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Applications Open For Summer 2011 YC Funding Cycle
- jeremydavid 16y agoAlready? Wow... it feels like just yesterday applications were open for Winter
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- avk 16y agoGood luck to everyone who's applying!
- Zeuf 16y agoNot ready yet to apply. Looking to apply next year! But, good luck and success for all.
- pg 16y agoWe added two new questions this year: Why did you pick this project to work on? and How will you get users? In retrospect it's surprising we didn't already ask these. (When reading applications we found we were trying to reconstruct answers to them from the answers people gave to other questions.) We also stopped describing the video as optional. In practice it wasn't.
- Alex3917 16y ago"How will you get users?" Some unsolicited advice for this question: For startups that rely on 'going viral': The benefit that users get from telling their friends is... For businesses that need to get 2+ separate-facing user bases: The game theory aligns and makes it rational for both X and Y to participate because... For startups doing B2B sales: The reason the X will look like a hero to his boss for making this purchase is... If I were the one reading these I would also add "What's the one thing that needs to happen for this business to become a huge success?" Not only is this (IMHO) necessary to ballpark how likely the business is to succeed, but it's also extremely good at spotlighting both good and sloppy thinking.
- patio11 16y agoUnsolicited advice: In our market the user adoption process looks like... We're going to hack it. Here's how: ...
- thewordpainter 16y agoi think "how will you get users?" is a great question for whittling the field. any startup entrepreneur with experience knows that "viral effect" is not the answer, and a strategy is involved...especially if you don't have the valley resources at your disposal. i'm assuming "why did you pick this project..." is all about the passion...
- pg 16y agoi'm assuming "why did you pick this project..." is all about the passion... Actually the ideal answer would be "We needed this at the last company I worked for."
- zackattack 16y agoWhat if you did some exploratory work on the solution at the last company you worked for ... are there potential IP issues that could crop up?
- weel 16y agoYes, of course. (And I believe YC already asks a question about that.) Employers regularly claim intellectual property rights to the inventions of their employees. But issues coming up does not equal issues being unsurmountable. First of all, many jurisdictions make it hard for employers to try to control things you invent on your own time without using their facilities -- which doesn't keep employers from trying. Secondly, even if your employer arguably does control the IP you need, that doesn't mean they won't give it up. Woz famously realized that HP had a claim to the Apple I and offered to let them have it; HP thought of it as more of a hobby than a business and the rest is history. Universities and other research institutes routinely let employees spin off companies, usually in exchange for some share (although, anecdotally, it seems that universities that are new to the game often ask for more than universities that already have strong spin-off cultures).
- pg 16y agoIn practice the test is where lines of code got written. If all your startup's code was written after you quit your job, you're usually ok.
- Swizec 16y agoWondering if we should apply even though we got rejected for the winter cycle ...
- pg 16y agoWe often fund people on their second or third try. Dropbox was Drew Houston's second try. I believe PagerDuty holds the record; that company was their fourth.
- teej 16y agoFor PagerDuty, what changed between their first and fourth try?
- mrtron 16y agoI believe the team was the same for every application - a smart group of guys.
- agmiklas 16y agoPagerDuty co-founder here... The group actually changed a bit from one application to the next. The ideas were completely different for the first and second applications. Applications three and lucky number four were for PagerDuty.
- sahillavingia 16y agoWhat were the ideas for the first and second application?
- thewordpainter 16y agodid PG & co. recognize your persistence? what do you think stoof out the fourth try? had the business advanced a good bit?
- JoshTriplett 16y ago
- davidwparker 16y agoLooking forward to applying for the first time. Any advice for a first timer?
- pg 16y agohttp://ycombinator.com/howtoapply.html http://ycombinator.com/howtoapply.html
- nhangen 16y agoExcellent, I can't wait.
- bkrausz 16y agoRandom question: what would you guys like to hear/know about applying (or YC in general) that's not already out there? I've been considering writing a blog post about GazeHawk's YC experience, but there are so many good ones already, and I don't want to just add redundancy. Anything unanswered from a startup perspective you'd like to know?
- samdk 16y agoThis is not so much for me, but if you have anything you didn't like about it, I think a lot of people would really like to hear about it. The most negative blog post I've seen on HN was something to the effect of "it wasn't the right fit for me", and it's really hard to judge something critically without getting both positive and negative opinions. From what I've seen of you guys it looks like it was a very positive experience for you though, so I'm not sure this is really applicable. For myself, I'd say write it if you can think of any related tidbits/stories to tell. Those are always interesting.
- pg 16y agohttp://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1808715 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1808715
- SwellJoe 16y agoThe fact that negative experiences are hard to find is probably a good sign. I can't think of much negative that pg didn't cover in his reply, though I think the size of the batches has grown too large, and is a less effective process because of it. I was surprised to find at the last dinner I attended that there were still groups at the very end of the 3 month period that didn't know each other personally. That blew my mind, as I was on a first-name basis with everyone in our batch by the third or fourth dinner, and the interaction with the other founders was the most valuable part of the YC experience for me.
- stevenj 16y agoHow'd you get users?
- mcgyver 16y agoMy co-founder and I are looking to apply but it looks like I might have a baby due during the 3-months-in-SV stage and hence need to be close to base (Australia). Looks like I'll be hanging out for the following round. Good luck to everyone applying!
- weel 16y agoCongratulations!
- bourdine 16y agoPG, if we make a product worth more than 1B, we can be included in the current winter session as an exception?
- benologist 16y agoIf you make a product worth > $1B you'll be an exception for just about everything.
- bourdine 16y agoHopefully, PG feels the same way. If I had his email, I could tell him all about and we would decide how best to proceed in this exceptional case.
- jackowayed 16y agoIf you were capable of building a $1B product, you'd also be capable of finding (and/or guessing) his email.
- bourdine 16y agoI do not agree with you. My question is relevant to that topic, here on HN, personally I simply delete letters from strangers would not have to waste time. A PG address is, but I just do not write for people who do not expect a letter from me.
- jackowayed 16y agoA much better policy would be not to write people that don't want the letter from you, and pg would definitely want to hear from any billion dollar company that wants him as an investor Anyway, I've now ingested my USDA daily recommended amount of trolling, so I won't be responding any deeper in this thread
- jayliew 16y agoThe point is, anybody can say they are building a >$1Bil business. How are you really different from everybody else who is applying?
- jamroom 16y agoDoes YC usually only accept new (i.e. early stage startup) companies? We've been online for almost 8 years now, and we have a new product we're really excited about. We already have demo code for the new product, not to mention an existing product that we've been selling since we started. So for us, the mentoring and feedback from other founders and YC would be invaluable, much more so then any investment (we're already self funded). Just curious if there is anyone that has gone through YC with an established company, and how that worked out for you. Thanks!
- hugh3 16y agoIf you have a company which has been established for eight years, do you really want to give up six percent of it just to get a bit of advice?
- jonathanjaeger 16y agoEight years seems like a bit much, but if they're shifting focus or going through a new phase, I think they could benefit more than just with "a bit of advice."
- jamroom 16y agoYes - we're developing a new product in a related area (that we can target to our existing customers), but it's really an entirely new direction for us, and really could easily be the start of a "new" company.
- SwellJoe 16y agoThen start a new company. Eight years without going anywhere worth speaking of is time to call it quits, if what you want is a startup. Don't let old mistakes hold you back. I shutdown a seven year old business after its most profitable year in existence in order to start Virtualmin, because I made a rational assessment of where things were going and could see very clearly that the previous business would never be the business I wanted it to be, and because it had such a long, slow-climb, history, raising money for it or bringing in new partners would have been a challenge that new startups don't face. Unproven is better than "proven to grow slowly" for investors and entrepreneurs.
- qasar 16y agoeven if you're not interested in YC, i recommend going through the questions yourself. they are a great way to methodically think about your team and ideas (like "What do you understand about your business that other companies in it just don't get?")
- SwaroopH 16y agoIs it acceptable if a co-founder cannot move to Bay Area for the summer? EDIT: As someone pointed out on IM, it's acceptable but we're expected to mention it in #9.
- JofArnold 16y agoIf you get accepted, do whatever you possibly can to get everyone out there.
- SwaroopH 16y agoI totally agree but one of the co-founders is finishing his course & will be busy with finals until July.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- colinplamondon 16y agoIf he wouldn't put school on hold in the event of YC funding, he really, really isn't someone you should be founding a company with.
- JofArnold 16y agoThat's really tricky. I've been in exactly that situation; several years ago we started our first startup whilst cofounder was still doing his finals. So having experienced that plus currently experiencing YC, I think your hesitation is justified, lol. :D
- elvirs 16y agoCan international candidates apply? if the answer is yes (and if we are selected) will YCombinator help us with obtaining J1 (or any other applicable)? or at least provide a document as an employer? thanks
- gregschlom 16y agoThere's an answer to this question somewhere in YC's FAQ, and the answer is yes and no. They do accept international candidates, but you'll have to figure out all the visa issues by yourself. They are not employers and won't provide any documents. But since what they require is that you stay in SV for the 3 months cycle, this shouldn't be a problem with a regular tourist visa. (Things can get complicated afterwards, though, if you want to stay longer)
- DanielRibeiro 16y agoThis page from BackType (YC S08) guys pretty much cover visas: http://christophergolda.com/immigration-for-startups http://christophergolda.com/immigration-for-startups
- ammmir 16y agothis is just the motivational kick i needed to get back to finishing my prototype, thanks pg!
- flipside 16y agoIs it better to apply early while I look for cofounders or wait till I find them and then apply?
- qixxiq 16y agoConsider updating the "Do we have to be US citizens?" question in FAQ to include that teams would have to fly up for the interview in addition to the three months (if that is still the decision).
- kingsidharth 16y agoThis got me all thinking about how far we (the team) have come since we applied in Winter (and got rejected). Does that count? How far you have progressed in mindset and development of the product? I wish there was a field for that in the application. I'd be interesting to see that progress, IMO.
- edanm 16y agoThere are 8 RFS's, but the dropdown for choosing which RFS you're responding to only has 7 options.
- maxklein 16y agoI'm going to apply again, no point quitting now!
- Facens 16y agoWhen I fill the 'video' field, then pressing 'update', the page gives an error: 324 (net::ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE) Let me know when it's fixed...
- Facens 16y agoIt goes now, after some changes to the other fields. I don't know where the problem actually was.