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We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

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Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#111

Post by gamblor956 »

slap_shot wrote: post #92

> In March, we submitted our application, and kinda forgot about it. > Two months later we got an email saying that a partner would like to speak to us. This is a tangent, but I want to share something about my YC interview experience for anybody ever in this position. I filled out my application in February for the NYC interviews. They passed on me for the early NYC interviews, but ~2 months later I got an email for…

It sounds like you're better off without YC at this point. The only thing they can offer you now is to take 7% of your equity off your hands for not providing anything you need.

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#112

Post by StavrosK »

culturestate wrote: post #109
StavrosK wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the last few conferences with single-clip lanyards, I started noticing the badges' orientation. I would expect them to be roughly 50% front, 50% back, but significantly more badges were oriented so that the back was showing, which surprised me. I guess it's the same kind of magic that makes the USB port always be the wrong orientation, then you flip it and it's wrong again, and it's only right after you flip it tw…

I usually keep my badge facing in (so you can't glance at my info) on purpose if the badge has a lead-gen attendee type - e.g. founder, investor, media - printed on it. I find that having it the right way 'round makes it harder to have interesting or productive discussions because by the end of the first day everyone is pre-judging the people they meet based on their badge. If I'm there on a founder badge, for exampl…

Then double loop will help keep the badge exactly how you want it!

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#113

Post by slap_shot »

gamblor956 wrote: post #111
slap_shot wrote: post #92

> In March, we submitted our application, and kinda forgot about it. > Two months later we got an email saying that a partner would like to speak to us. This is a tangent, but I want to share something about my YC interview experience for anybody ever in this position. I filled out my application in February for the NYC interviews. They passed on me for the early NYC interviews, but ~2 months later I got an email for…

It sounds like you're better off without YC at this point. The only thing they can offer you now is to take 7% of your equity off your hands for not providing anything you need.

That's not fair to say, and that wasn't the point of my post. I'm just reminding anybody who fills the application out in advance that the partners are looking at an application from two months ago.

The financials are actually the easy part to reconcile - for most companies, the product growth that happens in two months should be the delta you're trying to close in that conversation (it was, for me).

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#114

Post by slap_shot »

SilasX wrote: post #106
slap_shot wrote: post #92

> In March, we submitted our application, and kinda forgot about it. > Two months later we got an email saying that a partner would like to speak to us. This is a tangent, but I want to share something about my YC interview experience for anybody ever in this position. I filled out my application in February for the NYC interviews. They passed on me for the early NYC interviews, but ~2 months later I got an email for…

That seems like it was a failure of the interviewer to ask the right (or any?) clarifying questions.

Possibly, but the onus is on the applicant to drive through things like this, not the interviewers. Again, nobody in the room had the luxury of understanding what was happening at the time. Hopefully my experience can help others.

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#115

Post by ricardobeat »

I don't think this looks very good for them. They suddenly added watermarks over their videos to 'encourage' users to sign-up. A pro plan with added value would have been more considerate, or even a full switch to paid users with a notice period.

They are also displaying company logos under 'Trusted by thousands globally' that obviously are not paying customers since they didn't have subscription plans before.

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#116

Post by culturestate »

StavrosK wrote: post #112
culturestate wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually keep my badge facing in (so you can't glance at my info) on purpose if the badge has a lead-gen attendee type - e.g. founder, investor, media - printed on it. I find that having it the right way 'round makes it harder to have interesting or productive discussions because by the end of the first day everyone is pre-judging the people they meet based on their badge. If I'm there on a founder badge, for exampl…

Then double loop will help keep the badge exactly how you want it!

I actually prefer the double clip style because I find it more comfortable, too! Just offering an anecdote that might help explain your observations - I can't be the only person who does this.

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#117

Post by gamblor956 »

slap_shot wrote: post #113
gamblor956 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you're better off without YC at this point. The only thing they can offer you now is to take 7% of your equity off your hands for not providing anything you need.

That's not fair to say, and that wasn't the point of my post. I'm just reminding anybody who fills the application out in advance that the partners are looking at an application from two months ago. The financials are actually the easy part to reconcile - for most companies, the product growth that happens in two months should be the delta you're trying to close in that conversation (it was, for me).

I'm not sure why you're taking that as a negative--not needing YC's money is a good thing.

If you're growing at the rate described then what exactly are you hoping to get out of YC that you couldn't get from networking without giving up 7% of your equity?

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#118

Post by empath75 »

sithlord wrote: post #35
cdubzzz wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apropos of nothing, this little marketing page is pretty great -- https://www.conferencebadge.com/why-use-conference-badge

so, it took anna 10 hours, and lets assume anna gets paid 25 dollars an hour, so a cost of 250 dollars. Shelley, used the conference badge, and at 1.79 for the fully shipped version of the badge, it will cost 582 dollars. So, essentially, Shelley paid 332 dollars for QR codes and convenience. Is it worth it? probably. but maybe not.

$300 bucks is nothing compared to the costs of running a convention. And also there's other stuff Anna needed to be working on that didn't happen.

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#119

Post by slap_shot »

gamblor956 wrote: post #117
slap_shot wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not fair to say, and that wasn't the point of my post. I'm just reminding anybody who fills the application out in advance that the partners are looking at an application from two months ago. The financials are actually the easy part to reconcile - for most companies, the product growth that happens in two months should be the delta you're trying to close in that conversation (it was, for me).

I'm not sure why you're taking that as a negative--not needing YC's money is a good thing. If you're growing at the rate described then what exactly are you hoping to get out of YC that you couldn't get from networking without giving up 7% of your equity?

I'm just saying it isn't fair to say that I would have gotten nothing from YC - I'm sure it's an invaluable experience and it was genuinely and amazing opportunity to even have the chance to interview with them.

And I do a agree it's a good thing - the YC program I interviewed with began June 3. From the day of the interview to June 3, we 6Xed our revenue. Trust me, I'm wasn't the least bit discouraged by a rejection.

Re: We tried to hustle our way into YC after we got rejected

#120

Post by slap_shot »

roymurdock wrote: post #104
slap_shot wrote: post #92

> In March, we submitted our application, and kinda forgot about it. > Two months later we got an email saying that a partner would like to speak to us. This is a tangent, but I want to share something about my YC interview experience for anybody ever in this position. I filled out my application in February for the NYC interviews. They passed on me for the early NYC interviews, but ~2 months later I got an email for…

Why didn't the partners immediately ask you to clarify the discrepancy between the numbers you stated on your app and the numbers you were telling them? Is there not enough time to have a bit of a back and forth?

We did, in a round-about way. I oversimplied the conversation in the OP for the sake of the point I was making.

I wrote a in depth essay about the whole experience shortly afterward while it was fresh in my mind. I'll likely publish it as a blog because I think it addresses quite a few things in a YC interview that I hadn't heard/thought of during my prep (and I've read all the prep blogs that have been written).

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