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YC Fellowship

blog.ycombinator.com

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41–50 of 399 posts

Re: YC Fellowship

#41

Post by mattzito »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #35
pilingual wrote: post #22

This is exactly why Y Combinator is the best. This is what leadership is (and what those other accelerators do, is follow the lead). > but as always we’ll consider solo founders too. Please be extremely open minded about solo founders. I feel that is one consideration that hasn't been adapted with the changing tech landscape.

> Please be extremely open minded about solo founders. I feel that is one consideration that hasn't been adapted with the changing tech landscape. This is something I always worry about too. I have several really amazing people that I could partner with on a few different things but due to financial obligations there isn't anyway they'd be able to join full time unless there was an investment. So pitching as a solo a…

> I have several really amazing people that I could partner with on a few different things but due to financial obligations there isn't anyway they'd be able to join full time unless there was an investment. So pitching as a solo always makes me nervous that I'll be immediately discounted even if I could bring in a partner shortly thereafter.

It's a fair point, but you have to take into account the fact that a lot of those people won't join you when you do get investment. It's the same thing as when two founders show up and talk about their rolodex of talent they have waiting to be hired as soon as there's money in the door - it's a useful data point, and certainly something to consider, but a good percentage of those people will typically not work out, or won't like the terms, or will want too much money, etc. So you can't treat it the same as the people who have the team onboard now.

Re: YC Fellowship

#43

Post by katm »

jonnycowboy wrote: post #31
katm wrote: post #2

Kat from YC here. Sam, Matt Krisiloff and I are happy to answer any questions about the Fellowship. You can also send questions to fellowship@ycombinator.com.

Hi Kat, considering applying for a hardware-based startup. I have enough savings to quit my current job for 2 months but the 12k would be enough to build a few prototypes. Would you consider a robotics-based startup?

Yes - we are considering hardware-based startups. We know $12k isn't a lot to get a hardware company going. We'd ask that you tell us in the application how you plan to make progress in the short amount of time, with a small amount of funding.

Re: YC Fellowship

#44

Post by rokhayakebe »

YC is an entire team and as with every great team, the most influential work is being done by people we shall never know. Kudos to everyone there.

That being said, this Sama is one freaking impressive DOer. From the time he came in to now, this feels like the YC you would expect 10 years from now.

Re: YC Fellowship

#45

Post by anon1385 »

vonklaus wrote: post #32
anon1385 wrote: post #11

>We understand that $12,000 is not a lot of money, and this won’t make sense for everyone. But for some people, it may be the difference between going to work at a big company and starting the next Airbnb. Maybe if the founders of AirBnB had been given $12,000 they wouldn't have needed to make money though illegal spamming.

Interesting, I haven't heard about this. Could you speak more to the illegal spamming allegation?

http://gawker.com/5853754/the-seedy-spammy-past-of-airbnbs-c...

Re: YC Fellowship

#46

Post by mattkrisiloff »

soribsalc wrote: post #13
katm wrote: post #2

Kat from YC here. Sam, Matt Krisiloff and I are happy to answer any questions about the Fellowship. You can also send questions to fellowship@ycombinator.com.

If we have raised funds through a Kickstarter campaign but have no outside investment, are we still eligible?

How much have you sold through Kickstarter? I'd say use your best judgement, and if you're not certain, still apply. If it's a lot, you may just want to apply to the W16 batch of YC (applications open in August).

Re: YC Fellowship

#47

Post by mattkrisiloff »

vishalzone2002 wrote: post #42

can people working on side-projects/ideas while having a Full time job take part in this?

You can definitely apply while still having your job, but you must be willing to work on it full-time for at least the duration of the Fellowship program. We hope you'll commit to it longer than that too -- if your startup is promising, you'll be working on it for many years to come.

Re: YC Fellowship

#48

Post by jordigg »

Don't underestimate that 12k + YC network and help. Most unicorns that came from the YC program started with 20k not long ago. Too much money can kill a small and inexperienced team, be lean, scrappy and bootstrap to prove then raise to grow.

Re: YC Fellowship

#49

Post by curiousjorge »

This is fairly aligned with what I described before, making tiny bets or investments across large number of individuals or startups.

Having said that $12,000 is too small of a figure to make a realistic impact. Rather it would be better to focus on boostrapping and making that amount every month, and continually reinvest in your business.

Re: YC Fellowship

#50

Post by graham1776 »

katm wrote: post #2

Kat from YC here. Sam, Matt Krisiloff and I are happy to answer any questions about the Fellowship. You can also send questions to fellowship@ycombinator.com.

Are company cofounders required/suggested to have technical background or are industry professionals (non-technical) welcomed as well?
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