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I still wish they'd give reasons why. even if it was a checkbox thing. 'primary reason of rejection: no-cofounder' or 'bad idea', 'need more demo', 'not our are

I still wish they'd give reasons why. even if it was a checkbox thing. 'primary reason of rejection: no-cofounder' or 'bad idea', 'need more demo', 'not our area of interest', 'try again with this team and idea in 6 months' etc.

kareemm 17y ago
why does it matter? they're not the experts on your business - you are. unless they're buying your product, keep calm and carry on - the best validation comes from customers.
- speby 17y ago
  Well, AMEN.
- _pius 17y ago
  why does it matter? Isn't it obvious? Presumably if you cared enough to apply, you care enough to hear why you didn't get in.
  - TeHCrAzY 17y ago
    So you applied for the validation?
    - _pius 17y ago
      Your non sequitur aside, I didn't apply this round.
    - nlabs 17y ago
      I applied soley for the validation. I really dont want to work in Mountain View
      - araneae 17y ago
        You're going to have to get a new account and a fake name if you want to apply again.
        nlabs 17y ago
        Funny. Not going to apply again.
  - kareemm 17y ago
    > Isn't it obvious? Presumably if you cared enough to apply, you care enough to hear why you didn't get in. It's the opinion of one (smart) group of people who are judging your idea against everybody else that applied. It's worth something, but your customers' opinions are worth more. Go get those!
- abossy 17y ago
  If you're applying to YC, chances are you are a first-time entrepreneur or a "little guy." It's simply hard to get the attention of experienced folks like those that run YC. Every bit of feedback counts, so it's definitely valuable to get feedback, especially considering the time put into one's app.
- xenoterracide 17y ago
  (I didn't apply this round) but things like that might give you some insight. Mostly on whether it's worth applying again. If they say there #1 reason is 'no cofounder' you'll get one and apply again later. if there #1 reason is 'not our kinda product' then you won't apply again. There reason could even be "I don't get it" and you realize your pitch may be the reason to blame. No feedback is not really helpful to anyone. All anyone knows is they were rejected for potentially arbitrary reasons.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
tomhoward 17y ago
It will be a combination of these and other points. As someone who got into YC, I think the things we had in our favour were: - Strong team (10 years friendship, history of working on interesting projects together) - Proven determination (6+ tough years working on startups, willingness to travel from Australia just for the interview) - Good primary idea + several other solid ideas (our primary idea wasn't a new concept at all, but a new, niche angle on a very established concept) If you didn't get picked, it's because you didn't convey these qualities well enough. All you can do to get yourself there eventually (either into YC or to startup success some other way) is to keep persisting. The key attributes YC looks for are smart & determined. You need to prove that you have these qualities, or if you don't, you need to develop them.
- coryl 17y ago
  Tom, whats frustrating for me is I feel like my partner and I exhibited all those attributes. We don't think its the team, we know our team is strong. So it must be the idea: they aren't getting it. We emailed a few YC alum to review our application last month, and they all said we were a great team. One loved the idea, one liked it, and one had no clue about the market (wasn't familiar with Facebook and quizzes). Our idea targets young people (12-25 yrs). Which leads to my thinking, that because they're unfamiliar with it (YC partners too old, would never do facebook quizzes), they brushed it off? One other issue is that they prefer built out products with users. We only had a working demo and proof of concept samples. Either that or all the other teams were more spectacular. Which bothers me, cause I've been looking people up on twitter who say they got interviews, and their products seem mediocre.
  - speby 17y ago
    Sounds like you forgot about it, looked the other way, and moved on, right? Did you build out your idea regardless? What happened afterwards?
    - coryl 17y ago
      This just happened, we applied to this session (S10). We will be building the idea out regardless, maybe even applying to YC again in the winter. But I'm still frustrated, its just not making sense in my brain and I'm trying to figure out where I went wrong. YC does make mistakes, maybe my rejection is simply one of those mistakes. Or maybe the idea does suck. I'd love to know which, lol.
follower 17y ago
I think this kinda explains why they don't: http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html "It's not you, it's someone else." :) I found my "no interview for you" email in my G-Mail spam folder a few minutes ago (try a search for "in:spam ycombinator.com"). While I'm a little bit disappointed not to get an interview logistically this wouldn't have been the best time in my life so I'm not too down about it. (I think that's realism rather than justificiation. :) ) All the best to everyone whether you got an interview or not. And, like everyone else says keep going. My plans for world domination will continue just at a slower pace. :) Oh, BTW, I'm possibly going to be in the Bay Area sometime in July/August anyway and would be keen to meet up with YC/HN people then (I'm in New Zealand currently). P.S. In case you're wondering, I haven't heard if the team of Bright Bunnies got an interview independent of me. :D Don't forget to check out the blooper reel if you missed it and need a laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ouOkNeBS4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ouOkNeBS4
phlee 17y ago
Since YC is not giving feedback for our proposals, does anyone here know a reliable place to get advice from somebody like YC?

kareemm 17y ago

why does it matter? they're not the experts on your business - you are. unless they're buying your product, keep calm and carry on - the best validation comes from customers.

speby 17y ago
Well, AMEN.
_pius 17y ago
why does it matter? Isn't it obvious? Presumably if you cared enough to apply, you care enough to hear why you didn't get in.
- TeHCrAzY 17y ago
  So you applied for the validation?
  - _pius 17y ago
    Your non sequitur aside, I didn't apply this round.
  - nlabs 17y ago
    I applied soley for the validation. I really dont want to work in Mountain View
    - araneae 17y ago
      You're going to have to get a new account and a fake name if you want to apply again.
      - nlabs 17y ago
        Funny. Not going to apply again.
- kareemm 17y ago
  > Isn't it obvious? Presumably if you cared enough to apply, you care enough to hear why you didn't get in. It's the opinion of one (smart) group of people who are judging your idea against everybody else that applied. It's worth something, but your customers' opinions are worth more. Go get those!
abossy 17y ago
If you're applying to YC, chances are you are a first-time entrepreneur or a "little guy." It's simply hard to get the attention of experienced folks like those that run YC. Every bit of feedback counts, so it's definitely valuable to get feedback, especially considering the time put into one's app.
xenoterracide 17y ago
(I didn't apply this round) but things like that might give you some insight. Mostly on whether it's worth applying again. If they say there #1 reason is 'no cofounder' you'll get one and apply again later. if there #1 reason is 'not our kinda product' then you won't apply again. There reason could even be "I don't get it" and you realize your pitch may be the reason to blame. No feedback is not really helpful to anyone. All anyone knows is they were rejected for potentially arbitrary reasons.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

tomhoward 17y ago

It will be a combination of these and other points. As someone who got into YC, I think the things we had in our favour were: - Strong team (10 years friendship, history of working on interesting projects together) - Proven determination (6+ tough years working on startups, willingness to travel from Australia just for the interview) - Good primary idea + several other solid ideas (our primary idea wasn't a new concept at all, but a new, niche angle on a very established concept) If you didn't get picked, it's because you didn't convey these qualities well enough. All you can do to get yourself there eventually (either into YC or to startup success some other way) is to keep persisting. The key attributes YC looks for are smart & determined. You need to prove that you have these qualities, or if you don't, you need to develop them.

coryl 17y ago
Tom, whats frustrating for me is I feel like my partner and I exhibited all those attributes. We don't think its the team, we know our team is strong. So it must be the idea: they aren't getting it. We emailed a few YC alum to review our application last month, and they all said we were a great team. One loved the idea, one liked it, and one had no clue about the market (wasn't familiar with Facebook and quizzes). Our idea targets young people (12-25 yrs). Which leads to my thinking, that because they're unfamiliar with it (YC partners too old, would never do facebook quizzes), they brushed it off? One other issue is that they prefer built out products with users. We only had a working demo and proof of concept samples. Either that or all the other teams were more spectacular. Which bothers me, cause I've been looking people up on twitter who say they got interviews, and their products seem mediocre.
- speby 17y ago
  Sounds like you forgot about it, looked the other way, and moved on, right? Did you build out your idea regardless? What happened afterwards?
  - coryl 17y ago
    This just happened, we applied to this session (S10). We will be building the idea out regardless, maybe even applying to YC again in the winter. But I'm still frustrated, its just not making sense in my brain and I'm trying to figure out where I went wrong. YC does make mistakes, maybe my rejection is simply one of those mistakes. Or maybe the idea does suck. I'd love to know which, lol.

follower 17y ago

I think this kinda explains why they don't: http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html "It's not you, it's someone else." :) I found my "no interview for you" email in my G-Mail spam folder a few minutes ago (try a search for "in:spam ycombinator.com"). While I'm a little bit disappointed not to get an interview logistically this wouldn't have been the best time in my life so I'm not too down about it. (I think that's realism rather than justificiation. :) ) All the best to everyone whether you got an interview or not. And, like everyone else says keep going. My plans for world domination will continue just at a slower pace. :) Oh, BTW, I'm possibly going to be in the Bay Area sometime in July/August anyway and would be keen to meet up with YC/HN people then (I'm in New Zealand currently). P.S. In case you're wondering, I haven't heard if the team of Bright Bunnies got an interview independent of me. :D Don't forget to check out the blooper reel if you missed it and need a laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ouOkNeBS4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ouOkNeBS4

phlee 17y ago

Since YC is not giving feedback for our proposals, does anyone here know a reliable place to get advice from somebody like YC?