YC Fellowship • Hacker News Board

Re: YC Fellowship

#381

Post by throwawave » Wed, Jul 22, 2015, 6:37 AM UTC

throwaway69283 wrote: post #106

(Posting from a throwaway account) > for some people, [YCF] may be the difference between going to work at a big company and starting the next Airbnb This is me. I applied to the YC summer batch and was rejected (I applied late, as a single founder, with only an idea). I've tried to push ahead anyway with my idea/startup and built a small prototype, but in the end decided to find a job. I have just now gotten a job o…

^ same situation, but the big difference is that i am in a country where the annual salary can be around $12k, and its the big Q instead of G, i have already started the job but will be applying regardless, hope to quit if accepted, if anybody has any views/opinions on this then let me know

Re: YC Fellowship

#382

Post by meteor » Wed, Jul 22, 2015, 7:09 AM UTC

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,

Can you let me know the timelines for the following,

1. When are we likely to have our interview? 2. When are we expected to kickstart our work?

We are currently working in a company. Answers to the above questions will help us to plan on quitting our regular job.

Re: YC Fellowship

#383

Post by martinlee18 » Wed, Jul 22, 2015, 9:47 AM UTC

We are not actively searching for investments yet, I think the YC Fellowship could be a great opportunity to get advices and contacts.

But I'd need some feedback: do you think we could be eligible for the fellowship?

Here are some details:

- startup in the SaaS space (collaboration tool for remote teams)

- 2 founders + 2 full time employees

- money: 300K USD from a previous exit by the founders

- private alpha in jan 2015, public beta since may 2015, service is still free for everybody (so: no revenues :)

- few hundred users

I'm not sure about the "no money from investors" requirement, what do you think?

Re: YC Fellowship

#384

Post by tinkerdol » Wed, Jul 22, 2015, 11:23 AM UTC

Note to the organizers -- this sounds awesome, and I'd even love to apply, but something announced now is too short notice for a round that starts in September for those of us living in Germany and who currently have jobs (maybe this applies to all of Europe? Not sure).

I have a work contract through the end of December and must give at minimum three months notice to my employer if I leave before then, in order for them to have time to find a replacement. And three months is the legal bare minimum; better to plan more like 6 months out. Pretty sure this is the standard timeframe throughout the country, if not continent.

Just a heads up -- I'd guess there are at least a handful of others in my position.

Re: YC Fellowship

#385

Post by zachb » Wed, Jul 22, 2015, 2:55 PM UTC

zodiac wrote: post #347

Are the questions different from regular YC applications? I don't see the "Please tell us about the time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage" question I've read about

Looks like they cherry-picked a condensed list of the "most important" questions, likely out of respect to the fact that there are only 7 days to complete the fellowship application

Re: YC Fellowship

#386

Post by patrickxie » Wed, Jul 22, 2015, 6:04 PM UTC

taway19 wrote: post #371

This is my throw away account for privacy reason. I would like to have some advice about my career path (and to echo Sam's post regarding "it may be the difference between going to work at a big company and starting the next Airbnb") I am a 22 software engineer working at Facebook right now. With the current stock raise, my annual compensation comes out to be a bit over 200k/year before bonuses. I am much more excite…

Check your employer's contract to see if you are allowed to work on personal project during off hours.

You can still work on an idea you're passionate about if you can manage your time efficiently.

Another way is to find a capable co-founder and he can be the solo founder to get in the program, while you both can become co-founders when your idea gains traction and you've decided to incorporate.

I would also recommend leaving your contact information in your HN about page so that people can contact you about co-founding a startup.

Re: YC Fellowship

#387

Post by ganadiniakshay » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 6:25 PM UTC

I currently have a job at Microsoft and am considering applying. The application says I don't have to quit my job until I am accepted. However Microsoft requires me to give a 45 day notice. So I might not be available full time in the first week or so, will that be a problem?

Re: YC Fellowship

#388

Post by daveyjones » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 11:22 PM UTC

mattkrisiloff wrote: post #311

ejcx wrote: post #284

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…

We plan to notify teams about interviews on August 15.

Hi Matt. My co-founder and I are trying to figure out how much time we would have to make a transition to full time. If you could give us any more dates like this, that would be very helpful. For example, over what time period will interviews take place? When would we be notified of our acceptance or rejection? Thank you!

Re: YC Fellowship

#389

Post by detail3 » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 8:27 PM UTC

robzyb wrote: post #337

cperciva wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't intend to ever take VC money for Tarsnap. But that doesn't mean that YC can't offer me any useful advice.

> But that doesn't mean that YC can't offer me any useful advice. But what can you offer them? It's clear what YC Fellowships offer to companies, but I suspect there's also some not-as-obvious benefits to YC. Would Tarsnap bring these benefits to YC?

Well, the benefit to YC is that they can get a better feel for companies which may fully apply to a class for a somewhat nominal fee. Stronger branding, bigger presence, and just doing some cool shit to boot.

I agree that people need to be aware that their company should offer some benefit to YC as well, just simple business...exchange of value.

Re: YC Fellowship

#390

Post by gg4u » Sat, Jul 25, 2015, 1:35 PM UTC

Can an applicant apply within two teams? I read not possible for a team apply with two projects, I am asking if a member can be mentioned into two different teams.