Great news for startups in New York! Hope this will continue for years to come.
YC Interviews in NYC
11–20 of 79 posts
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#12It's an interesting reflection of changing dynamics for startups - When YC started, it was in Boston, before later moving to SF.
Now that they're expanding to do some interviews on the East Coast again, they're doing them in NYC, rather than Boston.
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#13Great first steps. Any plans to have one in a "no visa required" location for people from other parts? The struggle and stress attending YC interviews puts on Nigerian founders is - to put it mildly, very unfair. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya are 2 countries with visa on arrival for everyone and a great air network.[1] [1] https://www.passportindex.org/byWelcomingRank.php
This is something we've been searching for solutions to, and was part of our thinking in trying this out. We'll be releasing new locations as we finalize them - stay tuned.
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was there too. I remember being disappointed that PG came all that way just to tell us all to move to the Bay Area. IIRC, he went so far as to say that NYC would never be able to offer the community and serendipity of being surrounded by so many fellow entrepreneurs. And that NYC was too tainted by its banking culture and the drive to make money. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. NYC has come a long…
Lol did he really claim that SV wasn't about making money? That's rich.
Not if you go by the parent comment instead of what your brain translated it to.
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#15Great first steps. Any plans to have one in a "no visa required" location for people from other parts? The struggle and stress attending YC interviews puts on Nigerian founders is - to put it mildly, very unfair. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya are 2 countries with visa on arrival for everyone and a great air network.[1] [1] https://www.passportindex.org/byWelcomingRank.php
I'm curious, what's the next step after the interview? If they do an interview in a no visa location and you get in, wouldn't you still need to get a visa to join the program?
Or are you saying that once you get in then getting the visa is worth the time, but it isn't worth it just for the interview?
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#16It's an interesting reflection of changing dynamics for startups - When YC started, it was in Boston, before later moving to SF. Now that they're expanding to do some interviews on the East Coast again, they're doing them in NYC, rather than Boston.
Boston based founder here - I think it makes perfect sense.
- NY is far easier to get to Boston from anywhere else on the east coast - flights, busses, trains, etc. Much less Europe.
- While the amount of total VC dollars invested in each city is similar[0], I've always gotten the impression that figure is skewed by a small number of mega-rounds going into the biotechnology companies in Kendall Square vs. the number of companies in the wider ecosystems.
- NY is just a better city to visit. More public transit options, hotel rooms, things to see while you are in town for the interview, etc.
I love Boston, but I'd make the same decision.
[0] https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/04/boston-area-startups-are-o...
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#17Great first steps. Any plans to have one in a "no visa required" location for people from other parts? The struggle and stress attending YC interviews puts on Nigerian founders is - to put it mildly, very unfair. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya are 2 countries with visa on arrival for everyone and a great air network.[1] [1] https://www.passportindex.org/byWelcomingRank.php
I'm curious, what's the next step after the interview? If they do an interview in a no visa location and you get in, wouldn't you still need to get a visa to join the program? Or are you saying that once you get in then getting the visa is worth the time, but it isn't worth it just for the interview?
It might be much more difficult to a get visa for an interview than for the program in some parts of the world, because people are much likely to stay illegally if they are rejected.
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#18I remember going to YCNYC nearly 10 years ago, and pg made the argument that anyone starting a company should just move to the Bay Area because it was that much better. I guess NYC has come a long way, or YC has, or both :)
Oh yes, I was also there! But I remember many people came out of that event hearing very different things from PG (there were also small presentations from YC alums hiring).
I remember PG saying NYC had clearly overtaken Boston as #2 startup up in the US, partly because Boston investors were more risk averse and focused on the late stages. Then he asked whether NYC could rival the Bay Area for #1.
I don't think he made a definitive conclusion one way or another. I even remember him saying the unstoppable force of the startup revolution would hit the immovable object - that NYC is already known as many other hubs (finance in particular).
The one concept that stood out was his argument that "chance encounters" with people who can help your startup are crucial. Good luck sometimes hits when you least expect it, but NYC at the time didn't have all the ingredients in place the way the Bay Area had. A month later he wrote this down more formally in "Why Startup Hubs Work"
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious, what's the next step after the interview? If they do an interview in a no visa location and you get in, wouldn't you still need to get a visa to join the program? Or are you saying that once you get in then getting the visa is worth the time, but it isn't worth it just for the interview?
It might be much more difficult to a get visa for an interview than for the program in some parts of the world, because people are much likely to stay illegally if they are rejected.
FWIW, not one of over >30 people interviewed and rejected from Nigeria stayed back in the US illegally. That includes myself and my co founder who were the first Nigeria based founders to get an interview in 2014.
After all, there is a business to be built back home.
Re: YC Interviews in NYC
#20Great first steps. Any plans to have one in a "no visa required" location for people from other parts? The struggle and stress attending YC interviews puts on Nigerian founders is - to put it mildly, very unfair. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya are 2 countries with visa on arrival for everyone and a great air network.[1] [1] https://www.passportindex.org/byWelcomingRank.php
I'm curious, what's the next step after the interview? If they do an interview in a no visa location and you get in, wouldn't you still need to get a visa to join the program? Or are you saying that once you get in then getting the visa is worth the time, but it isn't worth it just for the interview?
There is a shorter period to prepare for a YC interview than to get into the program after passing the YC interview.
Once you get into YC, you can take your time and it is easier to make a case at the embassy.
First of all, the US visa spaces are fully booked. The next open interview slots are somewhere in April so instead of founders trying to prepare for their YC interview, they are spending an enormous amount of time trying to get an earlier slot for a US visa interview.
After managing to get a slot it is another many days of preparing and hoping not to be rejected.
It costs at least $200 per interview in a country where the minimum wage is hoping to be increased to $80/month later this year.
All this is happening as their contemporaries from US and Europe only have to book a flight in 5 mins and return back to preparing for their YC interview and building their startup.
The world is flat indeed!