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Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

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Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#1

Post by rebryk »

For the last year, I checked more than 100 YC applications of other founders and many of them have the same repetitive issues.

So I prepared a simple guide with examples that will help founders build successful applications and avoid common pitfalls.

I've personally applied for YC three times, and was accepted only on the third time with Fluently.

This guide is based on my personal experience and was reviewed by other YC alumni. However, I would be glad if you could share your thoughts on that too.

Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try
getfluently.notion.site

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#4

Post by skyfaller »

preommr wrote: post #3

This is missing the most important requirement: Be an AI company.

I thought you were just being snarky, but I went and looked, and wow, it really is all "AI": https://www.ycombinator.com/companies?batch=F24

Without looking carefully, I can't tell which ones are generative AI / boiling the oceans to bullshit you; it's possible that some of these are legit uses of machine learning, which existed before ChatGPT and will hopefully continue to exist in the future. But I bet it's all ethically questionable bullshit.

Forerunner AI jumps out as a likely ethical black hole, based on its one line description "Copilot for aerospace engineers making rockets, munitions, satellites." On top of code theft, water use, emissions, and the many other horrors of Copilot and its ilk, we can also add war profiteering.

EDIT: Prediction: YC's next batch will include a startup trying to replicate whatever the fuck this is: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#6

Post by burcs »

preommr wrote: post #3

This is missing the most important requirement: Be an AI company.

Honestly this is the same level of snarkiness of saying, "Be a web company." in the early 2000s

YCombinator is a tech investor, of course they are investing in the future. It just so happens that in this current tech cycle AI is the future.

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#7

Post by senko »

preommr wrote: post #3

This is missing the most important requirement: Be an AI company.

One of the most impressive companies in my batch (W24) had nothing to do with AI, or indeed software: https://www.astromecha.co/

So no, not a requirement. OTOH if you do come with an AI idea, they won't reject you just because they already accepted a few hundred others :)

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#8

Post by burcs »

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #5

Go to ivy league school + ai raising pre-seed venture capital is more similar to getting hired at an investment bank (as an entry level/post mba banker) than it is to starting a company

This mindset is tiresome, especially seeing it on Hacker News...

I literally went to the cheapest state school in rural Pennsylvania and still was accepted into YC. My co-founder didn't even finish college, at some point I think people just want to make excuses.

Also — I don't understand your second point. It's an accelerator. Capital is part and parcel when it comes to accelerating.

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#9

Post by dgfitz »

I guess I don’t get it, and I’d like to. Y-Combinator enables connections and mentorship along with a stipend. This allows a team to work full time for a few months, having quit or taken a hiatus from their day job.

So the risk is $dayjob unless you’re a serial founder, the reward is the connections and money to float for a few months, while selling I think 10% of your company? The odds of your idea working out, even under the umbrella, aren’t great. Is that accurate?

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#10

Post by carlgreene »

Any other founders feel like YC has lost its luster? Not only are the number of AI companies in the portfolio ridiculous, but the large class sizes seem so much less personal.

Not to bag on anyone who’s in YC right now, but it seems to be going the way of many ivy leagues - still meaningful, but very much not the same proxy for extraordinary it once was.

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