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How We Got into Y Combinator
- Alex3917 14y agoWho knew, all this time you just had to add &accept=1 to the end of the URL.
- polyfractal 14y agoI'm curious, why did you apply to YC if you were already bootstrapped and bringing in revenue? For the connections? Unrelated, I like your "Tweet this quote" sidebars...clever idea. :)
- lloydarmbrust 14y agoBecause when you start a company, everything is against you. Being a YC company, for the knowledge base and the connections, removes a lot of barriers and opens a lot of doors. Plus, being two guys from the Midwest, we really didn't know what we were doing. After YC, our path was much clearer.
- polyfractal 14y agoCool, thanks for the honest response. :)
- jsiarto 14y ago"Besides, getting in Y Combinator is easy: just be wicked smart, create a beautiful product, get millions of users, and build a revenue stream that grows 20% each month." If your company's revenue stream is growing 20% each month on the backs of millions of users, why are you applying to Y-Combinator?
- IsaacL 14y agoI think they were being flippant.
- rolux 14y agoInsightful article that would have benefited from a less sensationalist headline. "Hacking the Y Combinator Application Process" makes a promise that you fail to deliver on.
- lloydarmbrust 14y agoTo be fair, I said "How We..." Did it. Also, I made sure to clarify the point of the post with the beginning disclaimer. Apologies if you felt mislead. LMK a better title and ill change it. Also, I hope there's plenty of stuff in there that demonstrates how to write a good application.
- rolux 14y agoNo need to apologize. The meaning of "hacking" has changed over time, and of course you're free to contribute to that.
- benologist 14y ago"How We Applied To YC, Got Accepted"
- brianmcdonough 14y agoRe: Article Title Suggestion: "Why YC Made Sense for Our Business and How We Got In" or "How I Was Almost Eaten by a Shark (or something equally absurd), but Got into YC Combinator Anyway" Humor may really help the article to gain acceptance and readership.
- pg 14y agoI went back and looked at their application to see what we liked about it. What we liked is that they really understood their domain. This was not random undergrads making up some idea about social shopping. These people clearly understood local newspapers.
- aidenn0 14y agoOut of curiousity, do you find that a lot of people applying under RFS don't understand their domain? It seems to me that a lot of those things are things that are both clearly broken, and not yet fixed, which means you get a lot of people from the sidelines saying "Oh all you need to do to fix that is ..." not knowing that the exact thing has been tried and failed dozens of times.
- pg 14y agoA lot of people who apply don't understand their domain, but I've never looked at whether this is more or less true for applications that mention a specific RFS.
- MojoJolo 14y agoThis is a good read. You really know what you want, and what to do. Concrete plan. Midwest is still in the US right. It's funny, I just read earlier here in YC an accepted application but failed in the interview. This is a good example of a YC application but I'm more intrigue with applications outside America, or in Asia. And dealing with what you said as language barriers, culture differences, and also the visa problem.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- hafabnew 14y agoThis is not 'hacking' the application process in the slightest. You prepared yourselves well; there's a difference. But then again, the title got you on the frontpage of HN, which was almost certainly the goal.
- Torrents 14y agoIs 27 really considered that old in the YC circle? Does it actually put you at a significant disadvantage in the application process?
- CaveTech 14y agoIIRC the average founder age is about 27-29.
- dorkrawk 14y agoI'm 29. Since I finished my undergrad I've gone to grad school, done work for huge companies, small companies, universities, and worked at a startup. I think all of these first hand experiences will prove to be very valuable in my future entrepreneurial endeavors. As always, YMMV.
- biot 14y agoYeah, I found the phrase "we were both pretty old (27)" to be equal parts amusing and depressing. Sort of like when an intern in the office (after a few beers) told us he was dreading the day that he turned 20. That got a lot of chuckles from those of us with a few grey hairs.
- sethbannon 14y agoThere's a lot of great material in this post, but as a recent YC alum myself, I have a number of problems with it. 1) "If you’re writing your Y Comb application and it takes you less than a month of work, you’re not trying hard enough." No. You should not be spending that much effort on your application to YC -- or any accelerator. Should you have a few people read it over? Yes. Should you spellcheck? Yes. But not much more than that. Focus on building your product and building your business. 2) "no one’s video is under a minute." Ours was. 50 seconds, to be exact. 3) "But my point is, if your company and team is solid, than you will get in." This is the most dangerous statement in the post. This is simply not the case. Every successful entrepreneur was told "no" and turned down time and time again on their path to greatness. Facebook got "no's" from VCs. Airbnb's founders were told they were crazy. Many people outright laughed at Elon Musk's dream to build rocket ships. SendGrid was rejected from YC. If you believe in your team, and you believe in your idea, trek on. The YC partners are some of the smartest people I've ever met, but they're not infallible. YC has been absolutely amazing for my team and my company, and we're very grateful for having gone through the program. But we likely wouldn't have been accepted and wouldn't have benefitted so much from the program if we weren't focused intensely on what matters -- building our product, talking to our customers, and staying healthy. Apply, hope you get in, but if you don't, carry on.
- gleb 14y agoCouldn't agree more on all counts. What works for one team will not always apply to another. I started filling out our application 2 hours before the deadline, and I am a slow writer. It worked out for us, but I wouldn't recommend this approach. Correlation is not causation. Best applications consistently keep the video under 1 minute. Given the culture of conciseness in YC I wouldn't recommend intentionally going longer.
- lloydarmbrust 14y agoA month is not 730.484 hours on your application, it's spending a lot of time thinking and musing about your application and your business. Our application process helped hone and focus our business in ways that nothing else has. I would argue that working hard on your YC application is working hard on your company. As you've pointed out twice (#2,#3), there are always exceptions to rules. If a company does not make it past a YC interview, then there was something that YC didn't like... it can only help that company to try to extract that issue and deal with it early on.
- CaveTech 14y agoI'm not sure if this is something good to admit or not, but I only spent about 2 hours writing my YC application, and we spent about 15 minutes planning and filming the video, no editing. The video got 2 views. We got asked to do an interview. Seems like every "YC Application Advice" blog is about spending hundreds of hours doing an APPLICATION. To me this sounds absurd. If you're really using the time to figure out the direction you want to head, or where your product focus is, then fine. But then it's not really for your YC application, its for your company. In the end we didn't get in. We didn't have a sound business strategy; our focus was on the product. Nieve, yes, but lesson learned. It was one hell of an experience.
- cletus 14y agoLooks like they put a lot of effort in here and are excited about what they're doing. Congrats. But, as an aside, can we please kill the abusage of the word "hacked" because, as far as I can tell, it's being used as a synonym for "did a lot of research and spent a bunch of time on".
- Timothee 14y agoHaving deep industry knowledge, a product with paying customers and spending a lot of time preparing the application and video is not "hacking" the application process. I typically think of the term in the way it's used in the question "Please tell us about the time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage." I.e. something like finding a loophole. It's too bad, this diverts the discussion on that post around the use of the word, whereas there is some good stuff in there.
- localhost3000 14y agoif you read the answer to that very question on their application it falls pretty much in line with your parent's characterization: "did a bunch of research and spent a bunch of time on [drafting some legal documents]"
- amirmc 14y agoI've noticed that too. Alas, everybody wants a shortcut -- and the word 'hacked' implies that someone found one (for stories like these).
- brown9-2 14y agoI think it also makes the link that much more attractive to readers: "How we Did A Very Good Job on the Y Combinator Application Process and Got in" versus "How we Hacked the Y Combinator Application Process and Got in"
- cletus 14y agoThere's a word for when you choose a snappier title that doesn't reflect reality to get more clicks. It's called linkbait.
- evmar 14y agoRegarding spellcheck: I noticed the application contains the typo "bolierplate".
- lloydarmbrust 14y agoHa.. nice!
- dbecker 14y ago"Y Combinator is the most exclusive thing in the world that you can openly apply to." I hope you don't actually believe that... if you do, start-up groupthink is definitely getting to you.
- padobson 14y agoWhat's more exclusive that you can openly apply to?
- philwelch 14y agoI guess one counterexample might be the Navy SEALS--anyone can openly apply to enlist in the Navy, and once enlisted, a sailor can openly apply for SEAL training.
- scott_s 14y agoNASA Astronaut.
- dbecker 14y agoThere are admittedly a few ways to measure exclusivity and define openness. If you account for applicant quality in how you measure exclusivity: NSF fellowships, top medical schools, top JD programs, top science PhD programs, many jobs, some country clubs, The Rhodes and Marshall scholarships come to mind as "most exclusive." They're arguably not "open application" due to age requirements. I suspect YC has an age requirement too, but it is less restrictive (and less explicit.) If you don't control for applicant quality, then even entry-level jobs are more exclusive than YC. I've been in charge of hiring for a jobs where we made job offers to less than 0.5% of applicants. Which is just to say that acceptance rate alone isn't the right metric. I think I'm touching on a small sliver of the "most exclusive things" list. The fact that most of the world hasn't heard of YC would also suggest that there are also exclusive programs in other fields that we aren't familiar with.
- lloydarmbrust 14y agoThere are literally no requirements to apply to YC, except wanting to be in YC (which implies you want to build something). Rhodes and Marshall have specific requirements, even your job hire probably had requirements (high-school education, must be able to lift 30 lbs). That's what makes YC so amazing... anyone, anywhere, can apply.
- mddw 14y agoI know this is Hacker news, but hacking, bootstrapping or kickstarting are slowly becoming meaningless buzzwords. Please please stop using them for anything.
- tomasien 14y agoI can't imagine spending over a month writing your YC application is something PG would recommend, but I do love the idea of having a few random people explain your application back to you. That's great advice about being sure you're writing is clear in general. I can't imagine "we're already making money" and the fact that you were doing it monetization journalism (an RFS and a tough one) didn't help you get in more than the clarity of your application though. That seems to be a proof point beyond anything you could have written, to me.
- icewater 14y agoThe word hacked gets thrown around way too much.
- beebs93 14y agoCongrats on the win, but: "...we basically don’t have an accent..." You do. It's called "American". :P
- cpocpo 14y ago>even if we don’t get in, this trip has convinced us that we’re moving out to the valley to do this full time. Simply curious, why did you decide to build the company in Austin, TX?
- ericabiz 14y agoHi, I can't speak for Lloyd. But, as someone else who's building a funded startup here in Austin--and who sits about 10 feet away from Lloyd and OwnLocal every day!--I can answer it for me/my startup. I ran my last company in the Valley and did really well--I exited for 7 figures. I am building my current company in Austin because I see here what the Valley was in 2002-2004. Growing fast, retooling itself as a startup hub, and building real businesses with real revenue. Developers are (somewhat) easier to hire here. Salaries and cost of living are lower. No state income tax saves you some good money, too (matters more once you get acquired and/or start pulling down a larger salary.) Weather is less great, but you do have seasons here, which I can appreciate, having lived in California most of my adult life. Funding is available, though not quite as easy to get as in the Bay Area. However, I will say, once you figure out who the investors are in Austin, they love to invest in local companies with traction and revenue. And there are venture funds here, as well. In addition to local funds, 500 Startups makes several trips through Austin a year and funds the most promising startups here. Plus, Austin is a fun city that has a lot of fresh, young energy. Thriving culture, bike- and scooter-friendly, and did I mention you can actually afford to buy a house here? I suppose that's more important for us "old fogies" who are already in our 30's. ;) Oh, yeah, and you can drink beer at the movies thanks to Alamo Drafthouse. Also, if you're a foodie, Austin is epic. I still can't believe the Bay Area doesn't have an equivalent to Central Market. I wrote a more in-depth blog post before I left for Austin: http://www.erica.biz/2011/california-im-leaving-you/ http://www.erica.biz/2011/california-im-leaving-you/ And I can safely say that moving here to run a high-growth, B2B tech startup was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
- lloydarmbrust 14y agoOur not-so-well written post about this last year is here: http://ownlocal.com/newspaper-support-group/a-successful-startup-not-based-in-the-valley/ http://ownlocal.com/newspaper-support-group/a-successful-sta... The short version is that we work with small newspapers, and small newspapers sometimes like the idea of working with people from Austin instead of San Francisco. (Yes, I realize how crazy that sounds.) It also suits me better personally, and it seems to be easier to raise a relatively large (and young) family. I made a go of it in the valley for a year, and it was a lot of fun, but we're happy to be a part of the Austin Tech community now.
- timpeterson 14y agoYCombinator is just like college now. Its all about getting in and not about what you're supposed to do when you're there. lame.
- Quarrelsome 14y agoWhy does the YC app form ask you to not password protect the demo site?
- joeblau 14y ago> just be wicked smart, create a beautiful product, get millions of users, and build a revenue stream that grows 20% each month. If you did this, why would you need YC?
- omnisci 14y agoI found this useful. Even if the terms are being abused, it always helps to have others perspectives on how they succeeded. Regardless if it doesn't apply to your system/experience, it is still a valid (and successful) method of getting in. Do you need to work for 1 month to submit the YC application? Nope. Did it work for them: Yep. So, as with anything, YMMV but getting as many different perspectives as possible can only help. Hack a bootstrap to get kickstarted.
- ezl 14y agoChildren are useless until around the age of three. I never thought it would take them thatlong to become real people. Love this answer.
- psycho 14y agoIt looks like you, guys, are embarassed by your age. "We're too old - we are already 27". Damn, I thought that you were at least 50 when I read it. As far as I remember, PG told about 26 to be average age for applicants. I'm 27 right now but I'm not going to retire tomorrow - hell, I'm still to young and will be even when I be 40. :)
- brackin 14y agoUseful piece. I started breaking down our YC application and rewriting answers and I realised that I could write much of what I've put in a much shorter manor that is to the point.
- missechokit 14y agoThe most interesting part of this, I think, is the tweet buttons with the quotes everywhere. Does that make an appreciable change in terms of people sharing? Or does it just take up a bunch of space?
- johncoogan 14y ago403 lol jk but seriously.
- lloydarmbrust 14y agocaching error. apologies. up now.