Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications • Hacker News Board

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#121

Post by Major_Grooves » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:02 PM UTC

tianaco wrote: post #117

Major_Grooves wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if you've said elsewhere, but are you a solo applicant? You talk about "I". You don't mention what sex your co-founder is. If you are a solo applicant then being female is the least of your worries - solo applicants seldom (ever?) get accepted to YC. my co-founder (jlees) is XX. She was the face on our application video last time and we got invited over for an interview. I've no idea if Jessica was the o…

No, we had 2 submissions - One headed by my partner with 4 founders, another headed by me with 2 founders. The other founders are all men. I am the first face on our application video. We did that to set us apart from the rest of the videos. I'm done with my applications, and confident that we made good applications for the people that we initially thought were going to review them... but not for unknown founders who…

Sorry but if you've got breasts then you'll have to get used to guys looking at them. There was a recent study from NZ that found that 47% of men's first glances at a women were towards their breasts. It's just biology. Also take in to account your average male coder might not have seen any for a while - well it is male dominated (sorry - "got to wait for the liquidity event to have a liquidity event!")! ;)

wrt to asking your co-founders the same questions, my guess is that you are so paranoid about the "not looking in the eyes" thing that you appear unconfident and unsure, so people look to your co-founders for confirmation.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#122

Post by gruseom » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:02 PM UTC

jnovek wrote: post #29

It may be totally irrational, but my gut reaction is, "Some young founder who can't think outside of his or her space is going to read our application and toss it away." Although I think our company will be massively profitable, our proposal is a long way from glamorous.

Everyone with worries like this should (re-)read http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=908612. From that comment, it sounds like no alumnus/a will have the power to get your application tossed. In fact, it sounds like the only effect they can have is to get your application a second look, which is something you should want.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#123

Post by edw519 » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:04 PM UTC

tianaco wrote: post #41

I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…

If your intent was to bring attention to yourself in the 11th hour, you may have succeeded. That attention, however, may not be what you wanted.

As a male, I will not pretend to imagine what you go through because of our differences. I can only speak from my experience as a wimpy appearing introvert who has had earn everything I've ever had because hardly anyone has ever given me anything.

I do not mean to offend and apologize ahead of time in case I do...

To me, this entire thread comes off as whining and can only hurt you. Entrepreneurs must treat obstacles as speed bumps to conquer, not roadblocks to complain about.

I suggest you redirect any energy you put into this thread into making your start-up better and put your trust into that effort. You'll probably have to make it so good that they can't ignore it. That's what everyone should do anyway.

I wish you great success doing that.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#124

Post by Major_Grooves » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:05 PM UTC

gruseom wrote: post #118

Major_Grooves wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and another thing, I don't want to speak for jlees, but I've never got the impression she was treated as an "outsider". A novelty perhaps, but I think it wears off a second once she starts talking code. I'm a non-coder and I feel much more of an outsider. ;) if anyone really wants to feel like an outsider, try being a guy at a "women in tech" event.

I'm a non-coder and I feel much more of an insider You meant outsider , right? Seems to me that's what you meant... if so, you've made a very good point.

sorry - you're correct. ^^Edited.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#125

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:09 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #16

yurisagalov wrote: post #11

I think it would be nice/fair to know how much input the Alumni will actually have. Do they give you summaries? recommendations? Do they have the power to completely block applications?

The goal is to use the alumni as a second set of eyes. The way the software currently works, the alumni say either that they think we should accept an application, or that we shouldn't. So if we notice we're giving a bad rating to an application multiple alumni think we should accept, we'll take a second look, and vice versa.

[deleted]

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#126

Post by bravura » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:09 PM UTC

bravura wrote: post #115

tianaco wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's only shady if you care about karma.

In reply to adrianwaj: For the application, I mean. Usually the convention is 1 user = 1 person. I wasn't thinking about the Y-combinator application when I registered my account 450 days ago and when tianaco occasionally commented on threads. I don't see this as a problem.

In reply to adrianwaj: Look, if I'm submitting my application with my karma score and words alongside you (+ tianaco's score and words (under your name)), then if words and score are important to PG for the app, do you think I should feel the playing field has been even with the duplicity?

I went through my submissions and they are 100% mine. I went through my comments and can say with confidence they are 95% mine. The true number is probably higher.

Does that allay your concerns?

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#127

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:11 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #123

tianaco wrote: post #41

I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…

If your intent was to bring attention to yourself in the 11th hour, you may have succeeded. That attention, however, may not be what you wanted. As a male, I will not pretend to imagine what you go through because of our differences. I can only speak from my experience as a wimpy appearing introvert who has had earn everything I've ever had because hardly anyone has ever given me anything. I do not mean to offend and…

[deleted]

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#128

Post by jeremymims » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:12 PM UTC

tianaco wrote: post #41

I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…

Wow.

Y Combinator has funded female cofounders before and it is my understanding that most batches have had women in them. If anything, I think they'd almost be more willing to fund female cofounders because there isn't enough data out there to know if or how female cofounders in YC startups deviate from the success rate in a notable way.

Since Y Combinator is about funding startups that are likely to succeed, this is an additional (and I think positive) way to test the methods of picking they've used in the past. Are YC founders as capable as YC at picking successful startups? I think this is a very interesting question.

Y Combinator doesn't make any promises about who they're going to invest in. Trying to hack your way into YC based merely on the chance that Jessica will be reading your application is a bad idea. Calling bias before you've heard anything from YC seems like a particularly bad idea and risks you coming off as entitled.

Spend your time improving your product. If your product is so specific to female interests that a male founder who's reading it doesn't know whether or not there will be a marketplace for it, I'd imagine he'd get a second opinion. If you are rejected, don't for one second think that it was because you were female. It would be for many many more reasons before that one. Remember, most men will get rejected by YC too. If your product is good, continue working on it. Y Combinator would be the first to admit that they don't always get it right and you do not need Y Combinator to have a successful startup.

Disclosure: I was a cofounder in YCS08.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#129

Post by wheels » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:12 PM UTC

tianaco wrote: post #41

I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…

As I recall Jessica wasn't doing the primary phase of vetting applications anyway -- that was Trevor, Paul and Robert.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#130

Post by rooshdi » Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 10:12 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #16

yurisagalov wrote: post #11

I think it would be nice/fair to know how much input the Alumni will actually have. Do they give you summaries? recommendations? Do they have the power to completely block applications?

The goal is to use the alumni as a second set of eyes. The way the software currently works, the alumni say either that they think we should accept an application, or that we shouldn't. So if we notice we're giving a bad rating to an application multiple alumni think we should accept, we'll take a second look, and vice versa.

The more sets of eyes the better. Y Combinator is looking for the best startups which fit their criteria, and any review system which results in them funding a higher ratio of startups that benefit real users in the long-term is all that really matters. Lets keep in mind the actual end-users in all of this. If it's not something people want, then it shouldn't have been funded in the first place.