3 ms·

If there's a competing startup funded already by YC, will you make sure that they won't get details of the application?

• ardit33 10y ago
  Similar to talking VC, there is no guarantee. But unless you have a truley secret sauce going on, ideas by themselves rarely matter. People have a tendency to overestimate ideas. They are remarkable easy to come up with. I have been in brainstorming session, where we would come up with at least 10-12 really good ideas within an hour. Usually it is execution that matters at the end, as you don't know what it works or what it doesn't. Tested ideas that move the needle a lot on the other hand are valuable: Eg. We tried to get sign ups doing X, but we failed, but then when we did Y and Z and added these two features we saw a huge increase in signups and retention. -- That's direct learnings from the field, and it is both expensive and somewhat valuable.
  • dankai 10y ago
    I agree with the premise that ideas themselves are worthless. But what's questionable is whether YC acts in favour of the new applicants that share their insights honestly, or whether they are more prone to protect their investment in the already funded startup (by providing them with details/intel).
    • deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    • lowglow 10y ago
      I agree that execution is everything, but when people say "ideas are worthless" -- I just have to assume they've never had a good idea.
• akharris 10y ago
  We do our best to prevent information sharing to competing companies. Partners who see applications don't disclose the details of those applications to companies that might be competitive. There is always a chance, though, that an alum who is reviewing applications might see a competing company. While we try to prevent this from happening, we can't be 100% sure. We're pretty careful with which alums are included in the review process, though, and we trust those alums to skip applications that might be competitive rather than trying to gain from reading it.