We Landed An Interview At Y Combinator But Decided Not To Go

We Landed An Interview At Y Combinator But Decided Not To Go — Here’s Why

#1

Post by michaelcheng » Fri, Oct 31, 2014, 11:05 PM UTC

We Landed An Interview At Y Combinator But Decided Not To Go — Here’s Why
medium.com

Re: We Landed An Interview At Y Combinator But Decided Not To Go — Here’s Why

#2

Post by _pius » Fri, Oct 31, 2014, 11:25 PM UTC

So why am I writing about this? Because I know a lot of people want to get into Y Combinator and I know a lot of people just got rejected.

A completely pointless humblebrag of a post.

Re: We Landed An Interview At Y Combinator But Decided Not To Go — Here’s Why

#3

Post by michaelcheng » Fri, Oct 31, 2014, 11:39 PM UTC

_pius wrote: post #2

So why am I writing about this? Because I know a lot of people want to get into Y Combinator and I know a lot of people just got rejected. A completely pointless humblebrag of a post.

Hey _pius,

I'm sorry you interpreted it that way. In fact, I don't think we'd get into YC even if we tried for the interview—it's not really the point of the post. I just wanted to share our rejection experience and how we struggled to recover from it. My sincerest apologies if the post somehow offended you.

Sincerely, Mike

Re: We Landed An Interview At Y Combinator But Decided Not To Go — Here’s Why

#4

Post by smt88 » Sat, Nov 01, 2014, 1:45 AM UTC

This reminds me of a recent criticism I read about Techstars.

The argument was that if you can get into Techstars, you didn't need Techstars. (The premise there is that Techstars uses accurate, meritocratic criteria for selecting companies, which is obviously false, as it is for all human-based selection processes.)

In my opinion, the best possible scenario for accelerators is to identify/fund companies that have the following 3 characteristics:

1) Few social advantages (lacking experience, connections, etc.)

2) Will require VC because it's impossible or counterproductive for them to reach profitability quickly (Facebooks and Ubers of the world)

3) Can't go without a paycheck for 12+ months

Re: We Landed An Interview At Y Combinator But Decided Not To Go — Here’s Why

#5

Post by scobar » Sat, Nov 01, 2014, 5:08 AM UTC

Congrats on being invited to an interview, and for your progress with Sniply. I understand completing an application even if you don't intend to join a YC batch, but why submit it? Did your team previously want to get into YC, but decide not to right after receiving the interview invite?

The feedback even rejected teams receive after interviews seems incredibly valuable, and it's definitely coveted by those who were rejected with no feedback. You said that your team will probably apply again in the future. Why not try to get in now, unless something prevents one of the cofounders from being able to fully commit to YC this batch?

It seems like your team is doing great, but consider that the YC partners or alumni may know and be able to help you out with something you aren't even aware that you'll need help with yet. I don't see the benefit of your decision. Perhaps some of your answers will help me understand.