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Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

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Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#41

Post by dgfitz »

threeseed wrote: post #37
dgfitz wrote: post #9

I guess I don’t get it, and I’d like to. Y-Combinator enables connections and mentorship along with a stipend. This allows a team to work full time for a few months, having quit or taken a hiatus from their day job. So the risk is $dayjob unless you’re a serial founder, the reward is the connections and money to float for a few months, while selling I think 10% of your company? The odds of your idea working out, even…

If you haven't quit your job and aren't working on full-time don't apply to YC. The partners have said on many occasions it's a major red flag for them.

So it is like a “by rich people, for rich people (or a rich safety net)” deal?

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#42

Post by xelamonster »

echelon wrote: post #31
dbbk wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes the sheer number of AI slop companies is so uninspiring. Where is the creativity? There are still plenty of great technology companies to be built that are not ChatGPT wrappers.

> AI slop companies There is so much market up for grabs. Most companies will fail, but the ones that succeed can win really big. And the surface area is so much larger than attempting a non-AI company since the advantages are potentially huge. > ChatGPT wrappers. Create value. Doesn't matter how you do. Just create value.

I like your first point, hadn't thought of it that way; makes it seem just a bit more reasonable. Regarding "create value" though, that's where I think a lot of the negative sentiment comes in: the vast majority of these new AI companies offer nothing at all of value to anyone. Outside of a very small few even the ones with an attractive premise fail to live up to the experience they advertise.

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#43

Post by senko »

dbbk wrote: post #27
carlgreene wrote: post #10

Any other founders feel like YC has lost its luster? Not only are the number of AI companies in the portfolio ridiculous, but the large class sizes seem so much less personal. Not to bag on anyone who’s in YC right now, but it seems to be going the way of many ivy leagues - still meaningful, but very much not the same proxy for extraordinary it once was.

Yes the sheer number of AI slop companies is so uninspiring. Where is the creativity? There are still plenty of great technology companies to be built that are not ChatGPT wrappers.

Go build one? (with or without YC support)

I do like your comment as the critique of contemporary tech entrepreneurship culture that is very hype oriented, likely at the expense of comparatively few blue ocean ideas that get crowded out.

However I do fear that's global and not something specific to YC or the valley. Here across the pond we have the same gold rush, except at minor league level.

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#44

Post by wg0 »

burcs wrote: post #6
preommr wrote: post #3

This is missing the most important requirement: Be an AI company.

Honestly this is the same level of snarkiness of saying, "Be a web company." in the early 2000s YCombinator is a tech investor, of course they are investing in the future. It just so happens that in this current tech cycle AI is the future.

Yes it's a future that's not happening and would soon be past.

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#45

Post by mdolon »

Great advice! The other thing I'd add is to get at least 4-5 YC alum to review your application in a Google doc and do practice interviews with them if you make it to the next round. Also, if you have friends who've done YC before, get them to recommend you!

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#46

Post by [deleted] »

carlgreene wrote: post #10

Any other founders feel like YC has lost its luster? Not only are the number of AI companies in the portfolio ridiculous, but the large class sizes seem so much less personal. Not to bag on anyone who’s in YC right now, but it seems to be going the way of many ivy leagues - still meaningful, but very much not the same proxy for extraordinary it once was.

[deleted]

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#48

Post by [deleted] »

woadwarrior01 wrote: post #38
atleastoptimal wrote: post #18

Great advice, but the fact that you're a former FAANG employee pitching an AI company did ~70% of the work

Late 30s, former Facebook and Google engineer. Applied thrice at the behest of my co-founder, and got rejected each time. Once before we had a product, twice after being bootstrapped and profitable. Never again.

[deleted]

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#49

Post by thruway516 »

tptacek wrote: post #33
tivert wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> YCombinator is a tech investor, of course they are investing in the future. It just so happens that in this current tech cycle AI is the future. I think the term you're looking isn't "future," it's "hype."

No. I think we're past the point of it being hipsterism to suggest that AI techniques are "hype". Not every startup exploiting it is bona fide, but what's happening here is for real.

I second this. I just fear the hype surrounding generative AI is leading to extreme tunnel vision and neglect of other promising tech (cough crypto) and even other areas in ML and deep learning that might actually be more fruitful for Agi.

Re: Guide to applying to YC – from a founder who was accepted on the third try

#50

Post by thruway516 »

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #11
burcs wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This mindset is tiresome, especially seeing it on Hacker News... I literally went to the cheapest state school in rural Pennsylvania and still was accepted into YC. My co-founder didn't even finish college, at some point I think people just want to make excuses. Also — I don't understand your second point. It's an accelerator. Capital is part and parcel when it comes to accelerating.

I live in NYC and know a ton of founders. its just the facts. people certainly get funded outside the normal background, but probably 70% of early stage funding goes to the same types of people

It's a fairly safe bet if you're trying to minimize your risk as much as possible. Sure it lacks imagination and you probably miss out on the true outliers but most Vcs are really conservative risk averse investors no matter what they say.
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