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This read like a business school professor. All young businesses are a fluid experiment "out of business rationale" is a hindsight fluff statement. If rationa

This read like a business school professor. All young businesses are a fluid experiment "out of business rationale" is a hindsight fluff statement. If rationale informed effective product then a lot more people were successful. Additionally, odds are that the best thing for the business (and founders) would being admitted to YC over any product change they could possible make. They had non zero odds and I think it was a clever plan all things considered. If YC is looking at founders above everything else and less product, these young dudes seem to be cut from the cloth.

filmgirlcw 7y ago
> If rationale informed effective product then a lot more people were successful. That's not necessarily true, as plenty of businesses fail because they don't have a business plan for their product. The world is littered with great products that failed because there was no business plan or the business plan wasn't sustainable. Obviously, having a business plan doesn't make a successful product (and I never one intimated otherwise), but in this case, the feedback from YC was about the business and not about the product. >Additionally, odds are that the best thing for the business (and founders) would being admitted to YC over any product change they could possible make. If by "best thing" you mean "could raise money to fund the product in absence of a business plan" -- you're probably right. Getting into YC or a similar accelerator would make raising money easier for sure. But getting in doesn't guarantee funding or success in any way shape or form. >They had non zero odds and I think it was a clever plan all things considered. If YC is looking at founders above everything else and less product, these young dudes seem to be cut from the cloth. I disagree that they had non zero odds. They were rejected and given a reason why. The response to that rejection didn't actually answer the critique by YC (and the founders don't seem to have understood what that critique was). You're right that the product doesn't always matter when it comes to who gets funding, but in this case, being "clever" just further proved that they didn't actually understand that core feedback, which is wholly independent of product. Look, I hope these guys try again. I also hope they take up the offer for office hours and take that feedback into perfecting their business model and their product strategy so that they are more successful next time.
- bksenior 7y ago
  >That's not necessarily true, as plenty of businesses fail because they don't have a business plan for their product. The world is littered with great products that failed because there was no business plan or the business plan wasn't sustainable. That observation is a long horizon observation. In the short horizon most businesses tend to stagnate and die because of interest and growth. Unless theyre trying to grow an organic biz overtime (which applying to YC seems to signal otherwise) going and getting in the ecosystem would be by far the largest upside to the biz and more importantly the entrepreneurs. > Combining the non-zero and best thing for the biz. These are kids who by being in YC get expert observation and access to a network that they would take a decade to build. The only scenario in which not getting in is better is if they strike some insane gold pocket and they are physically too busy to participate in YC. They had YC as a captive audience and there was precedent for flexibility, thats non zero. same same. I hope this serves as the intro to a story titled "The time YC almost made another $5b."
dheera 7y ago
FWIW I believe Instacart hustled their way in post-deadline (not post-rejection though) and did get accepted. Still indicates that YC bends th rules occasionally. https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2012/08/18/how-instacart-hacked-yc/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2012/08/18/how-i... I imagine reversing a rejection is different though. Most people, YC or not, have an ego and will stubbornly maintain their rejection even if it makes sense to change mind. This is just psychology. Colleges, dates, hiring managers all do it.
- ValentineC 7y ago
  > FWIW I believe Instacart hustled their way in post-deadline (not post-rejection though) and did get accepted. The TechCrunch article does state that they had an initial rejection after their late application. > I put together an application, and made a video describing my product. I waited for a response, and several days later I got one: another “No.”

filmgirlcw 7y ago

> If rationale informed effective product then a lot more people were successful. That's not necessarily true, as plenty of businesses fail because they don't have a business plan for their product. The world is littered with great products that failed because there was no business plan or the business plan wasn't sustainable. Obviously, having a business plan doesn't make a successful product (and I never one intimated otherwise), but in this case, the feedback from YC was about the business and not about the product. >Additionally, odds are that the best thing for the business (and founders) would being admitted to YC over any product change they could possible make. If by "best thing" you mean "could raise money to fund the product in absence of a business plan" -- you're probably right. Getting into YC or a similar accelerator would make raising money easier for sure. But getting in doesn't guarantee funding or success in any way shape or form. >They had non zero odds and I think it was a clever plan all things considered. If YC is looking at founders above everything else and less product, these young dudes seem to be cut from the cloth. I disagree that they had non zero odds. They were rejected and given a reason why. The response to that rejection didn't actually answer the critique by YC (and the founders don't seem to have understood what that critique was). You're right that the product doesn't always matter when it comes to who gets funding, but in this case, being "clever" just further proved that they didn't actually understand that core feedback, which is wholly independent of product. Look, I hope these guys try again. I also hope they take up the offer for office hours and take that feedback into perfecting their business model and their product strategy so that they are more successful next time.

bksenior 7y ago
>That's not necessarily true, as plenty of businesses fail because they don't have a business plan for their product. The world is littered with great products that failed because there was no business plan or the business plan wasn't sustainable. That observation is a long horizon observation. In the short horizon most businesses tend to stagnate and die because of interest and growth. Unless theyre trying to grow an organic biz overtime (which applying to YC seems to signal otherwise) going and getting in the ecosystem would be by far the largest upside to the biz and more importantly the entrepreneurs. > Combining the non-zero and best thing for the biz. These are kids who by being in YC get expert observation and access to a network that they would take a decade to build. The only scenario in which not getting in is better is if they strike some insane gold pocket and they are physically too busy to participate in YC. They had YC as a captive audience and there was precedent for flexibility, thats non zero. same same. I hope this serves as the intro to a story titled "The time YC almost made another $5b."

dheera 7y ago

FWIW I believe Instacart hustled their way in post-deadline (not post-rejection though) and did get accepted. Still indicates that YC bends th rules occasionally. https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2012/08/18/how-instacart-hacked-yc/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2012/08/18/how-i... I imagine reversing a rejection is different though. Most people, YC or not, have an ego and will stubbornly maintain their rejection even if it makes sense to change mind. This is just psychology. Colleges, dates, hiring managers all do it.

ValentineC 7y ago
> FWIW I believe Instacart hustled their way in post-deadline (not post-rejection though) and did get accepted. The TechCrunch article does state that they had an initial rejection after their late application. > I put together an application, and made a video describing my product. I waited for a response, and several days later I got one: another “No.”