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How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

joncrawford.com

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Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#91

Post by anmol »

pg wrote: post #66

Every batch there are some groups that fall apart between when we agree to fund them and when YC starts. Sometimes we tell them not to worry about it and do YC anyway, and sometimes we tell them they should take some time to repair the damage and reapply for the next cycle. It depends on how bad the breakage is. If a team of 3 loses 1 person, that's no problem. Whereas if a team of 3 loses 2 people, that's bad. In th…

To me, Jon seems to have demonstrated exactly like the type of resourcefulness YC asks for in its applications [1].

Unfortunately there was no way for YC to predict the Jon had these chops at the time. The fact that YC can make such predictions with high-accuracy, from simply an application and a 10-minute conversation, is very impressive. There are bound to be borderline calls now and then.

If you have de-identified application data, it would be interesting to know what early patterns in applications predict future success.

[1] Jon hustled his way into YC, found a way to make the move when his co-founders weren't willing to, kept the company running and profitable meantime, and closed a large seed round with top-notch investors, in perhaps roughly the same timeframe that he would have with YC.

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#92

Post by electromagnetic »

jacques_chester wrote: post #87
JacobAldridge wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at all - ideas are worth nothing, but if you can prove the execution you're good to go. So own the idea, go forth, and execute some kids better than anyone else.

You'll all be out-marketed by a company run by Amy Chua.

Ah, but she only seems to deal with kids beyond the walking-talking phase, so there's potential for a partnership supplying her with kids for her to mentally whip into later life therapy.

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#93

Post by wmboy »

Great story! And guys, I personally think the discussion should focus more on "...and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup". He clearly has no hard feelings for YC and even said "they did the right thing".

To me the story speaks of the rewards of true hustle. That and making sure you're family is 100% involved in your start up too, as his wife sure helped too!

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#94

Post by rokhayakebe »

alexophile wrote: post #63
rokhayakebe wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you please explain?

Who downvoted this? That's not cool. Asking for an explanation is always ok. Anyways, Yuri Milner (with Ron Conway) recently announced a blanket offer to all YC companies: $150k in no cap convertible debt. The title could have been to a story where a YC company dropped, presumably forfeiting the offer, only to be tracked down specifically and offered much more. [edit: typo]

Thank you. I was thinking maybe one of the companies ended up not taking Yuri's money.

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#95

Post by NewMonarch »

wmboy wrote: post #93

Great story! And guys, I personally think the discussion should focus more on "...and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup". He clearly has no hard feelings for YC and even said "they did the right thing". To me the story speaks of the rewards of true hustle. That and making sure you're family is 100% involved in your start up too, as his wife sure helped too!

Couldn't agree more.

This is about the future! We could sit around and dissect events from the past all day long, but I'm way more interested in building a team and destroying the e-commerce space together. If you're a UI designer or Ruby hacker, please get in touch! :) http://www.storenvy.com/jobs

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#96

Post by jacques_chester »

electromagnetic wrote: post #92
jacques_chester wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll all be out-marketed by a company run by Amy Chua.

Ah, but she only seems to deal with kids beyond the walking-talking phase, so there's potential for a partnership supplying her with kids for her to mentally whip into later life therapy.

I smell the potential for a vertically integrated megacorp.

That, or a sitcom.

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#97

Post by KMStraub »

The way I see it, Paul was willing to take a huge gamble on this company from the outset because of a strong gut feeling. Y Combinator didn't have to let them in and was being incredibly generous, going as far as setting aside their own rules for this one special case. They went above and beyond the call of duty. And then, to hear word that they'd have to yet again do things differently than they are accustomed to for this one company probably just didn't feel right anymore. I am happy for the writer and I bet he'll be very successful, but where he went wrong (if my facts are correct) is expecting YC to allow him to stay in the program because of "protocol." They made the first decision based on a gut reaction, and they reserved the right to make a second decision "on gut" as well. Also, to be clear, they didn't kick him out, they respectfully asked the founder to apply again next quarter. My purpose isn't to declare a winner. I have a lot of respect for the author and his perseverance. But I hope he sees just how much he was asking from YC, what an incredible achievement that was to convince Paul to take the first leap of faith, and why he probably should have just swallowed his pride and accepted YC's decision with genuine gratitude.

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#98

Post by cperciva »

electromagnetic wrote: post #45
joh6nn wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's your asking price for your first born?

That's what I'm wondering, I bet there's good money in child-flipping. You know buy a 3 month old, get them to the walking+talking phase and boot them off to someone willing to drop top dollar. (FYI for the downmodders: that's what's called a sick joke)

Isn't this what daycare centers are about? Buy-store-sell is economically equivalent to leasing out storage space, after all.

Re: How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup

#99

Post by tm65atcolumbia »

NewMonarch wrote: post #95
wmboy wrote: post #93

Great story! And guys, I personally think the discussion should focus more on "...and Then Raised $1.5m for My Startup". He clearly has no hard feelings for YC and even said "they did the right thing". To me the story speaks of the rewards of true hustle. That and making sure you're family is 100% involved in your start up too, as his wife sure helped too!

Couldn't agree more. This is about the future! We could sit around and dissect events from the past all day long, but I'm way more interested in building a team and destroying the e-commerce space together. If you're a UI designer or Ruby hacker, please get in touch! :) http://www.storenvy.com/jobs

An enthusiastic +1 for you. Not only do you possess the open mind to see all these business decisions as rational as humanly possible (I envy that in a startup founder ;-)), you also turn that experience towards strengthening your business in multiple ways. Class act @NewMonarch.

@vocabgenii @tm65

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