I'm curious to how many founders in this batch are...
- Over 35
- Female
- African American
Edit: My post here is to gauge if the needle of progress in our industry is moving forward in the terms of race, age and sex.
We Make Mistakes
51–60 of 206 posts
Re: We Make Mistakes
#52"In this cycle we saw a +40% increase in the number of companies applying" — roughly how many applications were there? 1000? 10,000? Also, how many teams make it to the interview stage?
Seconded, some metrics on this yearly would be great if at all possible. To give the applicants some sort of perspective.
In terms of the companies that make it, previous years the amount that make it in range up to 80 but they reduced it to 50 last year. 500 or so total YC companies since inception (2005).
Re: We Make Mistakes
#53First rejection but I have a smile in my face. I did it, I had the courage to apply. So... yeah I'm happy.
Re: We Make Mistakes
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, easily can conclude that BVP and other VC firms believe that they have a particular way to evaluate applications and make money. This does not mean that they have the ability or obligation, or even make an effort, accurately to evaluate every application that comes through their door. So, likely, net, if they are making money, then they are happy about the money they are making, smile all the way to the bank, a…
If they are making money? Venture funds are generally structured using the 2 and 20 model. The first 2 refers to an annual fee of 2% of committed capital for the life of the fund. Venture funds typically have a life of 10 years. I believe Bessemer's last fund was $1.6 billion, so assuming a typical 2 and 20 structure, that would be $32 million/year, or $320 million over a 10 year fund's life, guaranteed .
Yup, that's one way to make money.
But as in
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/02/venture-capital-returns.html...
on average the VC returns to the limited partners have not been very good.
Re: We Make Mistakes
#55Last I applied as a single founder I got an interview. Now I have a cofounder and made significant progress but our application didn't earn us an interview (the second time applying with this idea.) Perhaps I took something for granted when i applied this time so the app turned out weaker or disappointing but I realize how lucky I was to get feedback last time as opposed to none at all now.
Re: We Make Mistakes
#567th rejection, doesn't even phase me anymore. :P For those with less experience, the disappointment will pass. Take a day if you need to reflect on what you're doing, why you're doing it and how you could do it better. Rejection is fuel for the fire, use it to burn brighter going forward. Next time, be so good they can't ignore you, simple as that.
7 times is a lot. Has it always been with the same product, or different ideas?
Re: We Make Mistakes
#57Why not do the 1871 startup incubator in Chicago?
Re: We Make Mistakes
#587th rejection, doesn't even phase me anymore. :P For those with less experience, the disappointment will pass. Take a day if you need to reflect on what you're doing, why you're doing it and how you could do it better. Rejection is fuel for the fire, use it to burn brighter going forward. Next time, be so good they can't ignore you, simple as that.
Persistence isn't always a virtue. If you've been rejected 7 times, please stop expending your time and emotional energy on YC. Redirect that energy to building your business. Build your product and get customers/users, which is the real endgame, not getting into YC or getting a check from a fancy Sandhill VC.
> If you've been rejected 7 times, please stop expending your time and emotional energy on YC.
I'm not OP but your comment makes it sound like he or she is spending significant time on applications and neglecting business. Granted the application isn't a really quick thing to fill out but it's also not something that takes so long that it can impact your business negatively.
Re: We Make Mistakes
#59The whole process makes seems to make some people feel like it's asking someone out or trying out for a play (i.e. the video interview, etc) so I can see why people can take it so harshly.
Your application/video/product could be flawless and literally solve world hunger but the process isn't objective as all that. In the end they just pick a handful of people out of all the applications that they want to invest in.
I'm sure that most applications there was no reason at all that they chose not to accept them. They just didn't.
Re: We Make Mistakes
#60I'm curious to how many founders in this batch are... - Over 35 - Female - African American Edit: My post here is to gauge if the needle of progress in our industry is moving forward in the terms of race, age and sex.
I don't recall YC asking for race or gender on the application, so I doubt that's possible unless self-reported.