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This was an attempt to describe everything we do, so if there's anything I didn't cover, please let me know. (Sorry it's so long. I was surprised myself how l

• Scott_MacGregor 16y ago
  It was long, but not too long, because it was thorough. I didn't realize you were doing so much. In a way the article is kind of like a long sales pitch for YC without all of the typical sales language hype. Which is nice.
• robg 16y ago
  Besides music labels, are there other industries you try to steer startups away from, either through not accepting them or through nudging them in other directions? I'm looking specifically at medical applications, but I imagine there are others too.
  • pg 16y ago
    No others are quite as bad. We'd be dubious about startups building stuff for the government, for example, because there is such a horrible mismatch between startup culture and government culture. But we'd still fund a startup building stuff for the government if they weren't naive about what selling to the government would entail.
    • robg 16y ago
      Thanks and agreed. I'm surprised I haven't seen many (any?) medical applications from YC companies given the margins available over consumer applications. Do you think it is the uncertainty of the FDA regulations or just a space that Silicon Valley doesn't tend to mine as frequently? Make something patients want is particularly alluring to me.
      • pg 16y ago
        I would guess the reason is that such applications are foreign to most potential applicants.
      • Mz 16y ago
        Make something patients want is particularly alluring to me. I am curious as to what you have in mind. (I tried to find an email address for you and couldn't. Sorry to junk up this thread. You can email me -- from one of the websites in my profile -- if you don't want to post it here.)
        • robg 16y ago
          I added the email to my profile. Specifically I'm interested in analytics platforms to help patients manage their health stats. I'm working on something specific with a great team, but I think there are a lot of opportunities in this space. Let data determine health status, where possible.
      • yoden 16y ago
        I think it's mostly just not something typical YC applicants are interested... which is really weird, because health issues are going to be a huge concern in the western world for the next 50 years at least. Part of it may be that you need medical connections to do the much of the work. We work directly with a ton of different doctors/hospitals (for a team of only ~15 devs), and still have issues with building the right things, 510k submissions, etc... But yeah, medical applications are getting neglected by the startup community at the moment.
        • skowmunk 16y ago
          That's true, the health care industry is a massive opportunity waiting to be tapped. Not just in the western world, even in the developing world, where the incidence of insurance is increasing. Many developing countries have had none or next to nothing health insurance till recently. But the market penetration of the healthy insurance is increasing (but still very low now). Because of that more people who could not afford advanced diagnosis or treatments earlier are able to afford them now. Imagine the potential size of the industry when 1 billion people in India and 1.4 people in China (not to mention a billion or more in other developing countries) can afford as good health care as the 300 million in US, the 450 million in Europe, etc
    • sbowles 16y ago
      I get the concern about inciting the wrath of music labels. However, can you elaborate on your comment in footnote 5? Is there an unofficial policy of avoiding music startups, or just an extra special sanity check? What if the startup pre-clears (or is in the process of clearing) licensed use of label catalogs before the program?
      • InclinedPlane 16y ago
        The copyright problems related to music labels are nothing compared to the legal shenanigans of the contracts between labels and groups. They are horrific. The closest analogies would be share cropping or indentured servitude, though at least there is an out if the band fails. The way a lot of record labels work is that they will give a band a cash advance. The band uses that advance to pay for living expenses. They are also forced to use it for various costs such as studio time, recording, producing a music video, etc. The band earns a percentage of the gross revenue for album sales (say 7%), the label earns a larger percentage. The band pays back their advance using their share of the earnings. Stop me if it seems like there's something a bit off about this arrangement. Sending a fledgling startup company to work amidst that hell is not a smart move. Even billionaire multi-platinum bands have trouble.
        • sbowles 16y ago
          I agree it is tough to be a band in the era of digital music. I’ll have to respectfully disagree about whether or not our venture is foolhardy. We are early days, but the multiple discussions we’ve had with one major label have been respectful and encouraging.
• varaon 16y ago
  >8000 words, but very much worth the read. Thanks for putting in the effort!
• Swizec 16y ago
  Wow, this list really made me glad we applied for the next cycle. One question though, what about startups from outside the US? Can you offer advice there visa-wise and such? I know it doesn't really matter for the three month period, but what about after that. It would really suck for a startup to do well on Demo Day, only to be unable to go to any meetings because they can't get back to the US for a few months (I think the wait period is another three months)
  • pg 16y ago
    Visas are something I don't know much about. The rules seem to vary a lot from country to country. There is a mailing list of YC founders from other countries who exchange advice about the topic. And we've certainly funded startups from a lot of different countries. So if I were you I'd just apply, and if we fund you, you can ask the alumni for advice about immigration stuff.
    • Swizec 16y ago
      Thanks, that doesn't sound too bad then.
    • shykes 16y ago
      We're a YC startup going through the visa process right now. Once you raise enough to pay yourself market salary, the situation transitions from "impossible" to "annoying and long". So focus on the product, then on funding and/or revenue: the rest will follow.
      • cperciva 16y ago
        Doesn't it defeat the purpose of YC if you have to raise enough money to pay yourself market salary before you can enter the US to participate in YC?
        • abalashov 16y ago
          Perhaps, but not necessarily; the YC project is about going big, ultimately -- after all, that's the only way YC is going to make some money. It is possible to bootstrap a company in such a way as to plateau out at, say, 3 people, each of whom gets a decent market salary. However, that company may not have further room to climb for various structural and/or marketing reasons, lack of appropriate connections, funding opportunities, etc. In principle, the purpose of YC is to address that specific gap irrespectively of how much short-term revenue the startup may be generating. On the other hand, I agree that the amount of funding they provide per se is not particularly useful if you are already generating enough revenue to pay yourself(ves) a market salary.