Ask HN: Which successful startups were rejected by YC?

Post by k-mcgrady » Sat, Mar 05, 2016, 8:32 PM UTC

w1ntermute wrote: post #40

k-mcgrady wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> ""Did you apply to and get rejected by YC?" must be a common question many investors now ask of companies that aren't YC alumni." Is this a guess or do you have anything to back it up? It seems really strange to me. An investor shouldn't be judging you based on the judgement of another investor.

It's just a guess, which is why I said "must." But it doesn't seem strange to me at all - investors tend to move in herds. They tend to be much more interested in companies that other investors are also interested in. That's why communicating that there's great interest from other investors is key to raising money - it creates FOMO in the investors.

Post by Ologn » Sat, Mar 05, 2016, 8:42 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #37

w1ntermute wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if investors consider it a negative to be a top company in another accelerator then. "Did you apply to and get rejected by YC?" must be a common question many investors now ask of companies that aren't YC alumni.

>> ""Did you apply to and get rejected by YC?" must be a common question many investors now ask of companies that aren't YC alumni." Is this a guess or do you have anything to back it up? It seems really strange to me. An investor shouldn't be judging you based on the judgement of another investor.

Post by sago » Sat, Mar 05, 2016, 9:20 PM UTC

gaur wrote: post #48

ig1 wrote: post #10

Companies which have publicly disclosed that were rejected by YC and have since raised >$20m: * Chartboost * Sendgrid * LightSail I've seen it claimed that Couchbase should be on this list, but I've never seen a primary source which verifies that they were rejected from YC.

Is there some kind of rule that every startup name has to be of the form NounNoun or VerbNoun?

Post by T2_t2 » Sat, Mar 05, 2016, 10:27 PM UTC

gaur wrote: post #48

ig1 wrote: post #10

Companies which have publicly disclosed that were rejected by YC and have since raised >$20m: * Chartboost * Sendgrid * LightSail I've seen it claimed that Couchbase should be on this list, but I've never seen a primary source which verifies that they were rejected from YC.

Is there some kind of rule that every startup name has to be of the form NounNoun or VerbNoun?

Post by lacker » Sun, Mar 06, 2016, 12:41 AM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #37

w1ntermute wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if investors consider it a negative to be a top company in another accelerator then. "Did you apply to and get rejected by YC?" must be a common question many investors now ask of companies that aren't YC alumni.

>> ""Did you apply to and get rejected by YC?" must be a common question many investors now ask of companies that aren't YC alumni." Is this a guess or do you have anything to back it up? It seems really strange to me. An investor shouldn't be judging you based on the judgement of another investor.