171–180 of 199 posts
This is a brilliant decision. I attended Startup School this weekend, and used the event and the surrounding parties to pitch our idea to at least 10+ Y-Combinator startups. Every time i pitched our company i learned something new and got great feedback on how to pitch it better next time. Startups that are concerned about this, should realise that to be accepted to Y-Combinator is not the goal of your startup. It is…
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Agreed and +1. I hope/trust the OP consulted her co-founders before posting this, because I don't think it helps their chances. It's insulting to Jessica to think that she'd give her "points" for being female. And it's insulting to YC founders to say that we'd somehow dock her for being a woman. That being said-- both are possible. Spend a few months doing A/B testing, read about priming studies, and you realize just…
I don't expect points for being female, but it is something that sets me apart in this scenario. I don't think you, a YC alum, would necessarily dock me for being a woman. I do think that you might not find some of my accomplishments as interesting as you would someone more like you. Is that unfair? Only if I knew YC alums were reading my application after I submitted it. Because I would have tailored it to you in th…
This is a brilliant decision. I attended Startup School this weekend, and used the event and the surrounding parties to pitch our idea to at least 10+ Y-Combinator startups. Every time i pitched our company i learned something new and got great feedback on how to pitch it better next time. Startups that are concerned about this, should realise that to be accepted to Y-Combinator is not the goal of your startup. It is…
Great post, Bastian.
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But just because it's possible doesn't mean that it isn't insulting. I can understand how people found this discussion insulting, especially when it got blown out of proportion. It wasn't tianaco's intention. I saw the application she submitted which she is leading. She focuses on differentiating herself from typical entrepreneurs, and a lot of that has to do with her unique experiences. She was confident this would…
"tianaco is a vocal person who says what she thinks." As a team member, she oughta reign this in a bit. As a company founder, saying what you think can sometimes hurt your company. I think you have a duty to put a buffer between your brain and your mouth, especially around touchy subjects. If you always say what you think around investors and customers, you'll probably have fewer of both. :-) I think a lot of people…
I think it's pretty gratuitous for you to give me a lesson on selling to investors and customers here. Yes my comments may have been polarizing. I don't think you understand the opportunity cost of always saying what you think people want to hear.
I've gotten a lot of opportunities by speaking my mind to and rubbing influential people the wrong way initially. They give me attention they normally would not give, and in debating with me give me more respect in the end than had I just championed the status quo. This isn't something I seek out, but I find that standing my ground almost always serves me well.
Having graded papers in college and worked with a number of professors, peers are often a far harsher critic. Investors also operate in a big picture kind of way and see a horizon that is far larger than operators tend to see. It'll be interesting to see how this adds to the decision-making process for PG. I'd love to see the data (even anonymized) about how the peers review compare to PG and teams reviews.
I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…
Nowhere on the app does it ask you for your sex. If you were so afraid of your application being viewed differently because you are a woman, hiding that fact on the app is as simple as using an alias and answering the questions without saying 'OH YEAH, AND I'M A WOMAN.' And if you think any of those at YC, whether pg and gang, or the alumni, would 'dock' you on points for being a woman and overlook your potential and that of your idea, you yourself are being sexist for assuming that a man would be so irrational and illogical for the sake of gender discrimination.
And sorry for being harsh, but don't pull that 'they don't relate to me' crap. We're all aspiring entrepreneurs trying to make it out there with our ideas, connections, talents, etc, and any decent person would judge you on such. I don't need a pair of breasts and a rush of estrogen to relate to you. You're perpetuating the same gender gap you are criticizing others of exploiting.
I know you're a woman, but man up.
I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…
As I explained here, the alumni are going to read applications in addition to us, not instead of us: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=908585 I'm not sure what you meant about a "one in three chance," but it sounds like you're misunderstanding how we read applications. We don't split them up. Also, there are 4 YC founders, not 3. The way it usually works is that Robert, Trevor and I (separately) read and rank the a…
Would you tell us, which YC alumni is going to read the applications for us in advance,if we see any conflicts then, we delte our application.
Thanks,
Do early submissions get reviewed BEFORE the actual closing date? That's the clear implication from what I've read elsewhere on this thread, because it's stated "there is more time to review early applications"
In my case, I submitted (initially) soon after the applications were opened, and have been editing, proof reading, clarifying generally and improving on it, and re-submitting right up to this evening - the evening of the closing date. So there are quite possibly at least 30 different iterations of my application. My first submission was crude, but early. My final submission is probably a factor of 10X better, but two hours before the deadline.
So without giving too much away YC, which iteration gets reviewed and when, and how do you know when the submission is final, if you review before the close date?
I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…