[HN Gopher] Apply to YC on Your Schedule
___________________________________________________________________
Apply to YC on Your Schedule
Author : todsacerdoti
Score : 103 points
Date : 2021-01-14 17:01 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (blog.ycombinator.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (blog.ycombinator.com)
| bruceb wrote:
| Out of curiosity since it is in June, is the next batch in
| person?
| the-dude wrote:
| You could find out by just reading the Apply page, linked in
| the footer.
| sebg wrote:
| From the application page: "This batch of Y Combinator will be
| remote due to COVID-19"
| [deleted]
| bruceb wrote:
| Thanks, obvious place to look now that I think about it, I
| looked at the blog section instead.
| dustingetz wrote:
| "If you're in talk-to-VC mode, talk to YC (who is just a VC in
| hacker branding)" This is some of the best advice I got. You need
| to "have something to show" when you talk to VCs. The partner in
| the Startup School videos gave an example of having a mailing
| list of 100k subscribers and links that to getting in (in 2006).
| yeldarb wrote:
| Is this a reference to a specific Startup School video?
| ransom1538 wrote:
| In year 2022, YC will 10x profits, all ran by a python script:
|
| 0. You got in "Mr. Carrot Top" with idea "Uber for cats"!
|
| 1. Here is $5k (amazon gift code attached) and a link to a bunch
| of youtube videos
|
| 2. Work hard.
|
| 3. Give us 7% of anything you do. [Docusign enclosed]
| sombremesa wrote:
| The 7% is a real downer, especially with the meager amount of
| cash they give you for it. However, that's highly tailored to
| their target audience (quarry?) of fresh college grads (or
| dropouts) with a plausible idea and a lot of moxie.
|
| "Old" geezers like me are better off building a product and
| getting some traction before contacting VCs or angels through
| common connections.
| mathattack wrote:
| It depends on how fame along the program is. It instantly
| values the company at ~1mm dollars. The YC halo also
| increases the valuation (and decreases dilution) of
| subsequent rounds.
| ganeshkrishnan wrote:
| You are missing the point. The biggest advantage of YC is not
| money; its the human network. I have 0% interest in their
| money and 100% interest in their network.
|
| We have been turned down more than couple of times and I am
| not shameless enough to apply again.
|
| But if I had better chances of being accepted, I would even
| though my current ARR is 20x of their funding amount.
| kevinskii wrote:
| I've seen enough YC companies fail and enough non-YC tech
| companies succeed to question the value of this supposedly
| exclusive human network.
| dvt wrote:
| This is a bit myopic. YC doesn't imply success, and
| obviously not all YC companies are successful. But I have
| enough of an "upper-echelon" network (UCLA, Berkeley,
| USC, Caltech, LA startup scene) to know how priceless a
| network like the YC founders one would be. Having smart,
| motivated, critical people willing to give you the time
| of day is pretty key in refining ideas, reaching out to
| potential customers, or hiring. Not to mention getting
| funded (if you need/want to).
|
| IMO, one of the key mistakes of technical founders is not
| networking enough. Wish I could go back 10 years ago to
| my early 20s and tell myself to just go out more and
| network.
| kevinskii wrote:
| Sure. I'm not discounting the value of the network
| entirely. I'm suggesting that it doesn't appear to be
| worth what you have to give up in return. Apart from the
| 7% and other preferential investor treatment, YC requires
| that you commit your time in ways that may not be optimal
| for your business in the long run.
| sombremesa wrote:
| > The biggest advantage of YC is not money; its the human
| network.
|
| I feel very lucky to be in a position where I don't have to
| buy my friends.
| ganeshkrishnan wrote:
| You are not "buying" "friends". You are being introduced
| to other individuals that can help you succeed and
| believe in you. If you already have a network of people
| who can invest, buy your software, introduce you to other
| people then yes you are right YC is of not much value.
| rfrey wrote:
| It's not a substitute for the friends you make in high
| school. It's a substitute for the friends you make at
| Harvard, Yale or Stanford.
| dvt wrote:
| > The biggest advantage of YC is not money; its the human
| network.
|
| This x100. YC opens the kinds of doors only places like
| MIT/Stanford/Harvard open. If you can get in, it really is
| a cheat code.
| k__ wrote:
| lol
|
| I did the future founder program of startup school and they
| really didn't tell nothing new there.
|
| I mean, the videos were polished and had good info, but nothing
| I didn't already hear on other channels.
|
| At least it was a motivation for me. When there is nothing more
| I can get from courses I might be at a place where I should
| start somthing for real, haha
| kcorbitt wrote:
| (I work at YC on Startup School.)
|
| Yes, if you're at the point where you know everything we
| teach in the Future Founders program, you'll definitely learn
| more by actually building something than continuing to watch
| our videos. If you do, you can keep getting value out of
| Startup School by switching to our "active founders" track
| [0], which lets you submit weekly updates and get access to
| deals from partners. Good luck!
|
| [0]: https://www.startupschool.org/track
| akbar501 wrote:
| One request I would have for SUS is to add the ability to
| add a weekly update in the past.
|
| More than once I was working late Sunday and well into
| Monday morning. When this happens I can no longer provide
| an update for the prior week so it looks like I've done
| nothing for that week.
| k__ wrote:
| Ah, cool
|
| So I can (start) do(ing) this at any time?
|
| Edit: ah, just for people who work +20h a week on their
| startup.
|
| I don't even work 20h a week in my regular job, haha.
| tosh wrote:
| there definitely is tension @ ideal timing re founders (stage) vs
| programs (efficiency and quality thanks to batching)
|
| being more flexible with the applications as well as access to
| the overall platform is great
| sudosteph wrote:
| Nice, I've been waiting for the next round to open up.
| Application #3 (for this startup), here I come.
|
| That said, I'm seriously considering just not bothering with the
| fluff questions this time around (ie, "describe a time you hacked
| something to your advantage"). I know what they're going for
| (they want to see if someone can be clever without being
| unethical), but I always feel I feel like I put too much effort
| into appearing clever and it doesn't really matter. I'd much
| rather be talking about and building my company anyhow.
| RocketSyntax wrote:
| It would be nice if you could just apply whenever. Like apply
| this year and go next fall. It's hard for 2+ people to get their
| lives in order to drop everything in a short window.
| ceilingcorner wrote:
| +1
|
| An incubator focusing on those who can't drop everything on a
| moment's notice seems like a good idea.
| biztos wrote:
| I'd love to see an incubator focusing on people who can't
| commit 100% of their time.
|
| Because of kids, or other obligations, whatever. I bet
| there's a lot of entrepreneurial talent that gets left out of
| the startup ecosystem because of the expectation that you
| spend all your waking hours working.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2021-01-14 23:00 UTC)