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We're in the current W22 batch with Andi. We raised a small amount of funding after getting accepted to YC but before the batch started. I would guess that is a

We're in the current W22 batch with Andi. We raised a small amount of funding after getting accepted to YC but before the batch started. I would guess that is a non-trivial percent of the "raised money before YC". I think it's the other way around really. You're much more interesting to investors once you're in YC, not more interesting to YC once you have investors. We're not from Ivy League colleges (drop-outs). Never worked at FAANGs or unicorns. Not a dev tool. Definitely huge risk (new search engine taking on Google). I think YC cares about what they say they care about - making something people want. That's it. That's the secret. Having a small number (even 10s) of people who really love what you're making matters more than all the other signals you list.

ankit219 5y ago
You mean you got accepted into YC, then a few investors heard about you, and decided to fund you before you start the batch or take the YC deal? I did not think of it like that. Any insights as to why you would accept money just before entering YC, given there is a high probability you would get more money at higher floor through YC. Also, while I like what Andi is doing (some marketing terms aside), it's not a market risk (if you call yourself a search engine[1]). The market definitely exists, and is a Trillion $ one, with Google already dominating it. It depends on your execution ability as to how you capture it according to your strategy (which currently looks smart), but if you can't, the reason would be you could not outcompete Google, and not "the market is too small or does not exist". A typical market risk problem would be Airbnb for example. Edit: All the best for the demo day [1]: You can also be called a smart assistant. This way it has market risk, but carries negative connotation as the existing ones aren't as good. You know your strategy best, and I think it's a 10x better experience if I get the answer without having to open the link.
- jedwhite 5y ago
  In our case it was friendly parties. But the YC validation made it straightforward, and I think would help anyone raising before the batch. We were an early admit so we're an unusual situation that way. And thank you. You're right that execution is all that matters for us. Our most important thing is focusing 100% on what our users want, and iterating as quickly as we can toward product market fit based on feedback. So we are a classic case of "code and talk to users" as all that matters.

ankit219 5y ago

You mean you got accepted into YC, then a few investors heard about you, and decided to fund you before you start the batch or take the YC deal? I did not think of it like that. Any insights as to why you would accept money just before entering YC, given there is a high probability you would get more money at higher floor through YC. Also, while I like what Andi is doing (some marketing terms aside), it's not a market risk (if you call yourself a search engine[1]). The market definitely exists, and is a Trillion $ one, with Google already dominating it. It depends on your execution ability as to how you capture it according to your strategy (which currently looks smart), but if you can't, the reason would be you could not outcompete Google, and not "the market is too small or does not exist". A typical market risk problem would be Airbnb for example. Edit: All the best for the demo day [1]: You can also be called a smart assistant. This way it has market risk, but carries negative connotation as the existing ones aren't as good. You know your strategy best, and I think it's a 10x better experience if I get the answer without having to open the link.

jedwhite 5y ago
In our case it was friendly parties. But the YC validation made it straightforward, and I think would help anyone raising before the batch. We were an early admit so we're an unusual situation that way. And thank you. You're right that execution is all that matters for us. Our most important thing is focusing 100% on what our users want, and iterating as quickly as we can toward product market fit based on feedback. So we are a classic case of "code and talk to users" as all that matters.