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"Ultimately, the point of these videos is not for you to sell them on your idea. It's another opportunity for YC to get to know you and your team as people, in

by pg 16y ago

"Ultimately, the point of these videos is not for you to sell them on your idea. It's another opportunity for YC to get to know you and your team as people, in a way that words on an application form can't convey." Yes! We're not looking at the video as a way to understand your idea. That's what the written application is for. And yet so many people sit there in the video reading some prepared text in a monotone, which is not something that makes anyone look smart. Far better not to script the video. I'm not saying you should talk about random personal stuff like your favorite bands. You can talk about the startup. Just don't read a prepared statement. The best thing to talk about might be the background for the startup: how you met and how you got interested in this idea.

retree 16y ago
I understand the video is important - but what if we can't get round to making it in time? My cofounder currently lives the other side of the country (we're currently studying in different colleges) and so a video together would be kinda hard at the moment, not to mention expensive to meet up. Do you have any suggestions - we've looked into recording Skype video calls but it's hard to make it feel natural.
- ziadbc 16y ago
  Skype works. Sometimes the sound is hard to deal with. However, consider that there are probably 20 other people in your same situation who will hack out a quick skype video. Keep it simple don't overthink the stuff.
- Zev 16y ago
  Spend 20 minutes talking to each other once or twice a week on Skype. By the time you have to make the video, you'll be pretty comfortable with it. Also, close AIM/GTalk/Twitter/whatever while you do this. Don't let yourselves fall back to another way of talking to each other.
- pg 16y ago
  Do what you can. You won't be the only one using a skype call.
- OoTheNigerian 16y ago
  My Co founder and I had the same problems. The solution? Skype+Screenr :). It worked out fine. Good luck in your application.
zhyder 16y ago
That's really difficult for applicants. How can they possibly resist the urge to prepare for it, and to do retakes till it's 'perfect'?
- wensing 16y ago
  When people ask about your startup you should have the confidence of a Noble Prize-winning economist being interviewed by an 11th-grade economics student.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- thaumaturgy 16y ago
  Yeah, that bugged me about the video portion of the application too. It was weird; everything else about the application was fairly straightforward, and then there was this video part which was really vague with this really arbitrary 1 minute requirement. We ended up wasting a couple of hours of one night on it, and by the end of it I was totally fed up with the whole idea of putting in a video (and, by extension, YC). We ended up submitting something really lame and shrugging our shoulders about it. A "one minute unrehearsed video" is an oxymoron IMO.
- nicholasjbs 16y ago
  There's a difference between preparing for and scripting a video. My cofounder and I prepared for our video in that we talked about what we wanted to convey and (roughly) who'd say what parts, but we didn't have any sort of a script. Our video was about 90 seconds, and we did it in four or five takes, which means we spent way more time agonizing over how to cut down any one of our written answers than we did recording our video. Think of it as talking to a friend rather than "making a movie."
  - pg 16y ago
    Yes; preparing and doing retakes is orthogonal to reading a prewritten script.
- deleted 16y ago
yccurious 16y ago
hi pg, I'm curious about applying for yc (in the summer), but we're not completely sure if our idea is the kind of thing yc is looking to fund. I know you don't advise startups, but would it be possible to get some quick feedback on our demo by e-mail?

by pg 16y ago

retree 16y ago

I understand the video is important - but what if we can't get round to making it in time? My cofounder currently lives the other side of the country (we're currently studying in different colleges) and so a video together would be kinda hard at the moment, not to mention expensive to meet up. Do you have any suggestions - we've looked into recording Skype video calls but it's hard to make it feel natural.

ziadbc 16y ago
Skype works. Sometimes the sound is hard to deal with. However, consider that there are probably 20 other people in your same situation who will hack out a quick skype video. Keep it simple don't overthink the stuff.
Zev 16y ago
Spend 20 minutes talking to each other once or twice a week on Skype. By the time you have to make the video, you'll be pretty comfortable with it. Also, close AIM/GTalk/Twitter/whatever while you do this. Don't let yourselves fall back to another way of talking to each other.
pg 16y ago
Do what you can. You won't be the only one using a skype call.
OoTheNigerian 16y ago
My Co founder and I had the same problems. The solution? Skype+Screenr :). It worked out fine. Good luck in your application.

zhyder 16y ago

That's really difficult for applicants. How can they possibly resist the urge to prepare for it, and to do retakes till it's 'perfect'?

wensing 16y ago
When people ask about your startup you should have the confidence of a Noble Prize-winning economist being interviewed by an 11th-grade economics student.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
thaumaturgy 16y ago
Yeah, that bugged me about the video portion of the application too. It was weird; everything else about the application was fairly straightforward, and then there was this video part which was really vague with this really arbitrary 1 minute requirement. We ended up wasting a couple of hours of one night on it, and by the end of it I was totally fed up with the whole idea of putting in a video (and, by extension, YC). We ended up submitting something really lame and shrugging our shoulders about it. A "one minute unrehearsed video" is an oxymoron IMO.
nicholasjbs 16y ago
There's a difference between preparing for and scripting a video. My cofounder and I prepared for our video in that we talked about what we wanted to convey and (roughly) who'd say what parts, but we didn't have any sort of a script. Our video was about 90 seconds, and we did it in four or five takes, which means we spent way more time agonizing over how to cut down any one of our written answers than we did recording our video. Think of it as talking to a friend rather than "making a movie."
- pg 16y ago
  Yes; preparing and doing retakes is orthogonal to reading a prewritten script.
deleted 16y ago

yccurious 16y ago

hi pg, I'm curious about applying for yc (in the summer), but we're not completely sure if our idea is the kind of thing yc is looking to fund. I know you don't advise startups, but would it be possible to get some quick feedback on our demo by e-mail?