't give me five minutes, but that's not how their process works (imagine how hard that would be to personally say no to hundreds or thousands of people).

I hope you will continue to pursue other avenues for funding.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#36

Post by panther2k »

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…

Here you go: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s8udpwEe7TPz1xJLA3E1N9qb...

We are building a decentralized bank/crowdlending network on the blockchain.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#37

Post by kevin »

esusinc wrote: post #31
kevin wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do still allow late apps. We're working on the problem and hope to have it back up soon. Sorry guys!

As a first time applicant, is there a declination notification or is lack of response the indicator of being passed over? Also, it seems there is an advantage in submitting late as you may avoid applicant fatigue. True?

We send emails to everyone. If you didn't get one, email us at apps at ycombinator dot com

Re: We Make Mistakes

#38

Post by Rapzid »

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.

Perhaps being "kind" was the motivation. Maybe it was business oriented though. They are in the business of getting all the choice investment opportunities coming to them. So, it's in their interest to have people not discouraged from reapplying, or to have them bad talking YC because they "Couldn't understand my awesome idea".

Re: We Make Mistakes

#39

Post by kevin »

viksit wrote: post #16

Does this include late apps? Curious about the decisions on apps that came in hours or days after the 8p deadline.

You can pretty much late apply all the way until the next batch starts. There's not really a formal process with late applications, though. We do read through them all eventually and we'll respond to all of you. Right now, the rough deadline for us is by the end of the year.

Re: We Make Mistakes

#40

Post by lnanek2 »

aliakhtar wrote: post #28
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 ju…

I don't think you stand much chance as a solo founder either. It's very rare.
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