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I meant that a founder who is already confident of her product or her ability to grow her business without the YC cachet, or, more substantially, a founder who
by vinnyvichy 3y ago
I meant that a founder who is already confident of her product or her ability to grow her business without the YC cachet, or, more substantially, a founder who is already acutely aware of the dangers of premature (fundability) optimization, would naturally not feel the need to apply to YC. If she does not apply, then by virtue of YC's positioning, she has been filtered out in favour of founders who prioritize looking impressive.
- dang 3y agoI don't think that logic quite works. YC funds quite a few amazing repeat founders. Having been around a lot of the batches, I don't think the majority prioritize "looking impressive". It's true that such types exist, and that they try to get into YC, but YC's application and interview process is designed to filter them out. If they get in anyhow, that's considered a failure on YC's part. But you're right in the sense that some first-time founders who want to build a great product can be lacking in confidence, or aren't clear on some of the steps they need to take, and those are areas where YC can help a lot. For seasoned repeat founders, those presumably aren't the urgent issue anymore.
- vinnyvichy 3y agoI'm guessing the repeat founders ought to feature more prominently in the branding :)