311–320 of 399 posts
I only hope that YCF get's back to those accepted and denied quickly. I see this as a great program for students and if they wait too long, students may end up in an awkward position where they are unsure whether they should drop out for the semester, without hearing anything back from YCF. I think it's a great program. $12,0000 is a lot of money to sit in your apartment and hack for 2 months on whatever it is you wa…
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Hi! Matt here -- I'll be managing YC Fellowship. I'll be answering questions here throughout the day alongside Kat and Sam.
Does YC ever consider ideas that aren't designed to be billion-dollar companies? For instance, if someone was working on a next-gen diagnostics tool for VoIP, they might realistically be able to get to $10-20M, maybe 10x if things go really well. But it's hard to see that becoming a billion+ company under any circumstances. What advice do you have for such ideas?
I am currently self-employed as a startup consultant and freelance web developer. I have extensive Computer Science, Sales, Account Management, and Customer Success experience and have successfully started 2 small businesses in the past with revenues of a half-a-million dollars combined. The last company I worked at had 14 people and negligible market saturation when I joined. I was instrumental in growing it to the #1 most used software system in its industry, with over 200 employees and a valuation increase of 20x (2000%) over 3 years.
I am comfortable working in both a programming/product role or on the business end of things—whatever will best serve the team. I have two ideas for which I have already done market validation, but I'm perfectly happy to go with your idea instead if you can sell me on it.
If you think I'd be valuable to your team, or if you think you'd be a valuable partner or member of my team, send me a message. Let's talk. Cheers
For me, the key is that they are even considering remote. I think that really is the part that is needed to get to another 10x. I am not saying remote work is intrinsically 10x better in quality or quantity, I am thinking about it more from the point of view of people who cannot or will not travel, new people that can be reached this way. Take myself for example: I do have this thing that I am working on.. but I also…
Well put. Geography is vastly underestimated as a limiting factor. Not simply for $ – living in the Bay Area is barely feasible for a young person without dependents – but also the many quality-of-life trade-offs that come with a move. I hope this is a successful experiment.
There's also nothing that says you absolutely have to stay in the Bay Area afterwards. Many founders head back to where they come from if that's the right thing for the business.
This is a good idea and a great opportunity for many people. And I think it's fantastic that YC is doing this. However, I can't help feeling it really is intended for young people recently out of school, who have no other immediate financial obligations. I would really love to see an option for people who are not in this group. Let's imagine someone who is married, with a couple of kids and a mortgage. Right away, YC…
I agree for the most part, but it may well be enough to break through some inertia. 12k for a two man team is 3k/month, whereas in full time work most engineers would be making at least 10k/month. I know personally I'd be uninclined to ditch my entire income, but keeping at least a little trickle coming in would mean my savings wouldn't diminish quite so rapidly, and I'd probably be willing to take two months off to…
Maybe this is also a way for YC to sort of draw a line in the sand between wantrepreneurs and the real deal. If you have an idea that keeps you up at night and you have decided to go all in, then this will give you a chance to prove it. no?
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then maybe you should find a jerb. entrepreneurship is risky.
That's an extremely terrible answer that really only serves to diminish the diversity of startup culture.
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Are there any plans to do a normal YC program (7%/$120k) but also be inclusive of remote teams? 0% for $12k is obviously a great deal, but my main stumbling block has always been the loss of income from dropping paid work, and $12k over two months is barely half an engineer's salary - let alone to cover multiple team members. That said, it may well be enough to make someone like me think "well, at least I won't be ea…
You aren't "earning 12K" you are using that 12K to kick start your idea.
For me, the key is that they are even considering remote. I think that really is the part that is needed to get to another 10x. I am not saying remote work is intrinsically 10x better in quality or quantity, I am thinking about it more from the point of view of people who cannot or will not travel, new people that can be reached this way. Take myself for example: I do have this thing that I am working on.. but I also…
Well put. Geography is vastly underestimated as a limiting factor. Not simply for $ – living in the Bay Area is barely feasible for a young person without dependents – but also the many quality-of-life trade-offs that come with a move. I hope this is a successful experiment.
There is a method to the madness. They have proven it.