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Done with YC: Age Discrimination

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#41

Post by jonas21 »

One thing that stood out to me is that you've applied 3 or 4 times as a solo founder, while acknowledging that YC prefers teams to solo founders. The reason they give for this preference is that "one-person startups are tough and you're more likely to succeed with a cofounder," which seems reasonable to me.

Have you tried in earnest to find others to apply with you? If not, why not? This may be the single most important thing you can do to improve your odds of being accepted.

If you have tried to find cofounders, but haven't convinced anyone, this may also be worth looking into. It's hard to say without knowing any details, but it's possible that YC may be passing for similar reasons as potential cofounders are.

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#42

Post by throw13579 »

hamburgerwah wrote: post #23

"Cultural fit" is 99 times out of 100 blanket coverage for biases against, race, age, and ethnicity.

This.

I think the best way for you to ensure funding is to have revenue traction. One thing that trumps ageism (and all --isms) is greed. If you show revenue growth and traction, these greedy VCs will swallow all their rhetoric and blog posts, get down on all fours and wag their tails like puppies to get a whiff of your term sheet.

Note that Valley VCs are well-documented ageists: "Vinod Khosla told a conference that “people over forty-five basically die in terms of new ideas.” Michael Moritz, of Sequoia Capital, one of the most pedigreed firms in the tech world, once touted himself as “an incredibly enthusiastic fan of very talented twentysomethings starting companies.” His logic was simple: “They have great passion. They don’t have distractions like families and children and other things that get in the way.”" [1]

[1] https://newrepublic.com/article/117088/silicons-valleys-brut...

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#43

Post by sillysaurusx »

CabSauce wrote: post #33
projectileboy wrote: post #28

I absolutely agree that age discrimination exists in our industry, and it’s even worse in SV. But I really think you’re barking up the wrong tree here. Anytime you have an institution with single digit acceptance rates, you invariably are going to have truly excellent candidates who don’t make it in.

Agreed. It feels like they're trying to claim that they were rejected for age... without providing any evidence. They don't want to come out and say it. But by suggesting enough, it's sure implied.

What evidence would convince you?

(It helps to imagine you're asking for evidence of gender discrimination.)

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#44

Post by joshuakelly »

I cannot strongly enough discourage you from trying to do YC solo (been there, done that, obviously do not regret it - but would do it differently 2x).

> I signed-up for and graduated from Startup School. We applied for YC and were not accepted. I continued with Startup School for a second term. Applied again. Nothing. We likely applied about three times, if not four. I honestly don't remember. This included pivots. I wasn't trying to do the same thing and expect different results

If you've applied with the same company, and that company's trajectory hasn't changed between the applications then that's pretty valuable heuristic that it's likely not right for YC. YC's model requires power law style returns. Massive, mega, huge 1/500 hits. Your company could grow substantially. It could 10x - that's not enough. YC needs 10,000x returns and momentum/trajectory/team is really the only material information available to them.

Once you've been around for a while, all of sudden it's no longer unknown what your trajectory will be - you have one that you have to bend. And that's a super valuable heuristic for any investor. If the company really has hit an inflection point during the period you were applying, well that's YC's loss (of which there are many, and of course there will be many more).

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#45

Post by throwaway803453 »

IIRC after entering your name, "How old are you ?" was the first question on YC's original application, even before asking what you are working on.

It was out in the open back then but perhaps it was removed because it is less relevant now. A 50 year old applicant today would likely had likely been hacking on a computer as young child and YC is getting older too so the culture differences are less significant today.

But if I had to guess you have a 10X better chance getting into YC as a 50+ with co-founders than as a 30 year old solo founder. I am always surprised any VC will fund a solo-founder.

Personally I had applied numerous times to YC as a solo-founder. But as soon as I had co-founders I was invited for an interview. I was 45 at the time and no one cared.

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#46

Post by mthoms »

I have a partially completed YC application — Once I came across the (required) age field I simply decided to not go any further.

I appreciate that YC are upfront about age being important because it tells me two things: (1) I shouldn't waste my time and (2) YC's morals are not in alignment with mine anyhow.

Regarding the latter: It's not a huge deal - I can understand why they do it. Screening based on age is just not something I would be comfortable doing.

But hey, it's not my money after all.

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#47

Post by [deleted] »

chews wrote: post #15
sombremesa wrote: post #3

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't YC started explicitly to select drastically younger founders at a time when the prevailing narrative was that startup founders should be generally around 30 for optimum likelihood of success? Given that history, how should we interpret this critique? Has YC failed to evolve alongside the shift in its perception in the startup world?

Correct, and yet YC has also greatly grown-up from it's humble start of 20K and a flight to find a flop-house in Palo Alto. I agree with OP's point on the inherant age discrimination within technology, I say this because I was once a biased younger human who didn't have the life experience to understand the other side. I remember saying "software is a young man's game", I cringe at times of the hubris of the earlier…

[deleted]

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#48

Post by the-dude »

blagie wrote: post #38
the-dude wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to have raised money before almost 20 years ago. That sure must help.

That's precisely why being an older person helps. You have experience under your belt. If you're 55 and have never done anything, that's a strong signal to not invest in you, since you're unlikely to do something now. 20-year-olds are risks. 55-year-old have track records.

Experience with fundraising under your belt, yes. That was my point.

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#49

Post by the-dude »

blagie wrote: post #35
paulsutter wrote: post #4

You've got YC one-itis. There are a zillion other places to raise money. Any one funding source says no 98% of the time, it has nothing to do with you. -a 55 year old founder who just raised a $20M Series A

As an older founder, it's easier to raise $20M Series A than as a younger founder. I'm pretty confident I have a much better chance of raising money than I did a decade or two ago. To be specific, I think I would have had almost no chance way back when, and I think I'd probably have better-than-even-odds today, if I tried (which I wouldn't; I'm committed to what I'm doing). However, that doesn't mean places don't age…

Hasn't COVID moved the whole relocation thing out of the way?

Re: Done with YC: Age Discrimination

#50

Post by whitepaint »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #43
CabSauce wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. It feels like they're trying to claim that they were rejected for age... without providing any evidence. They don't want to come out and say it. But by suggesting enough, it's sure implied.

What evidence would convince you? (It helps to imagine you're asking for evidence of gender discrimination.)

If you accuse people of discrimination (which is a serious accusation) you better have very good evidence. Nothing less is acceptable.
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