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Should Google release a calendar along the lines of Gmail, they would be the competitor we would fear most by far. Wow, that was prescient. I'm curious whethe

Should Google release a calendar along the lines of Gmail, they would be the competitor we would fear most by far. Wow, that was prescient. I'm curious whether this kind of application would stand a chance these days. It's hard to say obviously, as you'd have to ignore the product-specific answers.

justin 16y ago
This is the first time I've looked at our app since we sent it in (that I can recall), and I was extremely surprised about how prescient we were on some things. Not only Google Calendar, but who would be potential acquirers (we were talking to them during Kiko and actually had a verbal offer that fell through, although that is a different story to tell), that social networking features would be important in all web applications, that javascript client applications would be actually a good thing to do. The only thing we weren't good a predicting was our release schedule :)
- pmjordan 16y ago
  The social/personalised advertising remark struck me as very forward-thinking too. It took Facebook a couple of years to get that one right, and now it's making them stacks of money (they may have been ignoring it deliberately to focus on expanding; I have no idea).
- DJN 16y ago
  If you are to redo it all over, I sure hope you won't reinvent the custom ad solution bit again. You can thank the plethora of open RESTful APIs for that :) I've just finished implementing the Trafficspaces ad server API and oh boy does it create all sorts of new possibilities.
- walkon 16y ago
  that social networking features would be important in all web applications Just an FYI, social networking isn't even close to being important in "all" web applications.
abstractbill 16y ago
I'm curious whether this kind of application would stand a chance these days. Many of the applicants I've talked with or heard about lately already have actual paying customers. I wouldn't be surprised if that raises the bar a little ;)
- phjohnst 16y ago
  You raise an interesting point. PG: Do you find that you're encountering 'stage' creep in YC applications? Are the groups that you're funding (or even just interviewing) steadily becoming more fully developed businesses, or are lots (most?) still in the early/conceptual stages?
  - pg 16y ago
    There's certainly stage creep, or more generally "legit creep." We get a lot more applications from startups with eminent founders, who are profitable or have already raised money, etc. But we are very wary of becoming conservative, so we make a conscious effort to make some risky bets too. The result is that batches end up becoming more and more diverse.
    - johnrob 16y ago
      In what way are the 'legit' applicants conservative? Normally that term would imply less risk combined with less reward, but I would think these applications merely offer less risk.
      - jonathanjaeger 16y ago
        True. If notable founders are willing to do Y-Combinator even though they could secure financing elsewhere without giving up a percentage, then there are many cases in which YC should accept (HipMunk, for example). That also speaks volumes of YC, if established entrepreneurs will come back to YC for a second time.
        16y ago
pg 16y ago
We'd definitely invite this group to interviews today, if they were working on whatever was the equivalent idea for 2010. The answers are very thoughtful and concise. If there's one thing applicants don't get, it's the value of being concise in the answers. Not brief, concise. Notice how concise Drew Houston's answers are too: http://files.dropbox.com/u/2/app.html http://files.dropbox.com/u/2/app.html

justin 16y ago

This is the first time I've looked at our app since we sent it in (that I can recall), and I was extremely surprised about how prescient we were on some things. Not only Google Calendar, but who would be potential acquirers (we were talking to them during Kiko and actually had a verbal offer that fell through, although that is a different story to tell), that social networking features would be important in all web applications, that javascript client applications would be actually a good thing to do. The only thing we weren't good a predicting was our release schedule :)

pmjordan 16y ago
The social/personalised advertising remark struck me as very forward-thinking too. It took Facebook a couple of years to get that one right, and now it's making them stacks of money (they may have been ignoring it deliberately to focus on expanding; I have no idea).
DJN 16y ago
If you are to redo it all over, I sure hope you won't reinvent the custom ad solution bit again. You can thank the plethora of open RESTful APIs for that :) I've just finished implementing the Trafficspaces ad server API and oh boy does it create all sorts of new possibilities.
walkon 16y ago
that social networking features would be important in all web applications Just an FYI, social networking isn't even close to being important in "all" web applications.

abstractbill 16y ago

I'm curious whether this kind of application would stand a chance these days. Many of the applicants I've talked with or heard about lately already have actual paying customers. I wouldn't be surprised if that raises the bar a little ;)

phjohnst 16y ago
You raise an interesting point. PG: Do you find that you're encountering 'stage' creep in YC applications? Are the groups that you're funding (or even just interviewing) steadily becoming more fully developed businesses, or are lots (most?) still in the early/conceptual stages?
- pg 16y ago
  There's certainly stage creep, or more generally "legit creep." We get a lot more applications from startups with eminent founders, who are profitable or have already raised money, etc. But we are very wary of becoming conservative, so we make a conscious effort to make some risky bets too. The result is that batches end up becoming more and more diverse.
  - johnrob 16y ago
    In what way are the 'legit' applicants conservative? Normally that term would imply less risk combined with less reward, but I would think these applications merely offer less risk.
    - jonathanjaeger 16y ago
      True. If notable founders are willing to do Y-Combinator even though they could secure financing elsewhere without giving up a percentage, then there are many cases in which YC should accept (HipMunk, for example). That also speaks volumes of YC, if established entrepreneurs will come back to YC for a second time.
      - 16y ago

pg 16y ago

We'd definitely invite this group to interviews today, if they were working on whatever was the equivalent idea for 2010. The answers are very thoughtful and concise. If there's one thing applicants don't get, it's the value of being concise in the answers. Not brief, concise. Notice how concise Drew Houston's answers are too: http://files.dropbox.com/u/2/app.html http://files.dropbox.com/u/2/app.html