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We applied to YC once and were rejected. Didn't take it personally but since we were in a very early stage, we dropped the idea. I've personally found the YC a
by deepGem 9y ago
We applied to YC once and were rejected. Didn't take it personally but since we were in a very early stage, we dropped the idea.
I've personally found the YC application extremely gratifying to write. It does help you answer those key difficult questions that you'd have otherwise glossed over because of complacency or over confidence.
What I've thought of doing is to fill the YC application for the next idea that I get and keep refining it as I build upon the idea. Kinda use the application as a good idea refining template. If at any stage you feel that you are confident in all the questions, you can either apply - literally no cost or just keep building. Having solid answers to all the questions - means that your idea has some potential of turning into something big. Of course, your idea could turn out to be a better business even without having all the answers. What I've experienced is that as you write the answers, you'll feel really confident if you are doing the right thing.
Another aspect in the application that I had a conflict with my co-founder at the time was the amount of time to spend on the application. He was anal about getting every aspect of the application right. We shot the video like a 100 times. I contented that was unnecessary but eventually agreed to disagree.
I feel that if you are on the right track, you shouldn't spend more than a couple of hours on the final application, regardless of the stage you are applying at.
It takes some practice to get the video right. This again depends on the co-founder dynamics. I would use the video prep as a proxy to estimate the efficacy of the co-founder dynamics. If you took really long to nail the video - I'd spend some time introspecting. All said and done, if you take a really long time just to nail a video, how would you fare in dealing with more complicated company decisions.
So IMHO there is a lot of value in writing the YC app, regardless of whether you make it or not.
- estsauver 9y agoI was initially quite frustrated with the amount of time that my cofounder spent on honing pitches. I came to really appreciate it, having someone who can maintain that obsessive focus on pitch decks usually translates quite well into an obsessive focus on product. If a person is obsessive and has had a lot of past success, they're probably obsessive about the right things.
- deepGem 9y agoYep, I agree but such an obsessive focus comes at a cost of execution speed. In the early stages I'd rather be fast and a bit sloppy than be slow and perfect.
- Clubber 9y agoIs there a link to the application?
- deepGem 9y agoSadly no, I tried finding it everywhere but no luck, should have taken a backup of our emails before deleting our domain mail boxes.
- dustingetz 9y agoThis cycle's app I did in 3 hours. I opened the apply site at 8am, filled it out in order, did not go back and revise, turned on my iphone and talked for 60 seconds, and then submitted. It was the best app I've ever done. (Rejected) The lesson is that if it takes a month to write a pitch, that means I don't understand my business at all and have a long way to go.