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Makes me wonder about how selection criteria shifts based on maturity of the company. What signaling does YC look for in a company whose idea was birthed a wee
by danilocampos 16y ago
Makes me wonder about how selection criteria shifts based on maturity of the company.
What signaling does YC look for in a company whose idea was birthed a week before applying, versus one who applies while their beta is in progress? Is it as simple as "these guys are smart" in both cases?
I've met lots of guys way smarter than me with less motivation, so there's got to be more to it.
- pg 16y agoMostly we care about the people, regardless of how far along the company is. Which can be a problem, actually, because startups that have been running for a while generally overestimate the percentage of the work that's behind them. For us the most important thing about the company having been running for a while is that it gives us more information about the founders. E.g. we can ask them "what have you learned from your users?"
- danilocampos 16y agoThough it occurs to me now this may be just the thing PG and friends can't share with us. It's to their benefit to make expectations for a great application very clear. On the other hand, I'm sure there are a handful of red flags and heuristics that they emphatically won't share, simply because they're effective filters. Their disclosure could let people better obscure true problems or falsely inflate perceived value. Reviewing applications after that would be a lot less fun.