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The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

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Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#21

Post by KMinshew »

jl wrote: post #4

"We didn't think we were what YC was looking for..." I'm so glad you took the time to apply! Your idea was slightly different back then, but I remember how impressive you were during the YC interview. As you said in your application: Among the members of the founding team we have domain expertise in recruiting; in content creation and promotion; and in directly engaging with women ages 20-­35. What's more, we've been…

Thanks so much Jessica- we're so glad we did. YC was an unbelievably valuable experience. To the commenter below who asked how YC changed us & our company, there's not much that's more useful to an early, growing company than getting to spend time with people like Jessica & PG, and having their regular/honest feedback on what's working (and what's not). I'll try to write more about that here later.

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#22

Post by Iftheshoefits »

mattgreenrocks wrote: post #18
Iftheshoefits wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number of people who are smart and also go to those schools and get hired by those companies is a small number compared to the population of "smart people" at large. A bias toward people coming from those places indicates that the same old fashioned "good ol' boys" style network is a much bigger factor in "success" than intelligence or any other measure of capability.

The frequent defense is that "schooling doesn't matter much," but the halo effect of the Ivies always seems to magically help differentiate. It's a damn shame; tech becomes incredibly less interesting the more it slides into the realm of who you are (as opposed to what you can do). But, hey, there's lots of money flowing, so that's cool, right? We can all sit around and grasp at success for the rest of our days! (Thi…

I think the issue here is more that our society in general selects these people for "success" more than those "without pedigree" by virtue of various complicated socioeconomic conditions. I don't think it's an active (or even "unconscious", if you'll permit the flawed adjective in describing a group of people) bias that YC has against any one group or another.

The simple fact is that it's easier for persons with these backgrounds to be less conservative in their entrepreneurial endeavors than for, say, the guy who struggled through a B.S. or B.A. program and who came from poverty. That sort of conditioning lasts for life almost every time. As a result, the population of people who are likely to put together a truly acceptable YC application are more likely to be found in the "pedigreed" group. It's a flaw in society at large, not necessarily with YC itself.

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#24

Post by muglug »

thejteam wrote: post #8

Out of curiosity, if the founders are reading this thread, how did YC help you to improve your company? Specifically, did they help you in any way that you couldn't have done without them?

Kathryn talked about the YC influence at the female founders conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoF10tFmNmY#t=360

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#25

Post by mintplant »

samfisher83 wrote: post #6
untilHellbanned wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, i'm very surprised and disappointed how much YC has allowed itself to be gamed just like any other industry they seek to disrupt.

They want smart people and those smart people tend to go to good schools and get hired by Google, McK, Bain, etc.

You mean wealthy people. There are lots of smart people out there who can't afford to go to Ivy League schools.

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#26

Post by acav »

spada wrote: post #23

Their traffic saw a massive drop in 2014. Google algo change screw them over?

We've actually seen 30% UV growth from Jan to March - some of that growth has been search given, though there are other channels driving it as well. In Jan we merged thedailymuse.com into themuse.com (under http://themuse.com/advice) so all of our products would live in one place

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#27

Post by KMinshew »

muglug wrote: post #24
thejteam wrote: post #8

Out of curiosity, if the founders are reading this thread, how did YC help you to improve your company? Specifically, did they help you in any way that you couldn't have done without them?

Kathryn talked about the YC influence at the female founders conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoF10tFmNmY#t=360

Thanks for posting that - YC definitely helped us avoid some classic early-stage startup mistakes

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#28

Post by brandnewlow »

mintplant wrote: post #25
samfisher83 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They want smart people and those smart people tend to go to good schools and get hired by Google, McK, Bain, etc.

You mean wealthy people. There are lots of smart people out there who can't afford to go to Ivy League schools.

Your thinking on this is factually incorrect. If you're middle class or worse, and have the smarts, you can basically go to any of the top Ivies for free these days.

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#29

Post by untilHellbanned »

Iftheshoefits wrote: post #22
mattgreenrocks wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The frequent defense is that "schooling doesn't matter much," but the halo effect of the Ivies always seems to magically help differentiate. It's a damn shame; tech becomes incredibly less interesting the more it slides into the realm of who you are (as opposed to what you can do). But, hey, there's lots of money flowing, so that's cool, right? We can all sit around and grasp at success for the rest of our days! (Thi…

I think the issue here is more that our society in general selects these people for "success" more than those "without pedigree" by virtue of various complicated socioeconomic conditions. I don't think it's an active (or even "unconscious", if you'll permit the flawed adjective in describing a group of people) bias that YC has against any one group or another. The simple fact is that it's easier for persons with thes…

"It's a flaw in society at large, not necessarily with YC itself."

YC is getting a big pass here. Just like the grade inflation in those good ole ivy leagues.

Re: The Muse's Successful Application to YC W12

#30

Post by [deleted] »

acav wrote: post #26
spada wrote: post #23

Their traffic saw a massive drop in 2014. Google algo change screw them over?

We've actually seen 30% UV growth from Jan to March - some of that growth has been search given, though there are other channels driving it as well. In Jan we merged thedailymuse.com into themuse.com (under http://themuse.com/advice ) so all of our products would live in one place

[deleted]
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