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Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

ycombinator.com

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Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#41

Post by pg »

vyrotek wrote: post #21

How does YCombinator feel about startups which have gone through a local incubator and raised a seed round?

We seem to get more and more who have. It hurts your chances slightly, but we wouldn't turn down a company just for that.

There are a whole bunch of things in that category (being a single founder, cofounders who won't quit their jobs, still being in school, etc). We wouldn't reject an application for having just one of these qualities, but when an application has several it starts to tip the balance to no.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#42

Post by pg »

benrpeters wrote: post #19

I'm curious why YC likes 2-3 founders over 4-5. Do more people = more potential for internal drama? Or are larger groups more resistant to changing on the fly? I would think that 4-5 talented go-getters would be better than 2-3.

Empirically big groups do noticeably worse. I'm not 100% sure why, but my guess is that the problem is not with big groups per se, but what having a lot of cofounders says about the founders. I think when a startup has a lot of founders, it's often because the founders are afraid of starting a company, and thus recruit everyone they know to be in it with them.

Another theory I've heard is that a startup does as well as its worst founder, and the bigger the group, the more chance you have someone who's no good.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#43

Post by timjahn »

kerryusry wrote: post #12

There are lots of people with great ideas and products out there who are not able to just up and quit jobs and move somewhere for months on end. It would be nice to see an option for people like this. Not everyone is single college student, what about established tech professionals with houses and mortgages, or even a family.

Amen.

I agree that this isn't necessarily Y Combinator's responsibility to fill but somebody needs to create this.

I've interviewed plenty of entrepreneurs that built successful companies with families and/or not going at it full time for 3 months with insane mentorship.

It'd be great to see a dedicated resource that fit around this sort of lifestyle.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#44

Post by pg »

chargrilled wrote: post #40
pg wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, we often fund groups' later applications. Dropbox was Drew Houston's second application. I believe PagerDuty was those guys' fourth.

Were they rejected at the application or interview stage? Have you had many groups accepted after being rejected at interview stage?

We've funded people we previously rejected at both stages. I don't think we interviewed Drew the first time. I believe we interviewed the PagerDuties 3 times out of the 4 they applied.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#45

Post by richardburton »

Just over a year ago I drove my friend, Josh Buckley, from LA to SF for his YC interview. Since then I have had the pleasure of watching how YC can help transform a number of things:

1.) His product, www.minomonsters.com, has evolved from a nearly-finished Facebook game into beautifully designed and highly engaging iPhone app.

2.) Josh is now an alien (with extraordinary ability) due to his O1 visa.

3.) He has grown the business from a one-man-band hiring freelancers into a proper company with an office and staff.

4.) His network has expanded exponentially.

5.) He has found a truly great cofounder who makes him raise his game.

6.) He has ridden the emotional roller-coaster of fund-raising on his own and that has transformed him into an even better businessman.

7.) The process has taught him the art of focussing on one huge, seemingly-insurmountable goal. He has sacrificed a lot but gained even more.

8.) Despite his incredible work-ethic and dedication to his startup, one thing hasn't changed. He is still a great friend and always makes time for those he cares about.

I met Josh about 4 years ago. He was on a mission. YC was a fantastic catalyst for that mission. He provided the spaceship, they have provided the rocket-fuel.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#47

Post by pg »

Alex3917 wrote: post #24

The timeout on the application is now exceptionally fast. I can go maybe three or four minutes at most before it doesn't let me save anymore.

The application links are a special type that don't expire for day, so this should not be happening. But I know of course that should not doesn't mean does not. Is anyone else seeing expired links when saving their application? I can't reproduce it myself.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#50

Post by chargrilled »

pg wrote: post #44
chargrilled wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were they rejected at the application or interview stage? Have you had many groups accepted after being rejected at interview stage?

We've funded people we previously rejected at both stages. I don't think we interviewed Drew the first time. I believe we interviewed the PagerDuties 3 times out of the 4 they applied.

I was under the impression that for YC the the idea was less important than the team.

How did the teams change between rejection and acceptance?

Was a different idea enough to consider them in a different light or is the interview process just sufficiently noisy that they were false negatives earlier?

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