Im working on a product for the real estate market in Argentina: does that work against me for the YC application?
AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
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Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#32Would emails from prospective enterprise customers be viewed favorably (in lieu of LOI)? We're working with these firms for concept testing - solution is in development.
Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#33If there's a competing startup funded already by YC, will you make sure that they won't get details of the application?
Similar to talking VC, there is no guarantee. But unless you have a truley secret sauce going on, ideas by themselves rarely matter.
People have a tendency to overestimate ideas. They are remarkable easy to come up with. I have been in brainstorming session, where we would come up with at least 10-12 really good ideas within an hour. Usually it is execution that matters at the end, as you don't know what it works or what it doesn't.
Tested ideas that move the needle a lot on the other hand are valuable: Eg. We tried to get sign ups doing X, but we failed, but then when we did Y and Z and added these two features we saw a huge increase in signups and retention. -- That's direct learnings from the field, and it is both expensive and somewhat valuable.
Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#34This may not be something you can answer, but I'm curious as to the scoring methodology and how teams get invited to interviews (or not) behind the scenes.
Is there a rating system? A binary yes/no that needs to be seconded by enough reviewers?
Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#35What's the question you wished people would ask for?
Something that a lot of applications get wrong and kills their chances early on.
Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#36Hi Aaron, what differentiates you guys from other accelerators? Like angelpad and techstars?
Is it the core values? Is it the networks, what would you say makes YC unique?
Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#37If there's a competing startup funded already by YC, will you make sure that they won't get details of the application?
Similar to talking VC, there is no guarantee. But unless you have a truley secret sauce going on, ideas by themselves rarely matter. People have a tendency to overestimate ideas. They are remarkable easy to come up with. I have been in brainstorming session, where we would come up with at least 10-12 really good ideas within an hour. Usually it is execution that matters at the end, as you don't know what it works or…
I agree with the premise that ideas themselves are worthless.
But what's questionable is whether YC acts in favour of the new applicants that share their insights honestly, or whether they are more prone to protect their investment in the already funded startup (by providing them with details/intel).
Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#38Hi Aaron, I vaguely remember PG saying that while he was reviewing YC applications he would recognize applicants from their HN contributions. People he liked reading would get a boost.
Did I dream it? Is that still the case that if people like my HN posts, I may get special attention to my application?
Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Similar to talking VC, there is no guarantee. But unless you have a truley secret sauce going on, ideas by themselves rarely matter. People have a tendency to overestimate ideas. They are remarkable easy to come up with. I have been in brainstorming session, where we would come up with at least 10-12 really good ideas within an hour. Usually it is execution that matters at the end, as you don't know what it works or…
I agree with the premise that ideas themselves are worthless. But what's questionable is whether YC acts in favour of the new applicants that share their insights honestly, or whether they are more prone to protect their investment in the already funded startup (by providing them with details/intel).
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Re: AMA with YC Partner Aaron Harris on Applying to YC – S17 Deadline Is Tonight
#40If there's a competing startup funded already by YC, will you make sure that they won't get details of the application?
We do our best to prevent information sharing to competing companies. Partners who see applications don't disclose the details of those applications to companies that might be competitive.
There is always a chance, though, that an alum who is reviewing applications might see a competing company. While we try to prevent this from happening, we can't be 100% sure. We're pretty careful with which alums are included in the review process, though, and we trust those alums to skip applications that might be competitive rather than trying to gain from reading it.