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What a great and honest post. Thank you for that. As for your company, it looks like an innovative and amazing idea. I, for one, would be a customer. Please na

by kloncks 16y ago

What a great and honest post. Thank you for that. As for your company, it looks like an innovative and amazing idea. I, for one, would be a customer. Please nail San Francisco and then expand to my city. It's great to read that you've decided to keep going. A lot of companies rejected by YC have went on successfully; some have even re-applied several times before getting in. (I remember reading about a company in the most recent one applying six times?) So don't despair. Please don't give up. Chalk it up as a learning experience and keep going forward. Good luck! Hope to hear back from you guys through a post detailing your future success.

Alex3917 16y ago
"A lot of companies rejected by YC have went on successfully; some have even re-applied several times before getting in." I applied with someone who is widely recognized as one of the smartest tech folks on HN. We got rejected. A couple years later I reapplied and got accepted as a non-technical single founder. In two years I went from getting shot down despite having a dream team on paper, to getting accepted despite setting off basically every 'badness' flag on the app. It's kind of a long story as to why, but the point is that things change fast in startup land, that's why we do them in the first place.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- citizenkeys 16y ago
  I think of the YC application like a ritual. After being rejected the first time, each successive application at least forces you to consciously consider how much you've improved your idea and start-up in the six months since the last application. I would imagine that part of the "determination" that YC looks for in founders is shown in the people that get rejected several times and continue to persevere. As for your start-up, I really like both the idea and name of Swagapalooza.
- stevenj 16y ago
  >...got accepted as a non-technical single founder. That's interesting. I didn't know YC had funded a non-technical single founder before. I wonder how many non-technical single founders it's funded to-date. >It's kind of a long story as to why Would love to hear that story. Also, what startup did you get in with?
  - Alex3917 16y ago
    "Would love to hear that story." I just wrote up the story as a blog post: http://alexkrupp.typepad.com/sensemaking/2011/04/how-i-got-into-yc-as-a-non-technical-single-founder.html http://alexkrupp.typepad.com/sensemaking/2011/04/how-i-got-i...
- gibybo 16y ago
  I'm also interested in the long story :)
- arach 16y ago
  >> It's kind of a long story as to why, I'm also interested in this story. This is one case where not seeing vote counts encourages me to write a comment that doesn't add value. Voting up the other 2 replies wouldn't be that useful. Would it?
- chmike 16y ago
  I guess it is the business project that made the difference and eventually how well it was thought and prepared. The goal should be the business not to be accepted by YC ;)
dave1619 16y ago
I agree. I really like the idea. I'm already ordering some prepared meals from a caterer every week for my family and it's great.
ra 16y ago
Agreed. I would love to treat our staff to a quality chef cooked lunch in the office every Friday for a reasonable price. Hopefully you'll make it as far as Sydney.
bradgessler 16y ago
https://munchery.com/ https://munchery.com/ (Van didn't link to his company in the post, so here it is)
jacoblyles 16y ago
>"it looks like an innovative and amazing idea..." What a different perspective you get living in Silicon Valley. I personally know the founders of half a dozen competitors to Munchery in the same geographical area, and there are probably dozens of serious competitors that I don't know about. I don't envy startups in that space. It is too sexy; it has the "actor/rockstar" curse. There are too many founders jumping in because they love it and it's fun without thinking carefully about how to build an audience and get traction. Many of them have damn impressive teams, too. On the other hand if there are that many companies coming up with the idea independently, then maybe it is the "right time" for it and a few will be successful. But from an investor's perspective I don't understand how you pick which one to fund.
- rch 16y ago
  You have to fund the one with the right vision for the web service - which should be flexible enough to compete with the couch-surfer guys, groupon, and whatever else on a whim. For instance - if you're selling meals for $20+, then also sell wine storage (maybe like vinfolio, but not so overtly pretentious). There are some pretty clear growth strategies, I think. (but fix the name)

by kloncks 16y ago

Alex3917 16y ago

"A lot of companies rejected by YC have went on successfully; some have even re-applied several times before getting in." I applied with someone who is widely recognized as one of the smartest tech folks on HN. We got rejected. A couple years later I reapplied and got accepted as a non-technical single founder. In two years I went from getting shot down despite having a dream team on paper, to getting accepted despite setting off basically every 'badness' flag on the app. It's kind of a long story as to why, but the point is that things change fast in startup land, that's why we do them in the first place.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
citizenkeys 16y ago
I think of the YC application like a ritual. After being rejected the first time, each successive application at least forces you to consciously consider how much you've improved your idea and start-up in the six months since the last application. I would imagine that part of the "determination" that YC looks for in founders is shown in the people that get rejected several times and continue to persevere. As for your start-up, I really like both the idea and name of Swagapalooza.
stevenj 16y ago
>...got accepted as a non-technical single founder. That's interesting. I didn't know YC had funded a non-technical single founder before. I wonder how many non-technical single founders it's funded to-date. >It's kind of a long story as to why Would love to hear that story. Also, what startup did you get in with?
- Alex3917 16y ago
  "Would love to hear that story." I just wrote up the story as a blog post: http://alexkrupp.typepad.com/sensemaking/2011/04/how-i-got-into-yc-as-a-non-technical-single-founder.html http://alexkrupp.typepad.com/sensemaking/2011/04/how-i-got-i...
gibybo 16y ago
I'm also interested in the long story :)
arach 16y ago
>> It's kind of a long story as to why, I'm also interested in this story. This is one case where not seeing vote counts encourages me to write a comment that doesn't add value. Voting up the other 2 replies wouldn't be that useful. Would it?
chmike 16y ago
I guess it is the business project that made the difference and eventually how well it was thought and prepared. The goal should be the business not to be accepted by YC ;)

dave1619 16y ago

I agree. I really like the idea. I'm already ordering some prepared meals from a caterer every week for my family and it's great.

ra 16y ago

Agreed. I would love to treat our staff to a quality chef cooked lunch in the office every Friday for a reasonable price. Hopefully you'll make it as far as Sydney.

bradgessler 16y ago

https://munchery.com/ https://munchery.com/ (Van didn't link to his company in the post, so here it is)

jacoblyles 16y ago

>"it looks like an innovative and amazing idea..." What a different perspective you get living in Silicon Valley. I personally know the founders of half a dozen competitors to Munchery in the same geographical area, and there are probably dozens of serious competitors that I don't know about. I don't envy startups in that space. It is too sexy; it has the "actor/rockstar" curse. There are too many founders jumping in because they love it and it's fun without thinking carefully about how to build an audience and get traction. Many of them have damn impressive teams, too. On the other hand if there are that many companies coming up with the idea independently, then maybe it is the "right time" for it and a few will be successful. But from an investor's perspective I don't understand how you pick which one to fund.

rch 16y ago
You have to fund the one with the right vision for the web service - which should be flexible enough to compete with the couch-surfer guys, groupon, and whatever else on a whim. For instance - if you're selling meals for $20+, then also sell wine storage (maybe like vinfolio, but not so overtly pretentious). There are some pretty clear growth strategies, I think. (but fix the name)