So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next? • Hacker News Board

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#21

Post by aliakhtar » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 3:28 PM UTC

nartz wrote: post #17

robertandy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree! The entire process is rigged against solo-founders and you CANNOT deny that fact. Even your own last sentence in the end contradicts you. > why don't you get a cofounder. Dude what about this: I don't want to marry. I do not want to own a house. I do not want a co-founder.

You're not required to have a co-founder. No need to be angry about this, but be objective: two or three smart people can accomplish more than one smart person. You can work hard and maybe bootstrap your way to an MVP of a product, but sooner or later the amount of work in the startup will become too much. When it does, you are going to need to build a team around you to handle the load. The fact that you are so adam…

> The fact that you are so adamant about not wanting a co-founder is detrimental in that it signals that you are missing the point about how a company is mostly about building a good team that can execute

I disagree. Having a team of employees is quite different from giving up 50% of your equity.

Its been said by YC partners themselves that co-founder disputes are a major reason why startups fail. A co-founder just means a lot of additional risk.

May be if you both have some crucial skills that you bring to the table, it'd be worth taking on a co-founder. But if you can build the product on your own, I just don't see any good reason to give up 50% equity + take on the risk of disputes arising.

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#22

Post by alain94040 » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 3:43 PM UTC

robertandy wrote: post #4

Here is a great sum of your post in one line: “If you’re absent during my struggle, don’t expect to be present during my success.” - Will Smith In my view the way YC has been openly crushing morale of solo-founders for years is simply pathetic. Is it a crime to be a solo-founder? Despite equal number of successful startups from solo-ists, they continue to snub the potential and rather host even those who would easily…

From http://foundrs.com/find-a-cofounder :

(the wrong reasons to want a co-founder:) Yes, it's true that startups with only one founder are more likely to fail. But it's due to signaling: if you, as passionate about your idea as you are, can't even convince one more person to join you, how will you get users excited to download your app, get investors excited about the market, and get Microsoft and Coca-Cola to partner with you?

Solo founders usually fail because they are bad at convincing anyone of anything.

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#23

Post by mathattack » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 3:45 PM UTC

joelrunyon wrote: post #14

Build it yourself anyways. Very interesting that so many entrepreneurs - who by definition are bypassing gatekeepers - still tend to look at something like YC as a litmus for whether or not they can move forward or are a "success." Obviously, there are some company models that need venture money behind them, but it's not an excuse for not doing your idea.

This is very true. If someone won't chase an idea because it wasn't validated by YC in the first place, they seem to be on very weak footing to begin with. (Similar to the people who only want a high brand name school.)

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#24

Post by dazbradbury » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 3:49 PM UTC

We were rejected 3.5 years ago after interview stage.

We built, we launched, we hustled and we grew. 12 months ago we launched a nationwide TV campaign. OpenRent[1] is now the largest letting agent in the UK (bigger than Foxtons for example), established, and well on the way to fully disrupting one of the oldest industries in the world.

YC rejection was tough, but we believed in the idea and whilst I'm sure YC could have helped us make fewer mistakes, it didn't stop us wanting to solve the problem we all believed in. So we went and did what it took to succeed.

Chin up to anyone facing rejection - use the information learnt from the application process, and go prove them wrong!

[1] - https://www.openrent.co.uk

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#25

Post by robertandy » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 3:52 PM UTC

alain94040 wrote: post #22

robertandy wrote: post #4

Here is a great sum of your post in one line: “If you’re absent during my struggle, don’t expect to be present during my success.” - Will Smith In my view the way YC has been openly crushing morale of solo-founders for years is simply pathetic. Is it a crime to be a solo-founder? Despite equal number of successful startups from solo-ists, they continue to snub the potential and rather host even those who would easily…

From http://foundrs.com/find-a-cofounder : (the wrong reasons to want a co-founder:) Yes, it's true that startups with only one founder are more likely to fail. But it's due to signaling: if you, as passionate about your idea as you are, can't even convince one more person to join you, how will you get users excited to download your app, get investors excited about the market, and get Microsoft and Coca-Cola to partn…

> usually fail because they are bad at convincing anyone of anything.

Without any data on usually vs. unusually a debate is lost anyway! FWIS there are enough stories of successes from solo-founders to contradict your theory - flat on its face.

> can't even convince one more person to join you

... is not the same thing as don't want another person in the founding team. I still do not see how that 10 year old logic of a co-founder must-have is going to hold good in the coming next 10 years. I may individually fail but times for startups have changed, haven't they?

Also it is still a bad deal for most entrepreneurs (especially those who are outside) to let YC become the fulcrum of startup destiny - for it has almost become a monopoly and a monopsony as I'd mentioned earlier. It doesn't matter whether YC likes it or not.

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#26

Post by testingonprod » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 3:52 PM UTC

dazbradbury wrote: post #24

We were rejected 3.5 years ago after interview stage. We built, we launched, we hustled and we grew. 12 months ago we launched a nationwide TV campaign. OpenRent[1] is now the largest letting agent in the UK (bigger than Foxtons for example), established, and well on the way to fully disrupting one of the oldest industries in the world. YC rejection was tough, but we believed in the idea and whilst I'm sure YC could…

Would you guys mind serving up some higher res assets please? :)

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#27

Post by dazbradbury » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 3:59 PM UTC

testingonprod wrote: post #26

dazbradbury wrote: post #24

We were rejected 3.5 years ago after interview stage. We built, we launched, we hustled and we grew. 12 months ago we launched a nationwide TV campaign. OpenRent[1] is now the largest letting agent in the UK (bigger than Foxtons for example), established, and well on the way to fully disrupting one of the oldest industries in the world. YC rejection was tough, but we believed in the idea and whilst I'm sure YC could…

Would you guys mind serving up some higher res assets please? :)

You'd be surprised by the connection speed and devices used by the majority of our users... But sure, you can see we're doing that partially already, with a more general overhaul coming!

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#28

Post by benerd » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 4:02 PM UTC

Am Benerd From Kenya and my start up dint get an invitation into YC this summer.. I have a great team n awesome prototype but Since I really follow what YC start up school teaches about start ups,They had a reason of Not inviting us for the next batch ,this has made us go back to the drawing board and rethink what we haven't got right yet..infact we have started seeing flaws in our prototype that we didn't see before If a team was invited from Africa ,that is great and it was my dream to have at least an African team in YC.Thanks you guys for the great efforts you are making to see start ups through the emotional roller coaster.

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#29

Post by tonysuper » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 4:08 PM UTC

I'm 18, and my co-founder is just turning 18 in a week.

So we never really expected to get in. We are both completely broke, so we're going to launch a kickstarter campaign to see if we can get the funding for more hosting (and the ability to work full-time over the summer). From there, well, I guess we try to grow and take over the world.

Re: So you didn’t get a YC invite, what next?

#30

Post by mpdehaan2 » Sat, Apr 11, 2015, 4:14 PM UTC

I never even thought to apply.

Why? The San Francisco requirement was against my ideals that tech exists everywhere, and that's not how I wanted to build a company.

More so, the stake they required relative to funding was pretty huge.

I would now, to a degree, put YCombinator kind of in the same vein as Shark Tank in outside perceptions - allegedly that show takes 3% of your company whether you get a deal or not. Clearly, advice is offered for either winner, but the deals given out are often not as valuable as the "press" or label in that case.

While a lot of interesting companies have come out of that particular incubator (thanks for the forum, BTW), there's also a lot of business models that I consider on the edge of a bubble, and without the weird investment ecosystem that does exist in the bay area, I don't think many of them would exist. I say this in terms of valuations of what service the business provides to society, and how niche is is, versus "valuations" in the typical investment sense. What is valued is, I don't know, skewed in strange ways.

By all means, if you want to try to create a startup (which I do believe is not for everyone, or even most people), build things your own way if you really believe in the idea. If you can bootstrap things and avoid venture capital entirely, and be your own boss, even better. I'd advise thinking of it as a company from day one, rather than a startup, and don't think of funding as a way to get profitable. That means you'll be free of the venture capitol addiction at a much earlier time, and be in more control of your own destiny.