Ask PG: Do you review rejected YC apps to find startups who then made it big?

Just wondering.

Presumably, if they were to 'make it big' he would probably hear about this through other channels without having to constantly monitor a large pool of rejected applicants.

Answering as if your question said "And does that make you want to change your application process", because the first time I read it I thought it did.

My understanding of the essays I've read is that there wouldn't be much point in it. Ideas evolve or change entirely, and more importantly people improve. If the gut feeling was no then, all you know is that something changed.

Based on a question answered by PG on Askolo, YCombinator track them[1]:

Q: Have there been any startups you've later regretted rejecting from YCombinator? A: Sure, several. But I can't name names because it's not for me to disclose that they applied.

Additionally they also mention about contacting them on rejected applications[2]:

"If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email telling us about it; we want to learn from our mistakes"

Here are some that are known to have been rejected by YC and have gone onto raise funding (which is not a perfect metric by any means since funding ≠ success) or have been acquired:

- SendGrid - http://sendgrid.com/ - Raised $27.4M[3]

- CouchOne - http://www.couchbase.com/ - Raised $56M[4]

- AfterTheDeadline - http://afterthedeadline.com/ - Acquired By Automattic

- LightSail Energy - http://lightsailenergy.com/ - Raised $42.8M[5]

- SignPost - http://www.signpost.com/ - Raised $15M[6]

- Storenvy - http://www.storenvy.com - although they were kicked out of YC[7] Raised $6.5M [8]

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20120814111130/http://askolo.com...

[2] http://ycuniverse.com/yc-applying-interviewees

[3] http://www.crunchbase.com/company/sendgrid

[4] http://www.crunchbase.com/company/couchbase

[5] http://www.crunchbase.com/company/lightsail-energy

[6] http://www.crunchbase.com/company/signpost

[7] http://joncrawford.com/post/20378314843/how-i-got-kicked-out...

[8] http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/12/storenvy-goes-from-getting-...

Reviewing rejected apps would be a waste of time given how many apps YC has received. Also, what does 'big' mean? I doubt a startup exists that was rejected by YC then grew to a $1B valuation--someone would probably have heard of that by now, made a big deal of it, and those of us on HN would know. But I don't doubt that YC-rejected startups have gone on to raise a few rounds of funding and/or may have even made <$100M exits.