How to get into Y Combinator

From what I've read over the years, very. It's an opportunity for the reviewers to get a feel of your team's overall personality, how well you seem fit together, and another view of your product.

Re: How to get into Y Combinator

#5

Post by jpiasetz » Mon, Oct 03, 2011, 6:57 PM UTC

I wish there were concrete examples of deep insights.

Would help understand how you come up with deep insights.

Plus it would be an interesting read I'm sure.

Re: How to get into Y Combinator

#6

Post by brackin » Mon, Oct 03, 2011, 6:59 PM UTC

Thanks for writing this. Glad you've cleared up some of the questions I hear a lot. I've seen a lot of posts which claim to have some kind of template to get in, which doesn't make any sense in my opinion.

Re: How to get into Y Combinator

#7

Post by alexhaefner » Mon, Oct 03, 2011, 7:00 PM UTC

My friend (and co-founder) and I have applied for winter 2012. Even if we don't get in, I don't think it will change much of who we are, or what we're driven by.

But I guess my biggest question has been this: In the event that we (any anyone else going through this process) don't get in, how hard should we spend thinking about that? And what I mean is, every time I've done something I spend some amount of time evaluating how it went and what I learned from it. In the case of YC, it's about the idea + founders, so if we didn't get in, I would need to spend some amount of time evaluating the idea + founders and deciding what it means.

That doesn't scare me, instead I think that's the most exciting part. To be incredibly self-critical is the only way to make great things. As much as we were writing our answers for those who will evaluate them, we were also writing them for ourselves.

Great post, makes me feel more optimistic about the entire ordeal.

Edit: meant winter 2012

Re: How to get into Y Combinator

#8

Post by pg » Mon, Oct 03, 2011, 7:04 PM UTC

jpiasetz wrote: post #5

I wish there were concrete examples of deep insights. Would help understand how you come up with deep insights. Plus it would be an interesting read I'm sure.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27532820/app.html

Re: How to get into Y Combinator

#9

Post by pg » Mon, Oct 03, 2011, 7:06 PM UTC

veyron wrote: post #3

How important is the video component in the application process?

It's important not to skip it. It's also very important not to read from a prepared text; we tell people over and over not to do that, and for some reason they keep thinking they can fool us.

It's not important that the video have high production values, or that you sell us on the idea within it.

Re: How to get into Y Combinator

#10

Post by pg » Mon, Oct 03, 2011, 7:13 PM UTC

alexhaefner wrote: post #7

My friend (and co-founder) and I have applied for winter 2012. Even if we don't get in, I don't think it will change much of who we are, or what we're driven by. But I guess my biggest question has been this: In the event that we (any anyone else going through this process) don't get in, how hard should we spend thinking about that? And what I mean is, every time I've done something I spend some amount of time evalua…

I wish I could say it means a lot if you don't make it to the interview stage, because that would imply we're really good judges. But unfortunately we know we miss a lot of good applications. We have thousands of applications to read, and not much time to do it in. It's difficult for us to distinguish between applications that are genuinely weak, and those where the founders just don't present themselves very well.