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I pitched YC, was rejected, just closed a multi-million dollar round.

186 points by ycreject 16y ago

I realize it's not YC application season (edit: actually it looks like applications are open), but I figured I would post now since I would undoubtedly forget later. A friend and I applied for YC Summer '09 for a search related company (actually what Greplin is doing now). We made it to interviews but didn't make the final cut. I went on to do other things and about a year later ended up back in start-up land with a different co-founder and a different idea. We just closed a multi-million dollar deal on fantastic terms yesterday from one of the best VCs in the valley. So the moral of the story is this: rejection doesn't matter. To quote Randy Pausch: "The brick walls are not there to keep us out, they are there to give us a chance to show us how badly we want something." Raising funding is only the beginning of this journey but if you didn't make it into YC or face a similar situation somewhere else, exceptions to the rule do exist (like us) and there's really no reason YOU could not be another. Cheers! (if you know who I am, please keep my identity a secret, thanks!)

bdclimber14 16y ago
I believe YC applications are open now, so its great timing actually!
smoody 16y ago
totally agree with the 'if at first you don't succeed' aspect of this post, but you have a different co-founder and a different concept now, so your prior rejection, while interesting, is not really related to your current situation.
- zizee 16y ago
  I agree. I certainly read the title as meaning "I just closed funding on a pitch that PG rejected". Also, congratulations. Glad you didn't give up!
  - _pius 16y ago
    I certainly read the title as meaning "I just closed funding on a pitch that PG rejected". YC explicitly says they're looking for the best founders, not necessarily the best idea. In other words they're rejecting you, not your idea.
    - nicholasjbs 16y ago
      They're rejecting the team, which could mean two good people who don't fit well together.
    - patio11 16y ago
      If you think of it like this, you'll poison yourself. Maybe reframe it as "Declined the opportunity to invest in this team at this time." (See also: college, job offers, consulting engagements, and -- took me decades to learn this -- dating.)
      - _pius 16y ago
        I agree with you 100%. That said, I do think it's worth noting that the pleasant fiction of "it was the idea, not us" is patently false for YC. A healthier (and more accurate) way to think of it would be to say that they're rejecting their perception of the team, rather than the team itself.
    - wtn 16y ago
      While this is strictly true, this guy already beat out 90+% of applicants just to get to the interview phase. While it's disappointing not to go all the way, reaching that far is a meaningful accomplishment.
    - StavrosK 16y ago
      This doesn't explain how some people get rejected for one idea and get accepted with another one.
pedalpete 16y ago
Congrats on closing a round of financing, but have you had your YC rejection in the back of your mind all along? If you had pitched with the same co-founder and same idea and still got funded, you could have given PG a big 'told ya so', but different idea, different co-founder, is really a different sitation. Plus, I'm sure YC doesn't invest in many ideas/people that they wish they could, as they have to make selections on very little details. Out of curiosity, what stage are you at with the new company? Did you close your round with a working prototype? moderate user traction? existing customers? Again, congrats on the funding. Best of luck with the new biz.
- ycreject 16y ago
  Working prototype w/ alpha users, but there's a lot of significant tech involved - i.e. it's not a rails app. And no, YC hasn't been on my mind at all, nor is this a 'told ya so' to PG. I do hang out on HN under a different name though so I thought I'd post for anyone who was feeling frustrated in their own journeys since I know that in-the-moment rejection can sting disproportionally more than during the time that it actually matters, i.e. the rest of your life.
  - peteforde 16y ago
    Well, at least it's not Rails! Sheesh, did you work that into your pitch? I understand that you're feeling hot right now, but leave your unfounded technology biases out of it.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - ycreject 16y ago
      You're right. I should have said "a todo app" or something similar - Rails was what came to mind first because of 37 Signals et al who make a lot of that kind of stuff. Aside from that, I'm a huge fan of abstracting commonly made and agreed upon technical decisions further down the stack, making higher level development much simpler and less technically challenging - which is from my understanding what RoR was/is largely about. That's not to say that RoR as a framework isn't in and of itself a technical achievement though.
thewordpainter 16y ago
i don't mind rejection. in fact, i kinda thrive off of it. when YC has told us no in the past --> just sparked the fire that much more. my personal motto: doubt me...please do ;)
- apoorvamehta 16y ago
  last line made me smile
- hydrazine 16y ago
  @apoorvamehta Same here; "doubt me and I'll prove you wrong"
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
joshu 16y ago
a decent chunk of the energy for writing delicious was in response to getting rejected by google years ago...
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- DanielRibeiro 16y ago
  It is also nice that Techstars rejection notice says: We hope that you are not deterred and we wish you the best of luck with your company And on the link of general explanation "Why Not Us?" (http://www.techstars.org/whynotus/ http://www.techstars.org/whynotus/ ), they go even further: If you’ve applied and received notification of non-selection, we sincerely hope that you will go on to do great things. It will not surprise us one bit. Good luck! It is really nice how people can reframe rejection into non-selection, and non-rejection into making great things. Thanks all for the inspiring examples.
zizee 16y ago
So, is your start up in stealth? Or are you just trying not to brag? Why the anonymity?
- jerf 16y ago
  That would muddy the core message of 'buck up and keep at it' and turn it into a "take that" at YC, which does not seem to be intended. Being anonymous makes sense here, I think. (I actually clicked through to see if it needed to be flagged because it could be a "take that" and it's not.)
  - ycreject 16y ago
    Bingo. YC is changing how the valley works, for the better, and should be recognized as doing so. Additionally, running a (venture backed) company already puts enough scrutiny on me as a person and I'm in no hurry to increase that :)
    - zizee 16y ago
      Good to know. Again, well done on your recent success. Now the real work (and fun) begins :-)
hoag 16y ago
This is a fantastic story. Congratulations, let us in on the loop when you're ready to share!
aditya 16y ago
Congratulations. :-)
InclinedPlane 16y ago
Cheers indeed! P.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b76VWp-voIk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b76VWp-voIk
jmtame 16y ago
i'd be interested in talking to you, can you e-mail me? it's on my profile
yuhong 16y ago
>(if you know who I am, please keep my identity a secret, thanks!) Personally I wouldn't require this whatever possible, even in that case, but that is a different topic altogether so...
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
zhyder 16y ago
A friend of mine got rejected from the current YC batch, but raised $1M from prominent investors less than a month after the YC interview.
- JoeAltmaier 16y ago
  Same founders? Same project? Its important - this implies YC missed a golden opportunity - did they? Further, was it typical of YC's space - web app, demo'able in weeks, two to 5 founders? If not, then its apples-oranges. Yes, you have to find your investor; YC may not be that investor.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- dshah 16y ago
  I'd argue that raising money from YC (specifically) might be harder than raising money generally from angels/VCs. There are still only a finite number of YC applications selected into every cohort (and my guess is, as the brand grows, the number of teams competing grows). But, the number of potential angels and VCs for a deal is not as constrained. Summary: Getting into YC is not the same as raising money from angels/VCs. I wouldn't equate the two. Besides, it's not just about the money.
_pius 16y ago
Congratulations!
ankitgupta 16y ago
If everyone is unanimously excited about your company and agrees with your vision, then there is definitely something wrong there!
lancepantz 16y ago
just so we're all clear... the goal is more than raising money... right?
what-to-do 16y ago
Google and others were also rejected by when they started. Like you said, rejection means nothing.
edge17 16y ago
I know one company that was rejected by yc that is happily investor free, profitable, and doing quite well for themselves. I know another guy that was rejected from YC and just sold his company to another company all of you have heard of. YC is great, but it's one of many paths. Every time I read, "YC rejected me but....." it sounds like "Harvard rejected me, but somehow my life didn't end." Sometimes you wonder how a company managed to exit with their idea but people count for so much. I have friends that, if they had the dumbest idea in the world, I would put my money down because betting against them is a losing game. If it sounds ludicrous, is because you've never had friends like that.
SemanticFog 16y ago
It's impressive that YC helps founders succeed by putting them through a short but intense program. It's even more impressive that YC helps founders succeed by rejecting their applications, and motivating them to try harder. The latter is a truly scalable business model. Maybe YC should get a chunk of stock simply for letting companies apply to the program...
axod 16y ago
Why do people say they got funded as if that's it. They've made it. Job done. Success is now a given. I'm not convinced ability to get funded matches with likelihood of profitability.
- wanderful 16y ago
  Agreed. Getting funded IS being profitable for some startups. It is as profitable as some startups will ever get, relative to the financial position of the founders prior to funding. And that's fine. Not all startups will be a success. I think funding becomes the thing to do moreso than it becomes the right business decision. I'm more in the bootstrapping camp which is what I'm doing with my startup.
- markkat 16y ago
  It is a milestone, a worthy and notable achievement. I don't see that this post inferred otherwise. Actually, ycreject says: "Raising funding is only the beginning of this journey..."
- brk 16y ago
  Why do people say they got funded as if that's it. Where did the OP say or imply this? In fact he even says this is only the beginning of the journey. FWIW, I took his post as an inspirational thing. The demographic of YC applicants seems to skew towards younger people, sometimes with a bit too much pg-love. Getting rejected by your "idol" can be very discouraging, especially to an applicant who may not have gone through such a rejection before (eg: they've been mostly accepted to the schools and colleges of their choice) and/or has not had a lot of other career experience so their "one big dream" was just seemingly crushed. IMO, I think it would be really cool for pg to create a roster list someplace of YC rejects that got alternate sources of funding and/or went to other ventures deemed successful. It could help some of the rejected applicants understand that YC is one option, not the option.
  - axod 16y ago
    Yeah maybe I'm being harsh as usual. If I got funding I'd start panicking and thinking to myself "shit now I have to make them a return"... But it often feels like announcements of funding are more like "yay we have cash! Lets buy an office, some go-karts, etc" My personal experience has been that there's only one group you need to impress - your users/customers. If no one else believes in you so what? Likewise, if you manage to get funding (convince one person you might have future success), but have no users/customers, it's a bit "meh". Being rejected from X but accepted at Y still doesn't demonstrate if the idea/person behind it/etc will be successful or not. I'm rambling now so I'll stop.
Mz 16y ago
To quote Randy Pausch: "The brick walls are not there to keep us out, they are there to give us a chance to show us how badly we want something." They are all in your head anyway. I've been thinking about the Harry Potter thing of how they get to the train station for wizarding school by running straight at the brick wall with confidence, which carries them through it and to a different world, where a train awaits to whisk them off to a magical place, a place to learn yet more magic. I think it's a great metaphor. The brick walls aren't really there. Just go at them head on, believing they aren't really there. Oh, and there's no spoon either. Best of luck.
- jeromec 16y ago
  I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, but it never occurred to me to relate that scene to startups in that way. It makes me smile. :) However, I would tweak the "solid wall" metaphor a bit in the context of startups. For example, running full ahead with a bad idea will never magically become a good idea simply by upping confidence level. I would say the metaphor is more like Book 2 where they hit the wall and bounce back painfully (because Dobby sealed it) but find another way to get to school anyway. I think that's more what startup success looks like. Simply having the confidence to run forward is more about how to look at life in general I'd say, when we talk ourselves out of attempting to do things for reasons which are really nothing but false fears.
  - Mz 16y ago
    I've had a lot of dreams in my life to the effect of coming to a brick wall and reaching forward and turning the door handle that didn't exist until I reached for it and opening a door and going through the brick wall, shutting it and watching it turn back into a brick wall for my pursuers. Sorry I can't explain better what needs to go on in one's head to walk through brick walls. But it can be done. Peace.
azharcs 16y ago
Just because you are rejected by VC's or YC doesn't mean anything. Even best of the VC's make mistakes, here is a firm which missed companies like Apple, Intel, Google, Paypal, Ebay etc... http://www.bvp.com/Portfolio/AntiPortfolio.aspx http://www.bvp.com/Portfolio/AntiPortfolio.aspx
afinlayson 16y ago
I love the tenacity, Best of luck boys!
dstein 16y ago
Getting rejected by YC was the best thing to happen to my startup and to improve my motivation.

186 points by ycreject 16y ago

bdclimber14 16y ago

I believe YC applications are open now, so its great timing actually!

smoody 16y ago

totally agree with the 'if at first you don't succeed' aspect of this post, but you have a different co-founder and a different concept now, so your prior rejection, while interesting, is not really related to your current situation.

zizee 16y ago
I agree. I certainly read the title as meaning "I just closed funding on a pitch that PG rejected". Also, congratulations. Glad you didn't give up!
- _pius 16y ago
  I certainly read the title as meaning "I just closed funding on a pitch that PG rejected". YC explicitly says they're looking for the best founders, not necessarily the best idea. In other words they're rejecting you, not your idea.
  - nicholasjbs 16y ago
    They're rejecting the team, which could mean two good people who don't fit well together.
  - patio11 16y ago
    If you think of it like this, you'll poison yourself. Maybe reframe it as "Declined the opportunity to invest in this team at this time." (See also: college, job offers, consulting engagements, and -- took me decades to learn this -- dating.)
    - _pius 16y ago
      I agree with you 100%. That said, I do think it's worth noting that the pleasant fiction of "it was the idea, not us" is patently false for YC. A healthier (and more accurate) way to think of it would be to say that they're rejecting their perception of the team, rather than the team itself.
  - wtn 16y ago
    While this is strictly true, this guy already beat out 90+% of applicants just to get to the interview phase. While it's disappointing not to go all the way, reaching that far is a meaningful accomplishment.
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    This doesn't explain how some people get rejected for one idea and get accepted with another one.

pedalpete 16y ago

Congrats on closing a round of financing, but have you had your YC rejection in the back of your mind all along? If you had pitched with the same co-founder and same idea and still got funded, you could have given PG a big 'told ya so', but different idea, different co-founder, is really a different sitation. Plus, I'm sure YC doesn't invest in many ideas/people that they wish they could, as they have to make selections on very little details. Out of curiosity, what stage are you at with the new company? Did you close your round with a working prototype? moderate user traction? existing customers? Again, congrats on the funding. Best of luck with the new biz.

ycreject 16y ago
Working prototype w/ alpha users, but there's a lot of significant tech involved - i.e. it's not a rails app. And no, YC hasn't been on my mind at all, nor is this a 'told ya so' to PG. I do hang out on HN under a different name though so I thought I'd post for anyone who was feeling frustrated in their own journeys since I know that in-the-moment rejection can sting disproportionally more than during the time that it actually matters, i.e. the rest of your life.
- peteforde 16y ago
  Well, at least it's not Rails! Sheesh, did you work that into your pitch? I understand that you're feeling hot right now, but leave your unfounded technology biases out of it.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - ycreject 16y ago
    You're right. I should have said "a todo app" or something similar - Rails was what came to mind first because of 37 Signals et al who make a lot of that kind of stuff. Aside from that, I'm a huge fan of abstracting commonly made and agreed upon technical decisions further down the stack, making higher level development much simpler and less technically challenging - which is from my understanding what RoR was/is largely about. That's not to say that RoR as a framework isn't in and of itself a technical achievement though.

thewordpainter 16y ago

i don't mind rejection. in fact, i kinda thrive off of it. when YC has told us no in the past --> just sparked the fire that much more. my personal motto: doubt me...please do ;)

apoorvamehta 16y ago
last line made me smile
hydrazine 16y ago
@apoorvamehta Same here; "doubt me and I'll prove you wrong"
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

joshu 16y ago

a decent chunk of the energy for writing delicious was in response to getting rejected by google years ago...

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
DanielRibeiro 16y ago
It is also nice that Techstars rejection notice says: We hope that you are not deterred and we wish you the best of luck with your company And on the link of general explanation "Why Not Us?" (http://www.techstars.org/whynotus/ http://www.techstars.org/whynotus/ ), they go even further: If you’ve applied and received notification of non-selection, we sincerely hope that you will go on to do great things. It will not surprise us one bit. Good luck! It is really nice how people can reframe rejection into non-selection, and non-rejection into making great things. Thanks all for the inspiring examples.

zizee 16y ago

So, is your start up in stealth? Or are you just trying not to brag? Why the anonymity?

jerf 16y ago
That would muddy the core message of 'buck up and keep at it' and turn it into a "take that" at YC, which does not seem to be intended. Being anonymous makes sense here, I think. (I actually clicked through to see if it needed to be flagged because it could be a "take that" and it's not.)
- ycreject 16y ago
  Bingo. YC is changing how the valley works, for the better, and should be recognized as doing so. Additionally, running a (venture backed) company already puts enough scrutiny on me as a person and I'm in no hurry to increase that :)
  - zizee 16y ago
    Good to know. Again, well done on your recent success. Now the real work (and fun) begins :-)

hoag 16y ago

This is a fantastic story. Congratulations, let us in on the loop when you're ready to share!

aditya 16y ago

Congratulations. :-)

InclinedPlane 16y ago

Cheers indeed! P.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b76VWp-voIk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b76VWp-voIk

jmtame 16y ago

i'd be interested in talking to you, can you e-mail me? it's on my profile

yuhong 16y ago

>(if you know who I am, please keep my identity a secret, thanks!) Personally I wouldn't require this whatever possible, even in that case, but that is a different topic altogether so...

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

zhyder 16y ago

A friend of mine got rejected from the current YC batch, but raised $1M from prominent investors less than a month after the YC interview.

JoeAltmaier 16y ago
Same founders? Same project? Its important - this implies YC missed a golden opportunity - did they? Further, was it typical of YC's space - web app, demo'able in weeks, two to 5 founders? If not, then its apples-oranges. Yes, you have to find your investor; YC may not be that investor.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
dshah 16y ago
I'd argue that raising money from YC (specifically) might be harder than raising money generally from angels/VCs. There are still only a finite number of YC applications selected into every cohort (and my guess is, as the brand grows, the number of teams competing grows). But, the number of potential angels and VCs for a deal is not as constrained. Summary: Getting into YC is not the same as raising money from angels/VCs. I wouldn't equate the two. Besides, it's not just about the money.

_pius 16y ago

Congratulations!

ankitgupta 16y ago

If everyone is unanimously excited about your company and agrees with your vision, then there is definitely something wrong there!

lancepantz 16y ago

just so we're all clear... the goal is more than raising money... right?

what-to-do 16y ago

Google and others were also rejected by when they started. Like you said, rejection means nothing.

edge17 16y ago

I know one company that was rejected by yc that is happily investor free, profitable, and doing quite well for themselves. I know another guy that was rejected from YC and just sold his company to another company all of you have heard of. YC is great, but it's one of many paths. Every time I read, "YC rejected me but....." it sounds like "Harvard rejected me, but somehow my life didn't end." Sometimes you wonder how a company managed to exit with their idea but people count for so much. I have friends that, if they had the dumbest idea in the world, I would put my money down because betting against them is a losing game. If it sounds ludicrous, is because you've never had friends like that.

SemanticFog 16y ago

It's impressive that YC helps founders succeed by putting them through a short but intense program. It's even more impressive that YC helps founders succeed by rejecting their applications, and motivating them to try harder. The latter is a truly scalable business model. Maybe YC should get a chunk of stock simply for letting companies apply to the program...

axod 16y ago

Why do people say they got funded as if that's it. They've made it. Job done. Success is now a given. I'm not convinced ability to get funded matches with likelihood of profitability.

wanderful 16y ago
Agreed. Getting funded IS being profitable for some startups. It is as profitable as some startups will ever get, relative to the financial position of the founders prior to funding. And that's fine. Not all startups will be a success. I think funding becomes the thing to do moreso than it becomes the right business decision. I'm more in the bootstrapping camp which is what I'm doing with my startup.
markkat 16y ago
It is a milestone, a worthy and notable achievement. I don't see that this post inferred otherwise. Actually, ycreject says: "Raising funding is only the beginning of this journey..."
brk 16y ago
Why do people say they got funded as if that's it. Where did the OP say or imply this? In fact he even says this is only the beginning of the journey. FWIW, I took his post as an inspirational thing. The demographic of YC applicants seems to skew towards younger people, sometimes with a bit too much pg-love. Getting rejected by your "idol" can be very discouraging, especially to an applicant who may not have gone through such a rejection before (eg: they've been mostly accepted to the schools and colleges of their choice) and/or has not had a lot of other career experience so their "one big dream" was just seemingly crushed. IMO, I think it would be really cool for pg to create a roster list someplace of YC rejects that got alternate sources of funding and/or went to other ventures deemed successful. It could help some of the rejected applicants understand that YC is one option, not the option.
- axod 16y ago
  Yeah maybe I'm being harsh as usual. If I got funding I'd start panicking and thinking to myself "shit now I have to make them a return"... But it often feels like announcements of funding are more like "yay we have cash! Lets buy an office, some go-karts, etc" My personal experience has been that there's only one group you need to impress - your users/customers. If no one else believes in you so what? Likewise, if you manage to get funding (convince one person you might have future success), but have no users/customers, it's a bit "meh". Being rejected from X but accepted at Y still doesn't demonstrate if the idea/person behind it/etc will be successful or not. I'm rambling now so I'll stop.

Mz 16y ago

To quote Randy Pausch: "The brick walls are not there to keep us out, they are there to give us a chance to show us how badly we want something." They are all in your head anyway. I've been thinking about the Harry Potter thing of how they get to the train station for wizarding school by running straight at the brick wall with confidence, which carries them through it and to a different world, where a train awaits to whisk them off to a magical place, a place to learn yet more magic. I think it's a great metaphor. The brick walls aren't really there. Just go at them head on, believing they aren't really there. Oh, and there's no spoon either. Best of luck.

jeromec 16y ago
I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, but it never occurred to me to relate that scene to startups in that way. It makes me smile. :) However, I would tweak the "solid wall" metaphor a bit in the context of startups. For example, running full ahead with a bad idea will never magically become a good idea simply by upping confidence level. I would say the metaphor is more like Book 2 where they hit the wall and bounce back painfully (because Dobby sealed it) but find another way to get to school anyway. I think that's more what startup success looks like. Simply having the confidence to run forward is more about how to look at life in general I'd say, when we talk ourselves out of attempting to do things for reasons which are really nothing but false fears.
- Mz 16y ago
  I've had a lot of dreams in my life to the effect of coming to a brick wall and reaching forward and turning the door handle that didn't exist until I reached for it and opening a door and going through the brick wall, shutting it and watching it turn back into a brick wall for my pursuers. Sorry I can't explain better what needs to go on in one's head to walk through brick walls. But it can be done. Peace.

azharcs 16y ago

Just because you are rejected by VC's or YC doesn't mean anything. Even best of the VC's make mistakes, here is a firm which missed companies like Apple, Intel, Google, Paypal, Ebay etc... http://www.bvp.com/Portfolio/AntiPortfolio.aspx http://www.bvp.com/Portfolio/AntiPortfolio.aspx

afinlayson 16y ago

I love the tenacity, Best of luck boys!

dstein 16y ago

Getting rejected by YC was the best thing to happen to my startup and to improve my motivation.