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Startup School Advisor Track: You Are In
Can anyone add any information on what the "Advisor Track" is for Startup School? I was just accepted, but I only see Founder Track in past applications, so not sure what Advisor Track means or the differenct if any.
Thanks!
- torartc 8y agoI was also accepted and rejected. Very upset and frustrated.
- snowmaker 8y agoThat's completely fair - and we're so sorry that our mistake left you feeling that way.
- Tunecrew 8y agoin and then out just like the other posters in this thread - very NOT HAPPY w/ YC today.
- mwelwa 8y agoI got the same email. Accepted then apologies. I’m not sure what the audit school is? I’m so confused
- soneca 8y ago"Audit school" is just watching the lectures online.
- w_allDueRespect 8y agoDoesn't everyone who applied get to audit the course .... ?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- soneca 8y agoThat's my understanding too
- w_allDueRespect 8y agoSo basically we've just been told that we got accepted into Community College.
- iceboss 8y agoWorse! Community college has acceptance criteria, auditing has none.
- torartc 8y agoAccepted to audit === "you signed up, congrats"
- mwelwa 8y agoI have so many GIFs for this moment :)
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- hellojebus 8y agoWas also accepted into the same Track. 25 companies per track it seems, there are probably many cohorts.
- alkhatib 8y agoSee: https://www.startupschool.org/about https://www.startupschool.org/about In addition to having full access to all the lectures and class office hours, you will also: - Be assigned an advisor and join their group of companies. Advisors are members of the YC alumni network. - Have virtual advisory sessions, in the form of Group Office Hours, every week via online video. - Have access to a community of international founders through the Startup School forum. - Be responsible for updating your Advisor on your progress once a week. - You must submit at least 9 out of your 10 weekly updates and attend 9 out of 10 group office hour sessions. - Upon successful completion, you will receive a certificate of completion and the opportunity to share what you're working on with the public. - 100 startups that complete the course will be chosen to receive $10K in equity-free funding.
- elvirs 8y agoso how many companies are actually accepted into the course?
- alkhatib 8y agoNot sure the number was specified, but seems like >100 Since 100 will be chosen to receive the 10,000$
- ModernMech 8y agoBut only 25 were accepted to the "Advisor" track, and there seems to be only one set of reject/accept emails being sent out. It seems to me there are only 25 accepted for advising, but maybe even auditing companies are eligible for the $10k?
- curun1r 8y agoMy reading of the acceptance email is that it's 25 companies per advisor and that there's probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 advisors, if last year's numbers are any indication. So anyone accepted at this point still only has around 4% chance of getting the $10k. But the advice and lectures should still be valuable for everyone who doesn't get the money.
- eip 8y ago"We are deeply sorry to have to send this email, but unfortunately an error occurred in the software that triggers acceptance emails. The acceptance email was sent to you even though we are unfortunately not able to include you in the Startup School Advisor Track. Although you are not in the Advisor Track, you have, in fact, been accepted to audit Startup School and will have access to all of the content just as soon as it is made available. Again, we regret having made this error and raised your expectations unnecessarily. We hope you continue working on your startup and that Startup School is a huge help."
- rboyd 8y agowow same. ours was kind of a last minute effort so I was shocked and had pretty grounded expectations, but man my heart goes out to anyone that was already celebrating (quite a few on Twitter).
- sodafountan 8y agoOuch
- kilroy123 8y agoGot the same. Not cool.
- tolth 8y agoGot the same. Wow.
- mwseibel 8y agoOnce again I just wanted to say we are really sorry for this error. This is not the standard we hold ourselves to at YC. I personally apologize to the companies that were both rejected and accepted. Trust that this provides us with even more motivation to make sure that Startup School is great for all participants.
- torartc 8y agoVery upsetting. :(
- 8y ago
- elvirs 8y agoI hope yours was not sent by mistake because I just got another email saying my application wasnt actually accepted. Which I understand because I was surprised to be accepted since our demo is passport protected and they could not have seen what is it that we have built so far.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- seanbuff 8y agoWe were also accepted and then rejected. Doesn't exactly instill confidence.
- snowmaker 8y agoYou're right. We're going to have to work extremely hard to regain people's confidence.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- greysteil 8y agoSo much love for everyone who received an "accepted" email in error. Don't let it get you down. I just got rejected with https://dependabot.com https://dependabot.com despite $6k MRR and 2,000 active users. I'm sure there are lots of other great companies in the same situation - let's keep building great things.
- torartc 8y agoThank you.
- w_allDueRespect 8y agoThank you for that. The worst part though is the part where they say "You got accepted to audit the course" .... doesn't everyone get accepted to audit it?
- sodafountan 8y agoI appreciate that. Startup School Lesson One: How not to treat your users.
- chrisherd 8y agoThis. We’re building a massively ambitious banking alternative. Principal engineer ex JP Morgan Chase Senior Dev. Angel investment from the founder of a hugely disruptive British Unicorn. Support from a number of other important sources. Not to criticize the decision making process, historical precedent speaks for itself. We thought we fit the mould but apparently not. Back to implementing.
- craze3 8y agoI guess this is more motivation to work on my actual YC application :)
- mindcrime 8y agoI look at it as motivation to succeed with or without them, so I can give them all the finger and big hearty (but good-natured) "Fuck You" in a couple of years. shrug
- w_allDueRespect 8y agoYeah, this was totally not cool. I much like most of you was not expecting to get accepted, I basically applied for the hell of it. None the less, it was quite a let down to receive that second email. Especially after telling a few family and friends. Kind of sucks, but hey it was an accident all we can do is move past it.
- m00dy 8y agoI got the same and this is not cool
- dang 8y agoYou're right. It was very far from cool.
- RedneckBob 8y agoWTF? A rollercoaster for sure. You're in! You're out! Boooo!
- roynal 8y agoStartup school's valuable first lesson in customer communication and PR is right here. Well, software screwed up the experience and crushed the expectations of so many, including me. Moving on :)...
- chrisherd 8y agoYou’d expect this from other accelerators, everyone holds YC to higher standards. I don’t think it’s wrong to expect better in this instance. In the age of social media news travels fast. I’d received congratulatory messages from several YC alum within 10 minutes of the first email. That’s life.
- nautical 8y agoNot cool at all ...
- itsevrgrn 8y agoAm I the only one who finds this ironic coming from the top tech incubator in the world?
- jackconnor 8y agoNo
- dang 8y agoOh you guys, what a painful fuckup. I'm so sorry. More apologies coming. (Edit: and hopefully a fix, as well.)
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Mapsmithy 8y agoI knew it was a little premature to spend the $10k
- mic500 8y ago$10K? There'll be no much money left after you live in the bay area for 10 weeks
- snowmaker 8y agoGuys - we are deeply sorry for this screw-up. I know we got people's hopes up only to let you down, and I feel terrible about it. While it doesn't excuse our mistake, for what it's worth, Startup School makes the classes and all the materials available online to everyone. So even if you didn't get accepted to the advisor track, we hope you will follow along, watch the videos, and find the material useful. My apologies on behalf of everyone at YC for letting you down. We're still trying to figure out exactly what happened, and make sure nothing like it happens again.
- jaysonelliot 8y agoMistakes happen. Waiting two hours to tell people, then doing so from a do-not-reply address, however, is a poor way to handle them. If we make a mistake like this as a company, we at least try to make up for it in some way, and make our users feel valued.
- zilongli 8y agoThe 'apologies' email was another bulk no-reply message. Maybe they misapologised, too.
- samstave 8y ago/r/oopsdidntmeantodidntmeantooops
- kcorbitt 8y agoIt took us a little while to realize what we had done. Once we did, we sent out the correction email as soon as we could. That's not an excuse, but I don't want it to feel like we were intentionally leaving people in the dark. Sending the follow-up from a do-not-reply was also our mistake. Our default outbound address is do-not-reply, and we forgot to change it as we were drafting the correction. Please follow up to startupschool@ycombinator.com. :(
- tolth 8y agoHow about making this up to those of us who got false-acceptance emails by providing some feedback on our applications?
- mwseibel 8y agoI just want to say we are really sorry for this error. This is not the standard we hold ourselves to at YC. I personally apologize to the companies that were both rejected and accepted. Trust that this provides us with even more motivation to make sure that Startup School is great for all participants.
- yesimeanno 8y agoIt's ok, we forgive you. Oh wait, due to an error we meant to say actually we don't forgive you.
- adw 8y ago"Trust that this provides us with even more motivation to make sure that Startup School is great for all participants." This is a little tone-deaf when replying to people who thought they were participants, I'm afraid.
- rboyd 8y agoif getting funded on demo day is like getting drafted to the NBA, applying to startup school was like trying out for JV team. is being told we got accepted to audit something like being invited to watch the game from outside the stadium using binoculars as long as we promise to keep the cheering to a quiet roar?
- jaysonelliot 8y agoMistakes happen, but it should not have taken them over two hours to contact people who'd been celebrating their acceptance. We got the "you're in!" email, and the whole team was pumped. Having to go back to them hours later to let them down was really hard to do. The fact that Ycombinator sent the "oops, sorry!" email from a do-not-reply address and basically did nothing to make up for it showed a real lack of respect for the companies that were affected. Will it make a difference in the long run? Probably not, no one wants to shoot themselves in the foot over what is basically just a disappointment. But it really does lower Ycombinator's brand for a lot of people. Not a great example to set.
- itsthisjustin 8y agoHa such a roller coaster of emotions for us over at https://vrooms.tv https://vrooms.tv Excited, confused, super let down, then came here to see we weren't alone.
- PieShell 8y agoAnd we are like everyone else, not really accepted. Bummer.
- plumeria 8y agoDisappointed... Are all the emails signed by the same people (Geoff and Adora) or does it depend on the cohort you were (incorrectly) assigned to?
- wkoszek 8y agoIt doesn't help it came from "noreply" email, so it's hard to clarify anything.
- skanga 8y agoI got it too. Went for a nice long walk and made great plans about taking over the world! Came back and saw the "sorry" email. Crushing! But what to do. That's life! We all can use this as motivation! And let's stop with the blame/reputation stuff - it was a mistake and they apologized. Not like YOU never made any mistakes!
- handymarks 8y agoGrrr.. rejection email after 2 hrs! Wish I got the email before I let my husband know.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- wkoszek 8y agoI'm here because of the same reason -- looks like I'm not alone. I've had a YC advisor for about 1.5 hours, shared good news with people around, and now I'm going to tell everyone it was a fake news. How many people received this email? IMO all the people who got the 1st acceptance e-mail should get in. If not now, then in the next cohort.
- snowmaker 8y agoI wish we could do that but we simply don't have the advisor capacity. If it has been a smaller number, we would certainly have done that.
- fabiandesimone 8y agoI'm willing to bet everyone that applied got the email.
- wkoszek 8y agoIt's like two visa lotteries I applied two: I wasn't selected in either of them, but I knew people who were, and then this happened: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-visa-mistake-idUSTRE74C44C20110513 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-visa-mistake-idUSTRE7...
- depressedfounda 8y agoFrom believing we got the first break we’ve had in years of struggle to being crushed. Will it stop us from keeping going? It shouldn’t but it might be enough of a blow to slow us down and depress our chances. I already told people. I scheduled PTO at work to focus. I was on cloud nine and now in the deep dumps.
- snowmaker 8y agoI'm so sorry for the completely unnecessary emotional rollercoaster we sent you on. There's really no excuse. Having said that, there's no reason why this should keep you from working on your company. I hope you'll decide to give it a shot anyway.
- depressedfounda 8y agoWe’re not even considering giving up but I worry it will damage our morale which just went from high, to sky high, to the dark pits. Thanks.
- ModernMech 8y ago> I worry it will damage our morale which just went from high, to sky high, to the dark pits. That's just daily life at a startup. You're getting the full authentic experience. This ain't no Disney World ride. It's going to suck and it's going to suck most of the time. Okay actually maybe this is like a Disney World ride.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- samknight 8y agoJarred, perhaps this can be a small help. I organised a group of startup school 2017 alumni in London to do the course together, so we have a large number of ‘advisor track’ graduates from last year in our community. Been in contact to explain the problems you guys are having, a number of them have said they can do weekly office hours style sessions. For us, the structure of checking in and having a group that you’re accountable to is a huge part of the value in having an advisor. Perhaps this ‘advisor lite’ option can help and offer these founders support at a time when they need it?
- major 8y agoWould anyone be interested in starting a group for rejected apps? I think we could all use this mishap as a motivational boost.
- jeanlucas 8y agoI got a Discord server for us, let's get over there, share some jokes: https://discord.gg/36jp8H https://discord.gg/36jp8H
- jaredsk 8y agocan we start a slack channel and Audit as a group? co-advise each other. we can call it "the Slacker Start Up school for Start Ups that Can't Read Good and Want to Do Other Stuff Good Too"
- aliakhtar 8y agoCreated a slack group: https://join.slack.com/t/startupschool-rejects/shared_invite/enQtNDE5NTM5ODUxNjY1LTIxOGNhMDA3NGI0NjdlNjU5MWU1MWYxYjc5OTNmN2RjMDRmNmIwM2EyYmU3NjllZGZhOWE0ZWEyZDA1Y2Q3MDg https://join.slack.com/t/startupschool-rejects/shared_invite...
- jfornear 8y agoCreated https://chat.dog/startup-school https://chat.dog/startup-school to follow Startup School over the next few weeks!
- iceboss 8y agoAccepted, then rejected but “accepted into Audit course”, is this a joke?!
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- buttminer 8y agoI got an email 2 hours ago saying that I didn't get in, then just one one a few minutes ago saying that I was in the advisor track? Sounds great... but is the system sending correct emails for round 2? Don't want to get my hopes up.
- snowmaker 8y agoThe second email is the correct one - if you're unsure, email startupschool@ycombinator.com
- iceboss 8y agoThe emotional roller coaster ended at confusion & frustration at reading “accepted to audit”, is this a joke?! What’s there to be accepted to audit?!
- snowmaker 8y agoI'm very sorry to say it is not a joke - it was a very serious mistake.
- beautybasics 8y agoAre we(in audit) eligible for 10k grant?
- yesimeanno 8y agoWhelp, what a mess. Every time I tell my self not to apply to these things but then it's like Godfather 3. But wait, this time it was different!! Oh, wait. Nope. Same result. Only this time it feels much much worse. FUBAR.
- snowmaker 8y agoYes, FUBAR is an apt description....
- DoreenMichele 8y agoAs long as it isn't SNAFU (situation normal -- all fouled up), you should be okay. Eventually.
- chriselles 8y agoAccepted. Told my team. We celebrated. Then received apology/rejection. Honestly, while it would be a low probability of us getting into the YC Batch, we thought we were high probability of getting into online startup school. We have an active MVP for 2 months, a Fortune 500 enterprise customer, and a solid market opportunity using previously validated use cases. We thought we were a really good fit for this program. I’m tempted to email to ask them to check again. One error could be two? Sigh.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- wasimu 8y ago#startupschool Let me guess. That would be a hack to engage a list of post-rejection uninterested users.
- jeanlucas 8y agoI really think it was an honest mistake, especially because it was an email asking to be an advisor.
- nickwalter 8y agoHey I was like really cool there for an hour or two :)
- segmondy 8y agoLol, likewise, I didn't share it fortunately. I was busy looking through the FAQ and what to expect and looking through my calendar to figure out scheduling. Oh well, ish happens, at least they will let us audit. As usually, those of us rejected can self organize in groups of 4-5 for a mastermind group as a substitute for the advisory track.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- envisionwithj 8y ago
- syedafzal 8y agoGot in shared the news with everyone, Got out waiting hoping the second email is an error, before letting the team know.
- chriselles 8y agoI’m not upset with YC. The program is free after all. So I’m not a paying customer. And I am incredibly grateful to YC for everything they do for the startup community. But it is absolutely gutting to get the thumbs up, tell the team, and then get the thumbs down. I can handle it, but my team is demoralised. Time to find something to boost them up.
- snowmaker 8y agoI appreciate your understanding, but just because it's a free program doesn't give us an excuse to hurt people's feelings. I hope you find something to boost your team soon.
- jaredsk 8y agoI just went through the exact same thing with my team...makes me look unreliable as well as them. of course we are all understanding in the long run. but at the time...kills morale
- joshmanders 8y agoI never even applied, but I urged a buddy to and he come to me basically jumping joy that he was accepted, and I've been frantically pinging him on Slack to make sure he didn't get the oopsie error email and that he was really accepted. I feel for you all. :/
- cetalingua 8y agoFirst email, "you are in! ",second email "ups, actually, you are not". Crushing...
- wasimu 8y agoI will never believe this. It is not by mistake.
- snowmaker 8y agoHard to imagine a reason we would screw something up so badly intentionally....
- 40acres 8y agoGetting "accepted" and then rejected made me finally realize how badly I want to try my hand at creating my product idea and starting a start up. So thanks YC for the bug, see you at YC W19 applications.
- snowmaker 8y agoI am very glad you want to apply for W19!
- meerab 8y agoStartup school emails are confusing. First I received a rejection email than acceptance email - I would have rejoiced - but the 'Get Started' Link goes to 'We will let you know by August 20th' page.
- foxfired 8y agoI received two emails. 1. Class Begins Next Week! > Thank you for applying to Startup School Online. We're sorry to say that your startup was not selected for the upcoming Advisor track.... What I understood is that I was not selected. But then 1:30 minutes later I got a second email. 2. Your Company was ACCEPTED: Startup School Advisor Track > Thank you for applying to Startup School Online. Your application looked promising and we would like to invite you to the Advisor track! So I am accepted? I see others have the opposite happen so I am confused. When I click on the link and log in, it shows: > Thank you for applying to Startup School! > We will let you know whether you’re accepted by August 20th, 2018. Update: The website has updated to show that I have been accepted. Good luck to those who haven't received an update yet.
- pedalpete 8y agoYeah, I got the same, I'm going to let things settle down over the next few hours and keep coding, I'm wondering if there is another rejection on its way. :)
- samstave 8y agoI see this in a monty python-esque tone: "we are happy to inform you that we are very sorry to inform you of our previous information that you were accepted to starupschool, when that was sadly, an error on the part of our rejection system falsely telling you that you were accepted, so I am here to tell you that sadly, you were not accepted by our rejection system and your rejection has summarily been rejected by our acceptance department of rejected rejections and sent to the appropriate signatories for sign-off on your sign-up down-below. See you next tuesday should this actually be a rejection of your rejection and an ackknowledgement of your acceptance, whichever may come first"
- Brandwagon 8y agoI just got Steve Harvey'd
- OminStyle 8y agoStartups in 13 Sentences 13. Deals fall through. http://www.paulgraham.com/13sentences.html http://www.paulgraham.com/13sentences.html
- hhw3h 8y agoI received an emailed that said I wasn’t in then one said sorry you did get in. Is this accurate? Sorry to everyone who received the opposite emails. If you believe in your vision, keep focused on serving your customers and growing your business.
- snowmaker 8y agoYes, the second email is accurate.
- jettinyeh 8y agoYC is certainly doing their best to provide resources to the overall entrepreneur community. While it can be emotionally upsetting to be dealt the hands presented - consider it as set-back that entrepreneur face on a daily basis - It is not uncommon to be dealt rejections and be disappointed by mistakes of others, the key is to adapt accordingly and move on. (Just ask any entrepreneurs who try to sell their projects, get a verbal confirmation, but in the end the "budget" fell through. In this case, what we asked for is free to begin with.) We are all talented. We do not need YC validation / school acceptance to prove that we are talented. Build your application and let the metrics speak for itself. Turn your frustration into energy and motivation. Learn from the experience and move on , good luck implementing everyone.
- panagioti 8y agohaving been in a startup for over a decade (i've since exited), i can tell you that this is something that any team should take on the nose and accept. highs are very high and lows are very low. mistakes happen, and you will make them too. big ones. live as a team, die as a team. stop bitching and get back to work. [EDIT] ...drink the celebration beers anyways.
- epl 8y agoSo same here. Its a bit of a disappointment but mistakes happen lets move on. As a solo founder who is not surrounded by a startup ecosystem, what I was most keen on was the group feedback, discussions and I guess some external accountability. Would any others here who have been put into the audit group, be keen to try this in another way? Facebook or hangouts groups? Open to ideas.
- martin-adams 8y agoWe just got the acceptance and apology email. I’m not going to get upset about it. But I’ll float this idea, for anyone who didn’t get accepted, would you be interested in a discord/Slack/whatever and share feedback of each other’s progress? The thing I will miss most is the weekly focus to deliver some progress. No reason that can’t happen in a non-official capacity. DM me on Twitter if you’re interested: https://twitter.com/Martin_Adams https://twitter.com/Martin_Adams
- samknight 8y agoCool idea Martin, thinking the same. I know some founders who may be interested in this. Feel free to email me at: AfterSchool.london@gmail.com
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- yuzhu01052010 8y agoCool idea, interested, please email me: linyang@tutamail.com OR linyang@tencent.com
- L_226 8y agoI just got the acceptance error email, I feel pretty let down. I even woke up early (AEST) to check emails and was wonderfully surprised when I got the first email at 6.30am. Not a great start to the day.
- nancyp 8y agoHow about we start our own accelerator by auditing their course? Nothing stops if we are motivated.
- jeanlucas 8y agoI'm not actually into building an accelerator, YC does a great job, but I sure think we could teach each other something and get to know our own projects. I put up a Discord Server, if anyone wants to talk and support each other: https://discord.gg/36jp8H https://discord.gg/36jp8H
- samstave 8y agoGot the same, was pretty upset after also sharing it with the team and with others... Lame. So what exactly is "audit track"?
- snowmaker 8y agoThe audit track has the course materials - all the lectures and other notes. If you follow along, you can keep on the same timeline and learn about startups.
- beautybasics 8y agoAre we(in audit) eligible for 10k grant?
- wkoszek 8y agoAlso trying to understand this, because it's unclear how "audit path" differs from: "not applied, will just watch stuff on YouTube"
- samknight 8y agoJarred, perhaps this can be a small help. I organised a group of startup school 2017 alumni in London to do the course together, so we have a large number of ‘advisor track’ graduates from last year in our community. Been in contact to explain the problems you guys are having, a number of them have said they can do weekly office hours style sessions. For us, the structure of checking in and having a group that you’re accountable to is a huge part of the value in having an advisor. Perhaps this ‘advisor lite’ option can help and offer these founders support at a time when they need it?
- justme24 8y agoWell, I got mine then requested to attend a lecture in person and after about 5 mins I get the email saying “nah nah” I was thinking I shouldn’t have asked to attend the lecture if they’d kick me out for that
- callen6 8y agoMy cofounder and I were cheers-ing about our acceptance an hour ago and now we're texting about this y-combinator screw-up--we're not accepted after all! For all the other founders and teams who had that momentary confidence of outside reenforcement -- remember how unstoppable and brave you felt in that moment! That glow doesn't have to go away with a retraction email. Hold onto the feeling. Go make great things, go make a difference. I became a developer after spending odd hours trolling Hnews and finding learn to code tutorials; I watched all of the previous Startup School videos on my own time; and despite the discord that can sometimes occur on this platform, I really looked up to Ycombinator. While this is a feelings setback, I'd like to just say -- I wouldn't be where I am in my career without the Hacker News community that got my started on my way. So I think what I'd like to focus on tonight (while I nurse my hurt pride) is thanking everyone here who comments and submits links and reaches out and spreads the openness and community that drew me to software in the first place. People who run things will make lots of mistakes; communities will make lots of mistakes, too; but if we just keep talking, we'll stay moving in the right direction. Thanks to all the Ycombinator commenters here responding to the very justified hurt and embarrassment being shared here. Cheers to a tomorrow full of possibilities.
- AniketP1 8y agoI felt really downbeat for a while after getting that redaction email. This comment picked me right back up. Thank you.
- callen6 8y agoMy cofounder just texted me: "Yeah, our first rejection, hopefully there’s way way more :)" I hope you have many more rejections in your future, too AniketP1! We'll be out there getting turned down for our wacky ideas too, right there with you! :)
- taytus 8y agoWe are entrepreneurs, we eat NOs for breakfasts.
- ewilliamsh 8y agoI received the following second email "We are deeply sorry, but an error occurred in the software that triggers acceptance emails and you were actually supposed to receive the email below accepting you into the Startup School Advisor Track." But now I want to be super sure ... ¿Are We In? If I login into the StartupSchool page , I don´t see anything yet.
- leokwanbt14 8y agoIikewise... reading this thread is keeping my excitement at bay. Hopefully we get a more concrete confirmation.
- Techasura 8y agoI'm still confused. I got rejected and then accepted. I'm sure it's a fuck up but I urge YC to send a mail again to shed some clarity to those are seriously affected by this.
- patwalls 8y agoI was just accepted, and then rejected. Felt like shit. You don't need a "startup school" or a YC acceptance to be successful. This application allowed me to type like 45 words about my company, and that was it. I imagine they had thousands of applicants. Once a week with an advisor that's working with 25 other companies? Startup School definitely won't be the thing that moves the needle for your project. Pessimistically, I see this more as a feeder for YC. This "software glitch" is somewhat telling of the care they are putting into this. In other words, "It's a numbers game". Keep putting in work. We don't need $120K for 7% in funding for "connections" to get our products off the ground anymore. We don't need this. We can bootstrap.
- andreygrehov 8y agoSorry about that. I had a different experience. First rejected and then accepted. Seems like one of the boolean flags was messed up.
- smartplaya87 8y agoSame here. I was rejected then accepted
- embalam 8y agoSame here. read the rejection letter and went straight to bed and woke up to the acceptance email. I'm sure the initial 4k accepted all had the "reject" email.
- aliakhtar 8y agoCan you share your idea / stage?
- andreygrehov 8y agoFintech industry, we're in the development stage.
- womezy5 8y agoThis is heart breaking!
- beautybasics 8y agoApplied for the program and got acceptance -> shared with team -> rejection -> shared with team. And it didn't really bother me much. Can understand that getting into the program can be a great thing. But these things are expected. With strong conviction on the idea small hickups doesn't seem to have any impact. BTW, for those applied to this program should consider applyin g for https://unusual.vc/academy/ https://unusual.vc/academy/. They invest 100k in convertible notes.
- mindcrime 8y agoFor everybody affected by this, now might be a good time to (re) read pg's famous "How to Not Die" essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html A great quote from the essay: Startups rarely die in mid keystroke. So keep typing!
- yoyo83 8y agoI was initially accepted and then not. I've started a couple of companies, exited 1 and my second is doing well (vc funded and growing) if there is one thing I know is that events "like" these happen all of the time to startups. 1 minute you're flying high and the next you're 6 feet under :) How you react to these moments define you and decrease or increase the chance of success for your startup. Go to work!
- ondiekijunior 8y agoRollercoaster of emotions. First email came in while I was at dinner with my super nosy girlfriend and I was dejected. Didn't even take my meal well. Then acceptance email. Good thing I had a long list of things to achieve before I went public with rwjwction/acceptance. I am happy to be accepted. For all those rejected, I have applied to YC 6 times since 2012 or 2013 I think. All rejects. One business was adapted by government (it wasn't going to be super profitable, but was really key to my government ops plus led to a scholarship at MIT). Two startups floundered but led me to my current startup(pivot after pivot supported by a somewhat sufficient consultancy). All in all continue executing. That's what important.
- bradenreamneal 8y agoKeep going. Persistence is everything. YC isn't the endgame, but a step along the way to building a great business.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- proofread 8y agoCannot describe how shitty it felt to tell everyone I told that I actually didn't get accepted.
- proofread 8y agoI would also like to add how genuinely excited I was, I am going through a difficult time right now and this felt like I was actually going to turn things around. Sure this was bad for everyone but really just terrible timing for me.
- callen6 8y agoHey Proofread, if you decide to audit the course and want to do remote hangouts to discuss, my (also accepted then rejected) cofounder and I will be following along and would love the company! I applaud your honesty about how things like this can really lift you up and knock you down. Hang in there, we're with you.
- w_allDueRespect 8y agoI guess were just a bunch of ... angry nerds. cue CSI music
- Chloro 8y agoDamn, I shared this with friends and family. Never been so excited...
- beautybasics 8y agoAre we(in audit track) eligible for 10k grant? P.S.: If there teams in this situation, upvote so that someone from YC may answer it.
- torartc 8y agoNo, it's only the people accepted into the program. The audit track is just a fancy way of saying you didn't get picked.
- jfornear 8y agoStarted an open chat to follow Startup School—will post videos, etc. https://chat.dog/startup-school https://chat.dog/startup-school
- DoreenMichele 8y agoIf folks just want to talk at each other: Startup school rejects https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/startup-school-rejects https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/startup-school-rej... (It's the mobile link. I'm failing to find the link I want.) I have no affiliation with YC.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Rain89146 8y agoHonestly, I'm pretty graceful even though I didn't get in the advisor track, but accepted of audit track. What's really matter is that we can all get something from the free course while others can't.
- thewizardofaus 8y agoI find it interesting how badly this has affected some people. It seems that a large majority are upset from gloating about it in on their "networks". Perhaps this is a lesson that you shouldn't need to rely on YC to succeed.
- msea82 8y agoThey need to do something to make it right, they impacted relationships and businesses in a real way. They have the power to make it right in some way, it's a morale test to see if they will. I emailed them.
- brentadamson 8y agoGot the rejected email then was accepted. https://www.startupschool.org/courses/2 https://www.startupschool.org/courses/2 doesn't seem to fully confirm I am in - just says: Thank you for applying to Startup School! The course will start on August 28th, 2018 Share with fellow entrepreneurial friends. Course videos will be available soon after filming has ended. In the meantime, you can check our library of Startup Material.
- mmanfrin 8y agoI am in the same boat, and there are a few others who have commented similarly. My guess is that there's just a bit of repair that needs to be done on YCs side.
- sama 8y agoWe feel awful about this and we're working on a solution. We'll have more to share in the next 24 hours, hopefully sooner. Edit: ok, here's what we've got: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17806459 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17806459.
- skmexyz 8y agoThanks! We were extremely excited about the news and reading the rejection email later was heart breaking.
- kwooding 8y agoThanks Sam. It was a crappy situation, but the way you folks have been handling it helps take the sting out.
- ajspencer 8y agoYou guys do a lot for the community. You made a mistake and are genuinely working to make the best out of it. I think the least we can do in exchange for the free content from auditing the course is forgive you. If nothing else, this situation is just more motivation to succeed in spite of obstacles and setbacks.
- jeanlucas 8y agoThank you.
- sama 8y agoUpdate: we will have something to share tonight, and I think people will be pretty happy :)
- jyew 8y agoThank you
- searchfaster 8y agoThank you !
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- mmanfrin 8y agoSnowmaker/any other YC employee: how many cohorts are there?
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- dpc10 8y agoHere's what I'd do if I were YC, especially having seen in this thread and on Twitter a bunch of seemingly promising startups that were rejected from Startup School: Add a second chance--not just for those who received an incorrect email today, but for everyone who was rejected but fully audits the program. Toward the end of the ten weeks, allow startups auditing the course to submit a progress report or a second application, with some of those candidates--perhaps those that have shown the most growth over the course of the program?--accepted to participate in a later 10-week advisory program like the one Startup School offers on the advisory track. (I'm sure a chance at $10k would be appreciated as well.) That would make Startup School a more appealing proposition for those who were not accepted, relieve some of the sting for those who are upset today, and to some extent correct for the fact that the selection process is inherently imperfect. From YC's perspective, it would increase participation in Startup School without requiring huge numbers of new advisors; you'd have 10 weeks to find a couple of new advisors for a small batch of accepted second-chancers, or perhaps some of the first-run advisors would be willing to commit to a second round. Plus this would give YC another opportunity to get in early with some of the most promising startups they rejected today. (I think giving hope to people who were misinformed today would help alleviate some of the PR problems YC is surely going to face, but I'd add this as a permanent feature of Startup School anyway.)
- dimasf 8y agoWe've got a rejection email and then a couple of hours later a follow up email saying that there was an error and we were accepted! Super stoked about this opportunity. If anyone is interested, we're here - https://skillmint.com https://skillmint.com
- poshmiles 8y agoWe got a rejection mail too and then an acceptance email...hope this is legit now and no more changes.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- jakubwaw 8y agoTough moments build resilience. Mistakes happen, rejections happen, failures happen. Keep your vision laser-focussed and go turn something people want into something people love. <3 from the accepted/rejected http://www.joinluma.com http://www.joinluma.com crew.
- poshmiles 8y agoOfficially the best day of my life. - We almost had a minor heart attack as we received an email stating that we were not accepted. But we are in ....it was a Y-Com email trigger problem. (honest mistake)
- it_learnses 8y agoWhy does it say I have been accepted to the "auditor track"? Isn't auditing open to everyone?
- KhoomeiK 8y agoWhat does it mean if I received a rejection email first and then an acceptance to the Advisor track? Is there still a Founder track that I didn't get into or am I about to receive a rejection email? I'm confused.
- MVallesC1 8y agoI got an email that we were rejected, and then two hours later that we were ACCEPTED to the Advisor Track... basically the other way around to what most people has commented in this thread... but still waiting for tomorrow to find out if there is any clarification to this. When I login I do not see the famous Auditor Track...
- hudson155 8y agoLikewise... I have also heard that others ONLY got the acceptance email. Seems like something went wildly wrong.
- PatriciaR 8y agoObviously this situation is very confusing. Seems like an honest mistake. On the plus side, really love the sense of community this has created. Best of luck to those moving forward. Whether accepted or auditing this will be a huge learning opportunity.
- mic500 8y agoI received the ‘accepted’ one in the midnight, and We celebrated the whole 15 minutes, bought a round ticket as well, I was thinking about book a room on Airbnb, but we still have work to do. I got the 'sorry' one just before I shutdown my laptop, I don't know how to tell my friends, it'll take 2 or days to forget it. We're absolutely gonna keep going. There was a mistake, we were not accepted by Startup School, that's all I need to say. Everyone will be fine.
- julee04 8y agoAre both cofounders allowed to attend a startup school lecture in person? Or is it only one seat per company?
- mwelwa 8y agoCongratulations to everyone who did get in xoxo
- aliakhtar 8y agoFor those who didn't get in but would still like to join a slack group of founders: https://join.slack.com/t/startupschool-rejects/shared_invite/enQtNDE5NTM5ODUxNjY1LTIxOGNhMDA3NGI0NjdlNjU5MWU1MWYxYjc5OTNmN2RjMDRmNmIwM2EyYmU3NjllZGZhOWE0ZWEyZDA1Y2Q3MDg https://join.slack.com/t/startupschool-rejects/shared_invite...
- mic500 8y agoHi everyone, I have an idea, why we just live YC along for a few hours, let them do what they need to do and waiting for the result. If they have to answer almost same questions in here or on twitter, they'll have fewer people to do the 'update', let's just wait and talking to each other. Here is the key info: 'Update: we will have something to share tonight, and I think people will be pretty happy :)'
- akshaydipali 8y agoSo I am confused. I got accepted in advisor track and then now its saying I am accepted for auditor track. So am I in? or am I not?
- dang 8y agoIt was a gigantic mistake on our part. We sent out emails that accepted everyone that was rejected and rejected everyone that was accepted. It was a big boolean fuckup and we're deeply sorry. As for whether you're in or not - stay tuned. People have been working feverishly on this for several hours and an announcement is almost ready.
- eddieh 8y agoWhat if I didn't received either a rejection or an acceptance email?
- bigwheeler 8y agoI'm glad I only told one person, because it is pretty heartbreaking to get un-accepted. But I get it- software glitches make mistakes, people make mistakes, companies make mistakes. If something THIS small was going to deter me, maybe I should just give up and go get a regular job. But that's not gonna happen! Let's do this!
- runesoerensen 8y agoFixed: https://blog.ycombinator.com/startup-school-every-company-that-applied-is-now-accepted/ https://blog.ycombinator.com/startup-school-every-company-th...
- adora 8y agoHi everyone, after all this, we believe the right thing to do is to accept everyone into Startup School, so we're going to find a way to make this work. More info here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17806459 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17806459
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- getcloser 8y agoNot sure if it make sense. No competition no fun.
- w_allDueRespect 8y agoHow does that make any sense? Now instead of competing with 3000 applicants, you're competing with 15000 for the $10,000. Your chances of winning the prize just decreased 5 fold.
- mc_lovin_ 8y agoFrom the email you’ll be able to use the company update feature so that you’ll also be eligible for one of the hundred $10k equity-free grant So I think the competition is still among the actually selected 3000 applicants and there will be one slot for the rest of them.
- maytc 8y agoGreat call! Thanks!
- sanjanamane 8y agoI got a rejected email first and then I got the accepted email with an apology. So I am assuming I was among the originally accepted startups, now since everyone is going to be accepted, the originally accepted startups will have a disadvantage and will we still get an advisor? The thing to rejoice is being accepted out of a pool of competition but now since everyone is accepted, its just something usual.
- tchaffee 8y agoFortunately I was busy coding so I saw the two emails at the same time. Disappointing, but I was always planning on making this successful on my own. I'll still audit the course to see what I can learn.
- getcloser 8y agoI only received the acceptance email at 4pm EST. Does it mean i was in the real 25? What a mess...
- getcloser 8y agoI only got the Acceptance email. Does it mean i was in the real 25?? What a mess now
- chelak 8y agoConsidering that it’s easier to get into Startup School than the regular YC batch, should founders that were rejected interpret that as a signal that they’ll likely not get into YC?
- jaredsk 8y agoMR. Y Combinator ....I don't feel so good...
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- bradenreamneal 8y agoYC - you made the right move
- hudson155 8y agoThe first email I received was Thank you for applying to Startup School Online. We're sorry to say that your startup was not selected for the upcoming Advisor track. I then received a second email We are deeply sorry, but an error occurred in the software that triggers acceptance emails and you were actually supposed to receive the email below accepting you into the Startup School Advisor Track. It seems like this is the opposite of what most other have experienced according to the comments. I guess regardless, everyone is still in?
- allxflores 8y agoFirst rejected, then accepted :)
- Ch3ck 8y agoHi Guys, I created a slack channel to connect all interested entrepreneurs whether accepted or not. Here is the link: https://bit.ly/2LaSxtH https://bit.ly/2LaSxtH Spread the word!
- upandup 8y agoGuys, maybe it will be reasonable to send emails with text like “check out your acceptance thru the following link”? Doing this you will track openings and if smth is going wrong, you will work only with guys that saw the wrong info. And what about the last your decision: it will be really hard for you, but it’s the only one way to fix everything. So, good luck to you with this and thank you!
- nickmandal 8y agoI got a rejection email first, then an acceptance email to the advisor track - what does this mean for me? Am I a part of the proper course or am I just accepted because of the mistake?