31–40 of 93 posts
This story just really doesn't read like the triumph of will it was meant to be... My takeaway from this is that the founders wanted to get into YC. The business doesn't matter, they just wanted to be in YC. The business morphed around what they thought would get into YC, not what would actually make a good business. I have a ton of respect for YCombinator, but they are not all knowing oracles who get it right 100% o…
Am I right in my reading that OP went more than 2 years into a startup without a single paying customer? That seems a little absurd.
This story just really doesn't read like the triumph of will it was meant to be... My takeaway from this is that the founders wanted to get into YC. The business doesn't matter, they just wanted to be in YC. The business morphed around what they thought would get into YC, not what would actually make a good business. I have a ton of respect for YCombinator, but they are not all knowing oracles who get it right 100% o…
It's not like they're excited they get to help people do better CRM, they're just excited they got in, and (not uniquely) appear to have crafted an optimized offering designed to get into YC, which I don't think is YCs (at least initial) intention nor do I think it's desirable. It's a signal that it's "jumped the shark" and it's time to move on to a new construct
Congratulations! I've been thinking about this a bit, even for a company as renowned as YC, I don't like how the power balance is, and the sort of "we made it!" vibe as if you finally impressed some diety enough to grace you with good fortune. I see the same kind of posts (oddly) about people who tried n times to get a job at google and finally they "made it". Like what are we doing? I think that once an institution…
My read of the post wasn't that they so desperately needed YC's approval to think that their business could be a success, it's that they just wanted to be in YC.
This story just really doesn't read like the triumph of will it was meant to be... My takeaway from this is that the founders wanted to get into YC. The business doesn't matter, they just wanted to be in YC. The business morphed around what they thought would get into YC, not what would actually make a good business. I have a ton of respect for YCombinator, but they are not all knowing oracles who get it right 100% o…
> The fact that the immediate response to each rejection was "pivot" I think speaks volumes to the founder's goals here I would go so far as to say this is validation that YC made the right decision in rejecting them. If even the founder’s dons believe in their own idea, why should YC?
Congratulations! I've been thinking about this a bit, even for a company as renowned as YC, I don't like how the power balance is, and the sort of "we made it!" vibe as if you finally impressed some diety enough to grace you with good fortune. I see the same kind of posts (oddly) about people who tried n times to get a job at google and finally they "made it". Like what are we doing? I think that once an institution…
Totally. It might be more fun to look at it as “we finally suckered them” (choose a less controversial word than suckered).
A similar dynamic shows up in the way startup founders are so eager to say “we’ve been acquired” rather than saying they sold a company
Congratulations! I've been thinking about this a bit, even for a company as renowned as YC, I don't like how the power balance is, and the sort of "we made it!" vibe as if you finally impressed some diety enough to grace you with good fortune. I see the same kind of posts (oddly) about people who tried n times to get a job at google and finally they "made it". Like what are we doing? I think that once an institution…
I think part of it is that the incentives have changed. A lot of people don't see Google as "I've made it" they see it as "great, I can work anywhere I want after this." I think we're starting to see that in YC as well: "I'm in the YC network now." It isn't about the business you get in with, it's that you, as a founder, are now part of the YC network and the opportunities that opens for you as an individual rather t…
This story just really doesn't read like the triumph of will it was meant to be... My takeaway from this is that the founders wanted to get into YC. The business doesn't matter, they just wanted to be in YC. The business morphed around what they thought would get into YC, not what would actually make a good business. I have a ton of respect for YCombinator, but they are not all knowing oracles who get it right 100% o…
Yes your comment better captures what I was trying to say here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32772702 It's not like they're excited they get to help people do better CRM, they're just excited they got in, and (not uniquely) appear to have crafted an optimized offering designed to get into YC, which I don't think is YCs (at least initial) intention nor do I think it's desirable. It's a signal that it's "jumped…