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Am I right in guessing that your business was bringing the home-cooked food selling model to the US ? (like http://www.super-marmite.com/ is doing in France).
Congrats on making the jump.
I give you a lot of credit for making the jump. This is exactly what I did, and it was exactly a year ago that I quit my well paying day job to jump in with both feet. Our start was similar to yours too, we had an idea that got some funding from an incubator. We had some prototype and our idea wasn’t really proven at all. I found HN, read Founders at Work and every one of PG’s essays too. I felt exactly what you’re f…
For our situation specifically, we discussed a bunch of non-terminal options with our employer. This included staying at the job with new incentives, consulting, and prolonging our departure. We also have been given the speech of "call me when you guys need a job again" by them as well.
However, in the end, we think that forcing ourselves, by leaving behind the comforts of a 9-5, is the best way to learn, fail at some things, and hopefully succeed in the end.
I was surprised that you can get still get to the interview stage at YC without having a prototype. Am I right in guessing that your business was bringing the home-cooked food selling model to the US ? (like http://www.super-marmite.com/ is doing in France). Congrats on making the jump.
I was surprised that you can get still get to the interview stage at YC without having a prototype. Am I right in guessing that your business was bringing the home-cooked food selling model to the US ? (like http://www.super-marmite.com/ is doing in France). Congrats on making the jump.
Thanks! Yes, that is really similar to what we had planned to do.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks! Yes, that is really similar to what we had planned to do.
What made you give up on the idea ?
What we took to heart was that we needed to really get more in touch with our end users, validate that they would use the service in spite of these issues, and understand what it would take to get the public past the potential discomfort of buying food from strangers. Actually seeing it work on a small scale would go a long way towards proving that it would be worth our time (and other people's money) to pursue the idea.
In the meantime, we are applying this thinking to two other ideas to see if we can't come up with a more compelling business.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What made you give up on the idea ?
We haven't given up on it just yet. What came out of the whole process was that we are up against big hurdles - including legal obstacles that might make the business model impossible in the US. What we took to heart was that we needed to really get more in touch with our end users, validate that they would use the service in spite of these issues, and understand what it would take to get the public past the potentia…
Also if you want to get some initial providers onboard, checkout Craigslist/Gumtree as often people sell home cooked food services on there.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What made you give up on the idea ?
We haven't given up on it just yet. What came out of the whole process was that we are up against big hurdles - including legal obstacles that might make the business model impossible in the US. What we took to heart was that we needed to really get more in touch with our end users, validate that they would use the service in spite of these issues, and understand what it would take to get the public past the potentia…
Will it increase your likelihood of success? No. There has yet ever been a startup that has developed after a rejection from YC. Will moving to SF help you? No. There's a lot more action in the east coast for tech then there are out here. In fact, I would say you're going to have a much harder time trying to figure yourself, your startup, and navigate the social culture and scene. Your budget is also naively out of whack.
But you're going to enjoy your adventure, good or bad. I applaud that, I applaud that simple affirmations.
Good luck, let's grab lunch when you're out here.
This happens after every round for the past four years I've been paying attention to Y Combinator. I don't applaud you for taking the jump, as moving and doing all this stuff is more normal than abnormal to me. In the wake of youth, you're going to enjoy everything you're doing. Will it increase your likelihood of success? No. There has yet ever been a startup that has developed after a rejection from YC. Will moving…
This happens after every round for the past four years I've been paying attention to Y Combinator. I don't applaud you for taking the jump, as moving and doing all this stuff is more normal than abnormal to me. In the wake of youth, you're going to enjoy everything you're doing. Will it increase your likelihood of success? No. There has yet ever been a startup that has developed after a rejection from YC. Will moving…
And you know this how? It seems even YC couldn't know how many false negatives they have had.
> There's a lot more action in the east coast for tech then there are out here.
Citation requested...