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I was turned down after an interview last batch. I think I probably won't apply again. YC's standards now seem so high that, by the time I expect to meet them,

I was turned down after an interview last batch. I think I probably won't apply again. YC's standards now seem so high that, by the time I expect to meet them, there won't be much point in YC anymore. If I have 2,000 users, which is pretty tiny, that's $40K a month at $20 per person. If I get 50 signups a week, that's a 10% per month growth rate. If I have $40K in high-margin monthly revenue with a 10% per month growth rate, why sell stock at a $1.7M valuation, in the hope of getting some connections to sell more stock at a $5M valuation? It just doesn't make business sense. All you'd have to do is wait a few years, and you'd have more profits in the bank, in cash, than the "valuation" you'd get from California VCs.

shatez 10y ago
I agree with this....and I think it is a reflection of the diminishing value that accelerators bring to the table for software startups. Teams great enough to get into YC are great enough to build a product, take it to market, generate revenue and grow just fine without an accelerator.
- shatez 10y ago
  There's a good article on SaaStr...that the only value fundraising and accelerators bring is to speed up the growth a bit, but good SaaS co's are good without outside help. Accelerators and outside capital are neither sufficient nor necessary. The YC model has been in place for awhile, eventually even it will be disrupted...
xyzqwerty 10y ago
Are those your actual numbers?
- apsec112 10y ago
  No, that's based off https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCfpzLhSSxM/V0tbZAPvRTI/AAAAAAAAAeM/Y8RcMQS2H9cCSZLzNcU0gn9g5Aekn1pwACLcB/s1600/SaaSFunding2016On_a_napkin.png https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCfpzLhSSxM/V0tbZAPvRTI/AAAAAAAAA... by venture capitalist Christoph Janz, plus a guesstimate (based on conversations with many YC applicants, both successful and not, and on the fundraising track records of YC cos) that the YC admission bar is about equal to the bar for a large seed round.
19eightyfour 10y ago
I had a similar make-myself-feel-better-reaction the first time I was rejected. Like justifying why actually it wasn't what I wanted and not what I should be aiming for and it actually brings little value. But I think now that was more about making myself feel better than reflecting some kind of Truth. But even if it is true it is probably also a way to cope with getting the rejection. After that first rejection I ended up applying again and again. Because I think it would be useful to get in and I would get something out of it. Particular the connection with other Founders part of the same batch and the alum. I've been rejected 5 times now, including this time and I expected to do a lot better this time. After so many rejections it really gets a lot easier.
bsvalley 10y ago
Yep. The thing though is that they can leverage their network to get the ball rolling for any companies they sign. That means it doesn't really matter if it's awesome or bad, as long as they decide to promote a company, people will buy it. Pretty much like apple products... so it's not rational anymore to go through YC. Do you think airbnb would have worked without YC? No. Would dropbox be dropbox today without YC? No. They are cool ideas because a large amount of people are using these products. And there were other alternatives prior to these companies. It's just that no one ever promoted them like yc did with their own companies. Otherwise they would be like any other products out there. There was an airbnb before airbnb I think it was an australian company. I came accross their website one day (pre-airbnb era) and was like WTF is that. So again, if a large amount of people buy, you'd most likely buy. YC has that marketing power. I think if you become a billion dollar company without going through YC, you'll become the next google or apple.
- apsec112 10y ago
  I've never heard that YC helped companies market their products, beyond providing a little advice. How would they? It's not like they have a huge advertising budget or a TV studio. They can help advertise it to other YC founders, but that market is tiny.
  - bsvalley 10y ago
    Marketing is expensive, a company needs money to promote a product. To get money a company needs investors. To get investors (in silicon valley) a company needs a warm introduction. The warm introduction is the marketing I'm talking about, not the first one. YC will lineup 100 investors in front of you looking to spend their money. When YC says it's worth it (they sign you up), VC's act like Apple customers.
timvp 10y ago
YC is not about selling stock for 1.7MM valuation but about moving quicker than you are already doing now. They help iterate, connect and grow. The 40K MRR is nice but you're still far from 10M MRR.
Jack000 10y ago
I wonder what the closest to "YC classic" is in 2017. I was going to apply to YC fellowship but disappointed to see it's cancelled.

shatez 10y ago

I agree with this....and I think it is a reflection of the diminishing value that accelerators bring to the table for software startups. Teams great enough to get into YC are great enough to build a product, take it to market, generate revenue and grow just fine without an accelerator.

shatez 10y ago
There's a good article on SaaStr...that the only value fundraising and accelerators bring is to speed up the growth a bit, but good SaaS co's are good without outside help. Accelerators and outside capital are neither sufficient nor necessary. The YC model has been in place for awhile, eventually even it will be disrupted...

xyzqwerty 10y ago

Are those your actual numbers?

apsec112 10y ago
No, that's based off https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCfpzLhSSxM/V0tbZAPvRTI/AAAAAAAAAeM/Y8RcMQS2H9cCSZLzNcU0gn9g5Aekn1pwACLcB/s1600/SaaSFunding2016On_a_napkin.png https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCfpzLhSSxM/V0tbZAPvRTI/AAAAAAAAA... by venture capitalist Christoph Janz, plus a guesstimate (based on conversations with many YC applicants, both successful and not, and on the fundraising track records of YC cos) that the YC admission bar is about equal to the bar for a large seed round.

19eightyfour 10y ago

I had a similar make-myself-feel-better-reaction the first time I was rejected. Like justifying why actually it wasn't what I wanted and not what I should be aiming for and it actually brings little value. But I think now that was more about making myself feel better than reflecting some kind of Truth. But even if it is true it is probably also a way to cope with getting the rejection. After that first rejection I ended up applying again and again. Because I think it would be useful to get in and I would get something out of it. Particular the connection with other Founders part of the same batch and the alum. I've been rejected 5 times now, including this time and I expected to do a lot better this time. After so many rejections it really gets a lot easier.

bsvalley 10y ago

Yep. The thing though is that they can leverage their network to get the ball rolling for any companies they sign. That means it doesn't really matter if it's awesome or bad, as long as they decide to promote a company, people will buy it. Pretty much like apple products... so it's not rational anymore to go through YC. Do you think airbnb would have worked without YC? No. Would dropbox be dropbox today without YC? No. They are cool ideas because a large amount of people are using these products. And there were other alternatives prior to these companies. It's just that no one ever promoted them like yc did with their own companies. Otherwise they would be like any other products out there. There was an airbnb before airbnb I think it was an australian company. I came accross their website one day (pre-airbnb era) and was like WTF is that. So again, if a large amount of people buy, you'd most likely buy. YC has that marketing power. I think if you become a billion dollar company without going through YC, you'll become the next google or apple.

apsec112 10y ago
I've never heard that YC helped companies market their products, beyond providing a little advice. How would they? It's not like they have a huge advertising budget or a TV studio. They can help advertise it to other YC founders, but that market is tiny.
- bsvalley 10y ago
  Marketing is expensive, a company needs money to promote a product. To get money a company needs investors. To get investors (in silicon valley) a company needs a warm introduction. The warm introduction is the marketing I'm talking about, not the first one. YC will lineup 100 investors in front of you looking to spend their money. When YC says it's worth it (they sign you up), VC's act like Apple customers.

timvp 10y ago

YC is not about selling stock for 1.7MM valuation but about moving quicker than you are already doing now. They help iterate, connect and grow. The 40K MRR is nice but you're still far from 10M MRR.

Jack000 10y ago

I wonder what the closest to "YC classic" is in 2017. I was going to apply to YC fellowship but disappointed to see it's cancelled.