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Very strange hearing such stories. I remember a company I worked for went through a YC interview. We were rejected with "we are not sure you can deliver". At

Very strange hearing such stories. I remember a company I worked for went through a YC interview. We were rejected with "we are not sure you can deliver". At that point, we had built 2 mobile apps, a big customer wesbite, rich portals for partners, contractors and admins, had thousands of customers, were almost profitable. Our CEO had a history of delivering in that he sold his previous startup. I must sound bitter, but it's pretty gut-wrenching when someone gets throgh by making UI mockups during a zoom call.

chrisfrantz 4y ago
I could be wrong here, but it sounds like you would have been further along than anyone I met in the batch. The majority of folks I spent time with were starting from scratch.
- therusskiy 4y ago
  The founder never told it in great detail, but he did say he thought "they started on the wrong foot" with the interviewers. Now that I think about it, you mentioned you had a laugh together. Like with everything in life, there's probably a big subconcious bias towards people you like that extends to products they build.
upupandup 4y ago
I'm willing to bet race has some underlying influence whether they like to admit it or not.
- therusskiy 4y ago
  The founder was jewish in his late 30s :-)
  - upupandup 4y ago
    I mean just the fact that there is overwhelming presentation from one group not speaking to your founder here. Sounds like if he's that far in the game, they won't be able to steer him
- balsam 4y ago
  Probably not skin color, but maybe founder was born in an authoritarian place (like Russia)? Far more likely that he used Windows, Word, or preferred Java, though.
  - therusskiy 4y ago
    the founder is from San Francisco, our codebase was in Ruby / React
robocat 4y ago
Why feel bad? Watch other growing companies pitch and crash. I suspect it is harder to sell when you have a little traction. . . Easier to sell vapour than solids ;)
alexcnwy 4y ago
OP’s previous company had been acquired, demonstrating ability to deliver

chrisfrantz 4y ago

I could be wrong here, but it sounds like you would have been further along than anyone I met in the batch. The majority of folks I spent time with were starting from scratch.

therusskiy 4y ago
The founder never told it in great detail, but he did say he thought "they started on the wrong foot" with the interviewers. Now that I think about it, you mentioned you had a laugh together. Like with everything in life, there's probably a big subconcious bias towards people you like that extends to products they build.

upupandup 4y ago

I'm willing to bet race has some underlying influence whether they like to admit it or not.

therusskiy 4y ago
The founder was jewish in his late 30s :-)
- upupandup 4y ago
  I mean just the fact that there is overwhelming presentation from one group not speaking to your founder here. Sounds like if he's that far in the game, they won't be able to steer him
balsam 4y ago
Probably not skin color, but maybe founder was born in an authoritarian place (like Russia)? Far more likely that he used Windows, Word, or preferred Java, though.
- therusskiy 4y ago
  the founder is from San Francisco, our codebase was in Ruby / React

robocat 4y ago

Why feel bad? Watch other growing companies pitch and crash. I suspect it is harder to sell when you have a little traction. . . Easier to sell vapour than solids ;)

alexcnwy 4y ago

OP’s previous company had been acquired, demonstrating ability to deliver