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YC Interview Tips from a Former YC Partner [video]

89 points by garry 7y ago

simonebrunozzi 7y ago
I'm kind of getting tired of this "cargo cult" attitude towards YC. Yes, it's a great thing, yes, great companies emerged from YC, but please... Enough already.
- mrkurt 7y ago
  It’s interview time for a whole bunch of hopefuls and this is a site that’s literally owned by yc ...
  - OnlineGladiator 7y ago
    I actually don't think the fact that HN is owned by YC makes much difference. It's not like the YC companies control what makes it to the front page any more than you or I do. And this might be the only place on the internet I actually have faith in the moderators to do right by the community.
    - garry 7y ago
      Hacker News is how I first heard about Y Combinator in 2007. I applied in 2008 and got in. I became a founder. It changed my life. I learned a lot and got to build software for a lot of people. I later became a partner and saw how powerful it was in society: people from all walks of life and now all over the world coming to create startups that a billion people can use. That’s pretty cool, for signing on to a website that is basically the same product that it was when I came onto it 12 years ago. In a lot of ways, my life is devoted trying to help you get to do what I got to do (and hopefully more, because my startup didn’t quite make it).
    - dewey 7y ago
      Actually they do, there are sticky job posts for YC companies on the front page. I‘m not complaining though, they own the place, their rules.
- garry 7y ago
  YC changed my life, and changed the lives of hundreds of founders I know personally.
  - diafygi 7y ago
    Isn't that kind of a shallow argument, though? Scouting changed my life, and changed the lives of hundreds of scouts I know personally. What matters is how it changed it.
    - RaceWon 7y ago
      > What matters is how it changed it. I read his profile. 'Nuff said
      - diafygi 7y ago
        Hmmm, isn't that the parent's point, though? Being super successful as a VC or VC-funded startup is touted as the ultimate success by YC. However, there are many on this forum who don't agree that VC success is better than other types of success (bootstrapping, politics, charity, family, etc.), and some who even view VC culture as a net negative to society. My point was that how you receive someone saying YC changed their life is highly dependent on whether you think that the result should be celebrated or emulated. Everyone has experienced things that changed their lives and the lives of those around them, so to someone who doesn't see VC success as very desirable, it comes across as a fairly weak argument.
        garry 7y ago
        Making something for other people is the highest value prized within the YC founder community. We actually mock people who are scenesters who do it for the fame/social status, and we mock the scammers who build nothing real and get fake valuations. The fundamental mistake you are making is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Trust me, there are real things that are VC funded too. As a builder myself I would not become a VC and try to help other builders if I didn’t know that at was true at a core deep level and from first hand personal experience.
- westoque 7y ago
  My takeaway here is the advice Garry said. Not really thinking much towards YC being a holy grail of incubator and doing everything to get in. Instead, it lets me rethink my ideas if I can put it into words that will be good enough for an interview, not to get in YC, but to validate my idea. Put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer, would you then approve your own startup?
- soneca 7y ago
  Is there something in the video that is "over-the-top-cargo-culty" or are you just complaining that this post was upvoted? I won't see the video because it does not interest me right now, but I'm curious about your reasoning and also expected outcome when making this comment
Kaled 7y ago
Driving
Kaled 7y ago
Driving school 2017 is a great place to work for
Kaled 7y ago
Driving school 2017 is a great place to work for and it is a great place to
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  > Driving school 2017 is a great place to work for and it is a great place to I'm genuinely curious what it is you're trying to say. So it sounds like Driving School might be a company, but a quick Google search didn't turn anything up. And then what does 2017 have to do with anything? Or maybe you're trying to say that you're driving as a way of explaining you're having trouble writing right now, and that some school from 2017 is a great place to work? That doesn't really make sense either.
cbanek 7y ago
"Remember to build your business" - so obvious, but I think we're honestly missing that these days, so it's good to hear it. Now it seems fake it till you make VC money, then take the money and run.
cynusx 7y ago
The inverted pyramid answer is a great one, I wish that was the default in interviews in general

89 points by garry 7y ago

I'm kind of getting tired of this "cargo cult" attitude towards YC. Yes, it's a great thing, yes, great companies emerged from YC, but please... Enough already.

mrkurt 7y ago
It’s interview time for a whole bunch of hopefuls and this is a site that’s literally owned by yc ...
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  I actually don't think the fact that HN is owned by YC makes much difference. It's not like the YC companies control what makes it to the front page any more than you or I do. And this might be the only place on the internet I actually have faith in the moderators to do right by the community.
  - garry 7y ago
    Hacker News is how I first heard about Y Combinator in 2007. I applied in 2008 and got in. I became a founder. It changed my life. I learned a lot and got to build software for a lot of people. I later became a partner and saw how powerful it was in society: people from all walks of life and now all over the world coming to create startups that a billion people can use. That’s pretty cool, for signing on to a website that is basically the same product that it was when I came onto it 12 years ago. In a lot of ways, my life is devoted trying to help you get to do what I got to do (and hopefully more, because my startup didn’t quite make it).
  - dewey 7y ago
    Actually they do, there are sticky job posts for YC companies on the front page. I‘m not complaining though, they own the place, their rules.
garry 7y ago
YC changed my life, and changed the lives of hundreds of founders I know personally.
- diafygi 7y ago
  Isn't that kind of a shallow argument, though? Scouting changed my life, and changed the lives of hundreds of scouts I know personally. What matters is how it changed it.
  - RaceWon 7y ago
    > What matters is how it changed it. I read his profile. 'Nuff said
    - diafygi 7y ago
      Hmmm, isn't that the parent's point, though? Being super successful as a VC or VC-funded startup is touted as the ultimate success by YC. However, there are many on this forum who don't agree that VC success is better than other types of success (bootstrapping, politics, charity, family, etc.), and some who even view VC culture as a net negative to society. My point was that how you receive someone saying YC changed their life is highly dependent on whether you think that the result should be celebrated or emulated. Everyone has experienced things that changed their lives and the lives of those around them, so to someone who doesn't see VC success as very desirable, it comes across as a fairly weak argument.
      - garry 7y ago
        Making something for other people is the highest value prized within the YC founder community. We actually mock people who are scenesters who do it for the fame/social status, and we mock the scammers who build nothing real and get fake valuations. The fundamental mistake you are making is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Trust me, there are real things that are VC funded too. As a builder myself I would not become a VC and try to help other builders if I didn’t know that at was true at a core deep level and from first hand personal experience.
westoque 7y ago
My takeaway here is the advice Garry said. Not really thinking much towards YC being a holy grail of incubator and doing everything to get in. Instead, it lets me rethink my ideas if I can put it into words that will be good enough for an interview, not to get in YC, but to validate my idea. Put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer, would you then approve your own startup?
soneca 7y ago
Is there something in the video that is "over-the-top-cargo-culty" or are you just complaining that this post was upvoted? I won't see the video because it does not interest me right now, but I'm curious about your reasoning and also expected outcome when making this comment

Kaled 7y ago

Driving

Kaled 7y ago

Driving school 2017 is a great place to work for

Kaled 7y ago

Driving school 2017 is a great place to work for and it is a great place to

OnlineGladiator 7y ago
> Driving school 2017 is a great place to work for and it is a great place to I'm genuinely curious what it is you're trying to say. So it sounds like Driving School might be a company, but a quick Google search didn't turn anything up. And then what does 2017 have to do with anything? Or maybe you're trying to say that you're driving as a way of explaining you're having trouble writing right now, and that some school from 2017 is a great place to work? That doesn't really make sense either.

cbanek 7y ago

"Remember to build your business" - so obvious, but I think we're honestly missing that these days, so it's good to hear it. Now it seems fake it till you make VC money, then take the money and run.

cynusx 7y ago

The inverted pyramid answer is a great one, I wish that was the default in interviews in general