How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle • Hacker News Board

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#71

Post by larrys » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:21 PM UTC

paulsutter wrote: post #50

CaveTech wrote: post #9

Honestly I don't get it. While the story is cool, it really just seems like you're comfortable blowing several thousand dollars on what, lets be honest, is a very, very unlikely chance at securing a domain name. I know this story speaks of SV culture in some way; huge risk, huge rewards and the idea that no one can stop you. If the venture pays off, it makes you a hero. If it doesn't, well you get a cool story. But y…

Good domains are valuable, so a few thousand pounds is a small amount to risk. Zap.com is a really good domain. His approach was smart. A billionaire is too busy to discuss the sale of a domain, but if you do manage to catch his interest, he may well give it to you free/cheap because it isn't an asset he spends time worrying about. I love the conservative objections here. Stunts like this only work if most people are…

As someone who deals in this space both as owning "really good domain names" and helping people buy "really good domain names" for many many years there was nothing smart about what he did and how he spent the money from a quick read of the story.

One thing I can tell you is that we frequently get approached by people who have some kind of an idea that someone is going to let go of an asset because somebody really wants it and tells a good story. That approach is actually quite common. And anyone who owns even 1 good domain has almost for sure been approached by someone with a story about why they need the domain but don't have any money to spend.

Even though the owner of this domain isn't in the domain business they still have some idea of the value. They aren't just going to let the domain go because some guy shows up from London. In fact, how do they even know that's the truth? That he flew in from overseas just to do this transaction? And not for some other reason? This is not "Bud Fox" in "Wall Street".

I'm currently working on a deal trying to purchase a domain for someone which is owned by a non-profit Fortune 500 company. They don't need the money even though the amount the person is willing to pay ($50,000) is a good number for this domain.

The approach that I will try after being turned down by the usual suspects at the company is to simply work my way up to the board of directors at some point and perhaps make a case that as a non-profit the $50,000 can do some good and the domain isn't being used bla bla bla.

Find an angle that matters. (Note same angle probably wouldn't work with a for profit but it's worth a try with a non-profit ..)

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#72

Post by SagelyGuru » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:22 PM UTC

I would not give money to a guy who writes on black background either.

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#73

Post by driverdan » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:24 PM UTC

ChaseB wrote: post #20

"but when I finished I filled the BCC with as many permutations of what his email address could be and then hit send." I've figured out a great way around this. Install rapportive in gmail, compose a new message and start guessing emails. If the email is correct, rapportive will pull up all the information for that person. Bingo! There's the correct address!

Rapportive only has info on people who use their service and those who have their info available on their sources (eg social networks). It's a great tool but isn't comprehensive.

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#74

Post by larrys » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:24 PM UTC

Irregardless wrote: post #60

paulsutter wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good domains are valuable, so a few thousand pounds is a small amount to risk. Zap.com is a really good domain. His approach was smart. A billionaire is too busy to discuss the sale of a domain, but if you do manage to catch his interest, he may well give it to you free/cheap because it isn't an asset he spends time worrying about. I love the conservative objections here. Stunts like this only work if most people are…

This sounds like something you only see in movies: Billionaire hedge fund manager signs over really valuable asset to persistent little whipper-snapper then utters some cliché phrase like "You've got spunk, kid!". Hedge fund managers didn't get rich by giving things away to the first person who asked nicely, and they still have business partners to answer to. I'm surprised that calculating risk before investing large…

"I'm surprised that calculating risk before investing large amounts of time and money"

The OP made a point of saying how he thought he had a good story to tell YC. The fact is something like this could backfire and show how naive you are and be easily viewed as stupid.

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#75

Post by sixQuarks » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:24 PM UTC

SagelyGuru wrote: post #72

I would not give money to a guy who writes on black background either.

I stopped reading after the first paragraph. Dark background/white text is absolutely horrible.

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#76

Post by crowdmatch2 » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:25 PM UTC

CaveTech wrote: post #9

Honestly I don't get it. While the story is cool, it really just seems like you're comfortable blowing several thousand dollars on what, lets be honest, is a very, very unlikely chance at securing a domain name. I know this story speaks of SV culture in some way; huge risk, huge rewards and the idea that no one can stop you. If the venture pays off, it makes you a hero. If it doesn't, well you get a cool story. But y…

I recently read through a cliche list of attributes of successful people, one of them was 'don't have a backup plan'. I think while this is cliche, it is also true in a lot of ways. To me this sounds like your backup plan became having an awesome story to share, and your persistence transitioned from trying to obtain zap.com to trying to amplify the entertainment value of the story.

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#77

Post by sharkweek » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:27 PM UTC

nicholassmith wrote: post #14

hack_edu wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, though the problem they likely saw was he virtually has no product, business plan, nor seems interested in selling it as much as himself. Its a trope you see here in the post mortem after every YC season selection. "I hacked the process and all I got was this stinking blog post." Edit: This front-paging HN will more than likely land him a job somewhere, for better of for worse, and was likely his real goal in wr…

He did say that he had a product ready to demo but they didn't want to see it. Selling yourself is almost as important as the idea, if you have the best idea in the world but you seem a bit wishy washy then no one is going to be interested, but if you can sell yourself and get them to believe almost anything is possible in your hands then you're in with a better chance.

I have seen PG and others on numerous occasions say they're interested in the smartest of people, some of whom may just have a bad idea and need mentoring in that regard.

It's a lot easier to point a smart/hard working person in the right direction

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#78

Post by tomasien » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:27 PM UTC

tzm wrote: post #42

Fwiw, I had a very similar YC experience as a solo founder in front of PG, Trevor, Robert and Jessica (S12). After the rejection email I had an acquisition offer from a market leader (term sheet). Decided to turn it down and raise a round. Going after the market. Currently closing with top-tier investors and launching product.

We need to collect these stories

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#79

Post by jgross206 » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:30 PM UTC

wilfra wrote: post #39

_hgt1 wrote: post #30

> "PG knew exactly what I wanted to do, it was the quickest anyone has grokked my idea. I could almost see this divide conquer algorithm working in his brain as he traversed the idea space, it was spectacular to behold." These PG hagiographies are getting good.

hag·i·og·ra·phy/ˌhagēˈägrəfē/ Noun: The writing of the lives of saints. :)

One of my favorite words

Re: How I got a YC interview as a single founder and blew it at the final hurdle

#80

Post by seunosewa » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 5:31 PM UTC

If your business is good, answering a single question incorrectly should not cause a good investor not to invest in it. If your business is bad, answering a single question correctly should not lead to an investment.

A single answer should not be the difference between getting an investment and not getting one. Can you imagine Warren Buffett passing over a stock he was prepared to buy just because the CEO couldn't answer a particular question instantly?