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Here's my original post, which doesn't mention anything about "empowerment" or "making the world a better place" or "implied systemic misogyny." >> I've always

Here's my original post, which doesn't mention anything about "empowerment" or "making the world a better place" or "implied systemic misogyny." >> I've always been super curious about the YC application vs. accepted demographics. ESPECIALLY who gets told to come back with a co-founder. I applied as a solo woman technical founder with a product that is already close to ramen profitability. Going in, I thought this already made me an outlier - especially because I'll be able to tap my network and hire a founding team with some cash in the bank. The tepid response during YC interviews was jarring. I know the panels are an exhausting marathon, but my group partners acted like they'd rather be anywhere else than talking to me. I got the impression that maybe I'd been invited to fill a quota, and the Zoom interview was just going through the motions. The whole experience made me sit down and reverse-engineer the actions needed to hit 10-15k MRR by Q2 2023. With that amount of cash flow, I can reach out to angels directly. Just 6 angels in for 30k/1% party round is 180k @ 3M post. If you're a woman with a similar story, I'm an angel investor (B2B, Saas, manufacturing). Reach out (email in profile.

manholio 4y ago
If for you "invited to fill a quota" is not [very forcefully] implying systemic misogyny, then you are using the language wrong and will get many more rejections.
- grepLeigh 4y ago
  I don't think "systemic misogyny" fits here. If YC is trying to interview a certain number of under-represented founders per batch (quota), then that seems like an earnest attempt to change their demographics. However, after like 15+ years in the tech world, I've noticed that quota-based targets train people to tune out. I don't think that's misogyny, since it's a pretty natural reaction to check-out if you don't think your input will impact an outcome because there's a mandated quota. Does that make sense? I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here, but I don't think you're assuming good intent or approaching this discussion with the curiosity I've come to respect on HN.
reducesuffering 4y ago
Why would you need 6 angel investments, if you're offering angel investing to others? If you get 6 angels and give out 6 angels, you're just diluting your own stake to diversify into others' extremely illiquid companies that you have no control of. You say you have $2m and $50k expenses. You can self-fund a 4-person team to get to PMF if you want to, without YC's $500k. But based on these 2 signals, you seem risk-averse and not actually willing to go all-in to your company. Personally, I'm a male and didn't get a YC interview for any of my YC applications, but I can't feign sexism over that.
- grepLeigh 4y ago
  This is a really good question, because it seems counter-intuitive to invest your money in other people if your own business needs funding. Here are a few motivations: * When an angel invests 30k, I get value beyond the cash amount. The angels I reach out to are founders with multiple successful exits, board members of other startups, and have 20-30+ years of experience. I get access to a fountain of wisdom and the person is motivated to answer my emails and take my calls when I'm stumped by a challenge. I'm not good at EVERYTHING (who is), but I am proactive about getting help when I need it. * A priced seed round sets the value. Let's say you own 100% of a fine work of art, which you've priced at $10M. There's just one problem - only you value it at 10M, so there's no anchor for the real-world value. To get a return on your investment, you have to find a buyer that agrees with your valuation. What if instead you owned 25% time-share of a work of art (this is a silly asset class, just using it as an example) that you and 3 other people price at $10. If you want to realize a return, there are now at LEAST 3 other prospective buyers that agree on the market value of your shares. * There are more people like me out there. I make angel investments in under-estimated Founders, because they're often overlooked by the pattern-matching lemmings in the institutional investment world. This isn't charity either; since a fund-raising round is similar to an auction, there are fewer investors bidding and betting on these founders. That gives me an edge. I also tend to invest in "work horse" companies, not necessarily potential unicorns. Institutional investors have to chase unicorns that produce outsize returns, but I can participate in seed rounds that never raise after a seed or Series A. There's a fund that follows the same thesis (https://tinyseed.com/ https://tinyseed.com/) but I don't know of many institutional investors who make these kinds of investments. * The best time to raise money is when you don't need it. In the example I gave (6 x 30k @ 1% for 180k/3M post-money for a business earning 10-15k MRR), I have options for revenue-based financing and other kinds of debt. Like I said, a fund-raising round is like an auction. If you have leverage or alternatives, you can command a higher price. YC's startups get 125k for 7% + an additional 375k SAFE, which gets priced when you raise another round. If you sell another 15-20% on demo day, YC can end up owning roughly 20% of your company for 500k. So, all I could think of during the tepid interview was "y'all want 20% of this business, but are acting like you're at the dentist." People didn't even introduce themselves (names) or ask mine. I know this wasn't intentional rudeness, it's due to application volume. The factory-farming way YC operates made me realize I could engineer better circumstances for myself and my business via an angel round. Hope that all makes sense.

manholio 4y ago

If for you "invited to fill a quota" is not [very forcefully] implying systemic misogyny, then you are using the language wrong and will get many more rejections.

grepLeigh 4y ago
I don't think "systemic misogyny" fits here. If YC is trying to interview a certain number of under-represented founders per batch (quota), then that seems like an earnest attempt to change their demographics. However, after like 15+ years in the tech world, I've noticed that quota-based targets train people to tune out. I don't think that's misogyny, since it's a pretty natural reaction to check-out if you don't think your input will impact an outcome because there's a mandated quota. Does that make sense? I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here, but I don't think you're assuming good intent or approaching this discussion with the curiosity I've come to respect on HN.

reducesuffering 4y ago

Why would you need 6 angel investments, if you're offering angel investing to others? If you get 6 angels and give out 6 angels, you're just diluting your own stake to diversify into others' extremely illiquid companies that you have no control of. You say you have $2m and $50k expenses. You can self-fund a 4-person team to get to PMF if you want to, without YC's $500k. But based on these 2 signals, you seem risk-averse and not actually willing to go all-in to your company. Personally, I'm a male and didn't get a YC interview for any of my YC applications, but I can't feign sexism over that.

grepLeigh 4y ago
This is a really good question, because it seems counter-intuitive to invest your money in other people if your own business needs funding. Here are a few motivations: * When an angel invests 30k, I get value beyond the cash amount. The angels I reach out to are founders with multiple successful exits, board members of other startups, and have 20-30+ years of experience. I get access to a fountain of wisdom and the person is motivated to answer my emails and take my calls when I'm stumped by a challenge. I'm not good at EVERYTHING (who is), but I am proactive about getting help when I need it. * A priced seed round sets the value. Let's say you own 100% of a fine work of art, which you've priced at $10M. There's just one problem - only you value it at 10M, so there's no anchor for the real-world value. To get a return on your investment, you have to find a buyer that agrees with your valuation. What if instead you owned 25% time-share of a work of art (this is a silly asset class, just using it as an example) that you and 3 other people price at $10. If you want to realize a return, there are now at LEAST 3 other prospective buyers that agree on the market value of your shares. * There are more people like me out there. I make angel investments in under-estimated Founders, because they're often overlooked by the pattern-matching lemmings in the institutional investment world. This isn't charity either; since a fund-raising round is similar to an auction, there are fewer investors bidding and betting on these founders. That gives me an edge. I also tend to invest in "work horse" companies, not necessarily potential unicorns. Institutional investors have to chase unicorns that produce outsize returns, but I can participate in seed rounds that never raise after a seed or Series A. There's a fund that follows the same thesis (https://tinyseed.com/ https://tinyseed.com/) but I don't know of many institutional investors who make these kinds of investments. * The best time to raise money is when you don't need it. In the example I gave (6 x 30k @ 1% for 180k/3M post-money for a business earning 10-15k MRR), I have options for revenue-based financing and other kinds of debt. Like I said, a fund-raising round is like an auction. If you have leverage or alternatives, you can command a higher price. YC's startups get 125k for 7% + an additional 375k SAFE, which gets priced when you raise another round. If you sell another 15-20% on demo day, YC can end up owning roughly 20% of your company for 500k. So, all I could think of during the tepid interview was "y'all want 20% of this business, but are acting like you're at the dentist." People didn't even introduce themselves (names) or ask mine. I know this wasn't intentional rudeness, it's due to application volume. The factory-farming way YC operates made me realize I could engineer better circumstances for myself and my business via an angel round. Hope that all makes sense.