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Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

seedlauncher.com

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Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#101

Post by jack-r-abbit »

dfc wrote: post #98
jack-r-abbit wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got something for you to read. http://bit.ly/HcYIJS Edit: Also, while I stand by the correctness of my first statement, me being right or wrong wouldn't make that fragmented sentence a complete one. However, unlike the OP, my comment was not intended to catch the attention of Y Combinator to get an interview with the hopes of getting my start-up kick started. So I would tend to give posts like mine a little more…

While admittedly childish on my part; the use of formal grammar brings up an interesting question. In a potst somewhere on HN I read that yc uses some sort of bayesian filter on applications. The details and my recollection are a little murky about the process. It would be interesting to know if there was a correlation (+/-) between formal, colloquial or improper grammar and the success of applications.

That would be interesting. As imperfect as my grammar and spelling are, I know that when I have a stack of resumes on my desk to review, the first pass weeds out the ones with grammar/spelling mistakes. Applying for a job is too important of a task to make avoidable mistakes like that. If you have not taken the time to make your resume perfect then you are likely to do sloppy work in your day to day activities. I would apply the same filter to a YC application. If I ever find myself working up an application for YC, I would spend the time and money needed to make sure every bit of that was correct. Now whether it should be formal or informal or what have you would be a big mystery. I would tend to lean toward formal in something like that. But perhaps not so formal that I come off has a robot. You can't trust robots.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#102

Post by beambot »

patio11 wrote: post #39

Life skill for you: putting a message into a bottle and then flinging it onto the Internet could get it read, but that isn't the way to bet. Here's a hypothetical for you: how many people do you think have social permission to contact a YC partner and say "X is awesome and deserves a look." I'd ballpark that in the hundreds to low thousand range. Many of them are accessible on the Internets and less overwhelmed with…

There is an article on HN frontpage about "Be Specific (especially during PG's office hours)."

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3795517

This blog article has virtually no specifics or concreteness, with the exception of "we're from Iowa."

As Patrick mentioned elsewhere, your location is relatively immaterial. Evan Williams (of Blogger / Twitter fame) made it out of Nebraska (my home state, fwiw), so I'm sure you can too.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#103

Post by MortenK »

littlegiantcap wrote: post #47
robryan wrote: post #27

You guys should post about your startup here while you have some attention. Sounds interesting (I am assuming you are applying with the seed launcher idea?). Without being an expert in startup financing I'd imagine there would be some fairly significant regulation challenges in the idea? Anyone successfully using the platform currently? It is also interesting that your idea itself if it comes off might be solving a Y…

Seedlauncher.com is a crowdfunding for equity site that is based around investing in small businesses within your own local community. With crowdfunding becoming legal we're creating a platform to enable both accredited and unaccredited investors to become part owners in their local businesses.

Maybe distill that into: Seedlauncher is crowdfunding for small, local businesses.

That actually sounds like a really good idea. Why not just do this without waiting for yc?

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#104

Post by lwat »

EwanG wrote: post #49
javajosh wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I don't know. Having a team that can solve any arbitrary difficult problem in three days could be quite useful in a startup. The (technical) execution of a startup idea can be cast as a series of arbitrarily difficult problems, after all.

Arbitrary huh... My two long term pet peeves for which I would be most happy to help lobby to get them a hearing: 1) Faster than light travel 2) Create a robot that carries it's own power supply, communication device, and webcams that would allow me to traipse up and down any path in Rocky Mountain National Park in real time so that I can take a hike for 20 minutes when I need a break without the requisite plane trav…

What about simply 'Make something that will make lots of money.'

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#105

Post by newobj »

littlegiantcap wrote: post #72
patio11 wrote: post #39

Life skill for you: putting a message into a bottle and then flinging it onto the Internet could get it read, but that isn't the way to bet. Here's a hypothetical for you: how many people do you think have social permission to contact a YC partner and say "X is awesome and deserves a look." I'd ballpark that in the hundreds to low thousand range. Many of them are accessible on the Internets and less overwhelmed with…

http://b.qr.ae/Hktlyv This explains our dilemma. Frankly, we are a bunch of "nobodies" in the middle of Iowa. We don't know any Y Combinator Alums, and even if we were to reach out the best we could hope for is a lukewarm they seemed "nice". We have a lot of drive and are trying to prove ourselves any way possible. That's what we're trying to do with this post.

'''We don't know any Y Combinator Alums, and even if we were to reach out the best we could hope for is a lukewarm they seemed "nice".'''

'''We have a lot of drive'''

Somehow these statements seem contradictory... and I'd be taking a hard look at your "business guy" right now if he can't even start by at least attempting a little networking...

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#106

Post by Vaismania »

danielpal wrote: post #53

Why don't you just build something other people want? Don't focus too much on what YC partners want, focus on what other people want(conversely if you do that YC partners will want you, not vice-versa).

The problem with "building something for others" rather than solving your own problems is you may not be passionate/persistent enough to survive the low's to get to the next milestone

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#107

Post by littlegiantcap »

MortenK wrote: post #103
littlegiantcap wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seedlauncher.com is a crowdfunding for equity site that is based around investing in small businesses within your own local community. With crowdfunding becoming legal we're creating a platform to enable both accredited and unaccredited investors to become part owners in their local businesses.

Maybe distill that into: Seedlauncher is crowdfunding for small, local businesses. That actually sounds like a really good idea. Why not just do this without waiting for yc?

We are doing it. We've been working hard for months. We're just waiting for the SEC to write the regulations for crowdfunding following the passage of the JOBS act.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#108

Post by tensafefrogs »

mbreese wrote: post #83
littlegiantcap wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://b.qr.ae/Hktlyv This explains our dilemma. Frankly, we are a bunch of "nobodies" in the middle of Iowa. We don't know any Y Combinator Alums, and even if we were to reach out the best we could hope for is a lukewarm they seemed "nice". We have a lot of drive and are trying to prove ourselves any way possible. That's what we're trying to do with this post.

Getting into YC isn't the goal here... having a successful company/product is. I would try to just build something that solves a pain point for you. If you want to prove yourself based on what you can build in 72 hours, then pick something and do it[1]. That will get you more consideration than something like this. [1] But, I'm not a fan of "look what we built in 72 hours" types of projects, so you may want to just t…

This is really the key here. It doesn't matter where you are from. What matters is what you can do (or, in the case of proving to people that you are competent, what you have done).

Do some small thing well to show that you have a chance at doing something bigger just as well.

This is how life works, not just startups.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#109

Post by littlegiantcap »

vm wrote: post #9

I love the creativity, though I have to admit, I'm a little confused. YC already does a great job of releasing great startup ideas (see links below in the off chance that you haven't read them already). And it seems like everyone I met who got in was accepted because of the awesome things they created. So if you're short on ideas, read the lists, and then get to work and have something to show for it by application t…

Our team has been talking, and we've decided that even if we don't hear back from anyone at Y Combinator we're doing a 72 hour hackathon sometime in the next week using something on one of those list. :)

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#110

Post by littlegiantcap »

littlegiantcap wrote: post #72
patio11 wrote: post #39

Life skill for you: putting a message into a bottle and then flinging it onto the Internet could get it read, but that isn't the way to bet. Here's a hypothetical for you: how many people do you think have social permission to contact a YC partner and say "X is awesome and deserves a look." I'd ballpark that in the hundreds to low thousand range. Many of them are accessible on the Internets and less overwhelmed with…

http://b.qr.ae/Hktlyv This explains our dilemma. Frankly, we are a bunch of "nobodies" in the middle of Iowa. We don't know any Y Combinator Alums, and even if we were to reach out the best we could hope for is a lukewarm they seemed "nice". We have a lot of drive and are trying to prove ourselves any way possible. That's what we're trying to do with this post.

To clarify, I don't mean this as a knock to Iowa. I love it here, I just wanted to emphasize that connections to Y Combinator alums are hard to come by out here.
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