5 ms·

I'd be interested in a list of bad reasons to apply to YC.

by debacle 11y ago

mathattack 11y ago
Here are a few: - Because the cool kids are doing it. - Because the brand will look good on a business school application. - Because $120K can pay for a fancy apartment and a lot of parties. - Because Mom and Dad will leave you alone for 3 months.
- wiwillia 11y ago
  That's a pretty uninformed opinion. YC is a collection of smart people trying to build things... That "fancy apartment" is the cheapest place you can find in Mountain View with 4 people stuffed in, half sleeping on the floor. How many YC founders go on to business school? I've heard of none, but I'm sure there are a few... But do you have anything backing up that people go to YC for that reason? I think I went to one party during the course of YC. In fact, all I really did was build product and talk to users. It's one of the mantras of YC and anyone not following that advice certainly isn't seen as a "cool kid". Probably not worth trying to change your opinion, but you're 100% wrong on every point (except the first if you define "cool kids" as people working hard trying to build things).
  - hayksaakian 11y ago
    I think his comment went over your head. He was providing bad reasons that someone could use to justify applying to YC
    - mathattack 11y ago
      What Kayksaakian said. It was bad reasons (as opposed to good reasons) for applying. :-) I have tons of respect for the people who make it through the process, and drop everything to try and start something great.
      - wiwillia 11y ago
        My fault. I totally misunderstood. Sorry.
        mathattack 11y ago
        No worries! Humor sometimes doesn't travel well on discussion boards. :-)
    - wiwillia 11y ago
      Yep you're totally right, sorry.
rudolf0 11y ago
Or how about reasons why not to apply, if there are any? I imagine it's stressful and time-consuming for many people, for example. (Though of course that comes with starting any company.)
- arasmussen 11y ago
  7%
  - rudolf0 11y ago
    Better than what Shark Tank asks for, at least. :)
    - lberger 11y ago
      Are we really going to compare YC with Shark Tank? Moreover, Shark Tank isn't an incubator.
  - tptacek 11y ago
    7% might not be worth it if you've sold a couple companies and are a mortal lock for funding for your next company, but otherwise, this is the weakest objection to YC. The value you get just from having the YC label more than offsets the 7%. (I'm sensitive to this because it used to be my big objection to YC, because 7% is a large amount of equity to give up for the money they're giving you, maybe even today.)
    - arasmussen 11y ago
      > 7% is a large amount of equity to give up for the money they're giving you The value you get out of YC isn't really the money. 7% is a lot.
      - wantreprenr007 11y ago
        It's at least 3.5x as good as the best advisor. Better to have 93% of something worth 10MM+ than 100% of 100k.
leelin 11y ago
I believe you mean a list of reasons why participating in YC is not good for your startup prospects? When we applied, most of our business was in NYC (and it still is today), but we had to move Mountain View for the 3 months of the program. As it turns out, moving was hugely beneficial because it also forced us to free ourselves from many random obligations from our daily lives. I would fly back to NYC regularly, but for specific and determined purposes, which minimized time for distraction. Some say the equity deal is bad, and in summer 2009 it was an order of magnitude worse (6% for $15K). However, 94% of a success is much better than 100% of a failure, and I am absolutely sure YC saved us from failing multiple times. If there is ANY true negative consequence of participating in YC, I would say you are placed into a peer group of overachievers that values fundraising for high growth. While there is a LOT of upside to close interaction with dozens of other founders, the negative is that we naturally tend to compare ourselves to our cohort. I never felt any outright competitive pressures from my batch, but at the end of the day, the universal yardstick seemed to be how much funding you could raise from the most prestigious investors. To be fair, the YC partners stressed that fundraising is a silly measure of success and that getting ramen profitable and default-alive is more important, but it's still demoralizing when (seemingly) all your friends raise money and you are grinding along at a bootstrap pace. For RentHop it was absolutely the right play - our revenue hockeystick didn't begin until 3 years later.
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pcmaffey 11y ago
The worst reason to apply is if your acceptance will make/break your project. If you're optimizing what you're doing around getting into YC, DON"T APPLY. Applying to YC (or any accelerator) should be an afterthought. Something you spend half a day on for shits and giggles, and an opportunity to reflect on the meta state of your project. Hit send and forget about it. Anything more is a waste of time.
cookiecaper 11y ago
Here're a couple. - Major life disruption for at least 3 months, as you must live in Mountain View whilst in the YC program. This makes it untenable for founders who have any other time obligations, like a family. - Startup living stipend sufficient to split an apartment in MV in lieu of real salary. This makes it untenable for founders who have any other monetary obligations, like a family. Granted, this is a sector limitation, but it's not something that YC had to follow. Most tech investment seems to be about getting as many naive college kids as possible to offer practically free labor to investors.
pbreit 11y ago
The only downside I can think of is if you're not equipped to deal with elevated expectations.
AlwaysBCoding 11y ago
Because you want to start a business that supports itself with profits instead of outside monetary investment. Because you want to build a great version of some X but don't necessarily want to disrupt or reinvent an industry. Because you want to be financially secure and not risk your financial future on an idea that isn't guaranteed to work. Because you like traveling or taking time off or playing around with a lot of different ideas and aren't at the place where you want to commit to working full-time on a company for five years. etc... This isn't a knock against YC at all, there are just other ways to grow and scale a business than hyper-growth + raising outside capital, and sometimes even if you have a great idea, bootstrapping can be a better approach for you depending on what kind of person you are and what point of your life you're at.
muzani 11y ago
The odds of getting in are not high. For most people who aren't ivy league grads, haven't worked at Google or Uber, or don't have 6 digits of revenue, it might not be worth the time. And if you still haven't figured your business plan, you might want to do it before applying. Pivoting within an accelerator is not a comfortable experience, and would be a waste of time for Demo Day. Also I'm not sure how well YC works for married entrepreneurs with kids. There doesn't seem to be a lot of married YC founders, but do correct me if I'm wrong. A lot of the advice they give is already out in the open. So unless you need the cash or connection, you might not want to.
- kriro 11y ago
  It's well worth the time to apply no matter the outcome (imo). Worst case you have bought a lottery ticket AND thought about your idea in an organized way. There's value in that.

I'd be interested in a list of bad reasons to apply to YC.

by debacle 11y ago

I'd be interested in a list of bad reasons to apply to YC.

Here are a few: - Because the cool kids are doing it. - Because the brand will look good on a business school application. - Because $120K can pay for a fancy apartment and a lot of parties. - Because Mom and Dad will leave you alone for 3 months.

wiwillia 11y ago
That's a pretty uninformed opinion. YC is a collection of smart people trying to build things... That "fancy apartment" is the cheapest place you can find in Mountain View with 4 people stuffed in, half sleeping on the floor. How many YC founders go on to business school? I've heard of none, but I'm sure there are a few... But do you have anything backing up that people go to YC for that reason? I think I went to one party during the course of YC. In fact, all I really did was build product and talk to users. It's one of the mantras of YC and anyone not following that advice certainly isn't seen as a "cool kid". Probably not worth trying to change your opinion, but you're 100% wrong on every point (except the first if you define "cool kids" as people working hard trying to build things).
- hayksaakian 11y ago
  I think his comment went over your head. He was providing bad reasons that someone could use to justify applying to YC
  - mathattack 11y ago
    What Kayksaakian said. It was bad reasons (as opposed to good reasons) for applying. :-) I have tons of respect for the people who make it through the process, and drop everything to try and start something great.
    - wiwillia 11y ago
      My fault. I totally misunderstood. Sorry.
      - mathattack 11y ago
        No worries! Humor sometimes doesn't travel well on discussion boards. :-)
  - wiwillia 11y ago
    Yep you're totally right, sorry.

rudolf0 11y ago

Or how about reasons why not to apply, if there are any? I imagine it's stressful and time-consuming for many people, for example. (Though of course that comes with starting any company.)

arasmussen 11y ago
7%
- rudolf0 11y ago
  Better than what Shark Tank asks for, at least. :)
  - lberger 11y ago
    Are we really going to compare YC with Shark Tank? Moreover, Shark Tank isn't an incubator.
- tptacek 11y ago
  7% might not be worth it if you've sold a couple companies and are a mortal lock for funding for your next company, but otherwise, this is the weakest objection to YC. The value you get just from having the YC label more than offsets the 7%. (I'm sensitive to this because it used to be my big objection to YC, because 7% is a large amount of equity to give up for the money they're giving you, maybe even today.)
  - arasmussen 11y ago
    > 7% is a large amount of equity to give up for the money they're giving you The value you get out of YC isn't really the money. 7% is a lot.
    - wantreprenr007 11y ago
      It's at least 3.5x as good as the best advisor. Better to have 93% of something worth 10MM+ than 100% of 100k.

leelin 11y ago

I believe you mean a list of reasons why participating in YC is not good for your startup prospects? When we applied, most of our business was in NYC (and it still is today), but we had to move Mountain View for the 3 months of the program. As it turns out, moving was hugely beneficial because it also forced us to free ourselves from many random obligations from our daily lives. I would fly back to NYC regularly, but for specific and determined purposes, which minimized time for distraction. Some say the equity deal is bad, and in summer 2009 it was an order of magnitude worse (6% for $15K). However, 94% of a success is much better than 100% of a failure, and I am absolutely sure YC saved us from failing multiple times. If there is ANY true negative consequence of participating in YC, I would say you are placed into a peer group of overachievers that values fundraising for high growth. While there is a LOT of upside to close interaction with dozens of other founders, the negative is that we naturally tend to compare ourselves to our cohort. I never felt any outright competitive pressures from my batch, but at the end of the day, the universal yardstick seemed to be how much funding you could raise from the most prestigious investors. To be fair, the YC partners stressed that fundraising is a silly measure of success and that getting ramen profitable and default-alive is more important, but it's still demoralizing when (seemingly) all your friends raise money and you are grinding along at a bootstrap pace. For RentHop it was absolutely the right play - our revenue hockeystick didn't begin until 3 years later.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

deleted 11y ago

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pcmaffey 11y ago

The worst reason to apply is if your acceptance will make/break your project. If you're optimizing what you're doing around getting into YC, DON"T APPLY. Applying to YC (or any accelerator) should be an afterthought. Something you spend half a day on for shits and giggles, and an opportunity to reflect on the meta state of your project. Hit send and forget about it. Anything more is a waste of time.

cookiecaper 11y ago

Here're a couple. - Major life disruption for at least 3 months, as you must live in Mountain View whilst in the YC program. This makes it untenable for founders who have any other time obligations, like a family. - Startup living stipend sufficient to split an apartment in MV in lieu of real salary. This makes it untenable for founders who have any other monetary obligations, like a family. Granted, this is a sector limitation, but it's not something that YC had to follow. Most tech investment seems to be about getting as many naive college kids as possible to offer practically free labor to investors.

pbreit 11y ago

The only downside I can think of is if you're not equipped to deal with elevated expectations.

AlwaysBCoding 11y ago

Because you want to start a business that supports itself with profits instead of outside monetary investment. Because you want to build a great version of some X but don't necessarily want to disrupt or reinvent an industry. Because you want to be financially secure and not risk your financial future on an idea that isn't guaranteed to work. Because you like traveling or taking time off or playing around with a lot of different ideas and aren't at the place where you want to commit to working full-time on a company for five years. etc... This isn't a knock against YC at all, there are just other ways to grow and scale a business than hyper-growth + raising outside capital, and sometimes even if you have a great idea, bootstrapping can be a better approach for you depending on what kind of person you are and what point of your life you're at.

muzani 11y ago

The odds of getting in are not high. For most people who aren't ivy league grads, haven't worked at Google or Uber, or don't have 6 digits of revenue, it might not be worth the time. And if you still haven't figured your business plan, you might want to do it before applying. Pivoting within an accelerator is not a comfortable experience, and would be a waste of time for Demo Day. Also I'm not sure how well YC works for married entrepreneurs with kids. There doesn't seem to be a lot of married YC founders, but do correct me if I'm wrong. A lot of the advice they give is already out in the open. So unless you need the cash or connection, you might not want to.

kriro 11y ago
It's well worth the time to apply no matter the outcome (imo). Worst case you have bought a lottery ticket AND thought about your idea in an organized way. There's value in that.