3 ms·

A couple new things this cycle: It's going to be in Silicon Valley, not Boston, in case anyone still hasn't heard about that (http://ycombinator.com/ycca.html

by pg 18y ago

A couple new things this cycle: It's going to be in Silicon Valley, not Boston, in case anyone still hasn't heard about that (http://ycombinator.com/ycca.html http://ycombinator.com/ycca.html). Fortunately the Mountain View office is much bigger. We were pretty much at the limit in Cambridge. Also, we're asking applicants to submit videos introducing themselves this time. Thanks for Posterous for saving me from having to write code to deal with submitted videos!

icey 18y ago
Out of nothing more than pure curiosity, what do you gain (perceived or otherwise) from the new video requirement? Does it just raise the bar of entry enough that you receive fewer applications; or is there something to be gained by the determination as to whether or not someone is comfortable in front of a camera? Applying for a YC cycle is not on my to-do list for the foreseeable future, but if there is some kind of insight to be gained from video applications, I'd love to hear about it.
- pg 18y ago
  I ended up explaining this to cperciva (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=474457 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=474457). Basically we just want to see what people are like. When we do interviews we always feel that we know more about a group after 30 seconds in person than from reading their whole application. We were hoping that video would give us some of that a step earlier.
  - icey 18y ago
    It does seem much more agreeable when you look at it as being a "pre-interview". I know when meeting someone in person it's pretty easy to tell how passionate they are about what they're doing (or even how comfortable they are with their ideas). I do hope that you'll write about the results of this particular experiment once its done, I'm curious about how it turns out for you.
dpapathanasiou 18y ago
I suppose that also means no more Startup Schools in Cambridge as well?
- zach 18y ago
  Well, Langley Steinert and Olin Shivers, who both gave great presentations, were nonetheless the only local speakers apart from VC and law firm partners, right? Everyone else was flying in anyway. Good question, though. I went to the Harvard Summer School in high school, so I'm still infatuated with the area -- I'd love to have an excuse to go back to Cambridge again. I traveled from California to Startup School '05 with a 10-month-old, so I know it can be done!
- pg 18y ago
  Probably not, but there probably wouldn't have been anyway. Only the first was in Cambridge. The three since have all been in the Valley, because it's so much easier to get speakers here.
cperciva 18y ago
we're asking applicants to submit videos introducing themselves I'm glad I'm not applying this time. Never mind the irritation of figuring out how to create a video (I'm sure it's easy, but why spend time figuring that out when I could be hacking?) -- I simply don't video well, especially in artificial-seeming situations. And I don't think a video would tell you anything useful about me anyway; my most natural voice is the written voice, so that's what you should listen to if you want to learn anything about me. I can see a couple of potential advantages to requiring an introductory video -- first, it allows you to detect some fraudulent applications; and second, it raises the bar for entry, thus removing some of the less serious applications -- but my impression from everything I've read here is that neither of those are particularly problematic even without videos. I'll admit that some people speak better in video than in writing -- although I think this applies more often to business people than to hackers -- but surely the right solution to deal with such people is to make an introductory video optional, not to make it mandatory. I know there's a lot you can see when you engage a candidate in conversation which you can't see on a written page; but a unilateral video doesn't tell you how well someone can carry on a bilateral or multilateral conversation either. I'm sure you guys have some reason for this... but I certainly can't see it. Why?
- pclark 18y ago
  how were you going to give your pitch & demo?
  - cperciva 18y ago
    My code speaks for itself.
    - andreyf 18y ago
      Of course YC won't be basing their decision solely on the video, it's just a very valuable piece of input. If your best voice is your written voice, you might want to partner up with a guy that has technical depth, but can also give a wicked in-person presentation.
toisanji 18y ago
I am applying this year, it is definitely going to be a challenge for me since I am camera shy, but hopefully it weeds out a lot of non serious people.
unalone 18y ago
Can we do anything other than video at Posterous? My cofounder and I are distance-separated, and I don't know how we'd make a video like that. Could we do a two-person audio conference, for instance? And if it turns out we're not able to submit something like that, would you say that puts us at a disadvantage versus somebody that's sending in a good relaxed video? I've waited a year to apply, though, and this is an utter thrill! I got such a such seeing the applications open this morning.
- gravitycop 18y ago
  a two-person audio conference, for instance? How about a Skype video-conference? http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/videocall http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/videocall Some angel investors use it to attend far-away board meetings from home.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Huh! That's a very definite possibility. Of course, that lacks the personal feel of an in-person film: maybe we'll both try and long-distance to New York City for the occasion.
    - gravitycop 18y ago
      Update: I guess Skype-to-Skype video calling is limited to just two participants, for now: http://support.skype.com/en_US/faq/FA661/How-do-I-start-a-video-conference http://support.skype.com/en_US/faq/FA661/How-do-I-start-a-vi... Video calls are only possible with two participants. Unfortunately, video conferences are not possible at the moment. So, you could "conference" between two people (or two locations), but that's it (which should be enough if it's just two founders).
      - unalone 18y ago
        Hm. Still not certain how I would record that...

by pg 18y ago

icey 18y ago

Out of nothing more than pure curiosity, what do you gain (perceived or otherwise) from the new video requirement? Does it just raise the bar of entry enough that you receive fewer applications; or is there something to be gained by the determination as to whether or not someone is comfortable in front of a camera? Applying for a YC cycle is not on my to-do list for the foreseeable future, but if there is some kind of insight to be gained from video applications, I'd love to hear about it.

pg 18y ago
I ended up explaining this to cperciva (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=474457 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=474457). Basically we just want to see what people are like. When we do interviews we always feel that we know more about a group after 30 seconds in person than from reading their whole application. We were hoping that video would give us some of that a step earlier.
- icey 18y ago
  It does seem much more agreeable when you look at it as being a "pre-interview". I know when meeting someone in person it's pretty easy to tell how passionate they are about what they're doing (or even how comfortable they are with their ideas). I do hope that you'll write about the results of this particular experiment once its done, I'm curious about how it turns out for you.

dpapathanasiou 18y ago

I suppose that also means no more Startup Schools in Cambridge as well?

zach 18y ago
Well, Langley Steinert and Olin Shivers, who both gave great presentations, were nonetheless the only local speakers apart from VC and law firm partners, right? Everyone else was flying in anyway. Good question, though. I went to the Harvard Summer School in high school, so I'm still infatuated with the area -- I'd love to have an excuse to go back to Cambridge again. I traveled from California to Startup School '05 with a 10-month-old, so I know it can be done!
pg 18y ago
Probably not, but there probably wouldn't have been anyway. Only the first was in Cambridge. The three since have all been in the Valley, because it's so much easier to get speakers here.

cperciva 18y ago

we're asking applicants to submit videos introducing themselves I'm glad I'm not applying this time. Never mind the irritation of figuring out how to create a video (I'm sure it's easy, but why spend time figuring that out when I could be hacking?) -- I simply don't video well, especially in artificial-seeming situations. And I don't think a video would tell you anything useful about me anyway; my most natural voice is the written voice, so that's what you should listen to if you want to learn anything about me. I can see a couple of potential advantages to requiring an introductory video -- first, it allows you to detect some fraudulent applications; and second, it raises the bar for entry, thus removing some of the less serious applications -- but my impression from everything I've read here is that neither of those are particularly problematic even without videos. I'll admit that some people speak better in video than in writing -- although I think this applies more often to business people than to hackers -- but surely the right solution to deal with such people is to make an introductory video optional, not to make it mandatory. I know there's a lot you can see when you engage a candidate in conversation which you can't see on a written page; but a unilateral video doesn't tell you how well someone can carry on a bilateral or multilateral conversation either. I'm sure you guys have some reason for this... but I certainly can't see it. Why?

pclark 18y ago
how were you going to give your pitch & demo?
- cperciva 18y ago
  My code speaks for itself.
  - andreyf 18y ago
    Of course YC won't be basing their decision solely on the video, it's just a very valuable piece of input. If your best voice is your written voice, you might want to partner up with a guy that has technical depth, but can also give a wicked in-person presentation.

toisanji 18y ago

I am applying this year, it is definitely going to be a challenge for me since I am camera shy, but hopefully it weeds out a lot of non serious people.

unalone 18y ago

Can we do anything other than video at Posterous? My cofounder and I are distance-separated, and I don't know how we'd make a video like that. Could we do a two-person audio conference, for instance? And if it turns out we're not able to submit something like that, would you say that puts us at a disadvantage versus somebody that's sending in a good relaxed video? I've waited a year to apply, though, and this is an utter thrill! I got such a such seeing the applications open this morning.

gravitycop 18y ago
a two-person audio conference, for instance? How about a Skype video-conference? http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/videocall http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/videocall Some angel investors use it to attend far-away board meetings from home.
- unalone 18y ago
  Huh! That's a very definite possibility. Of course, that lacks the personal feel of an in-person film: maybe we'll both try and long-distance to New York City for the occasion.
  - gravitycop 18y ago
    Update: I guess Skype-to-Skype video calling is limited to just two participants, for now: http://support.skype.com/en_US/faq/FA661/How-do-I-start-a-video-conference http://support.skype.com/en_US/faq/FA661/How-do-I-start-a-vi... Video calls are only possible with two participants. Unfortunately, video conferences are not possible at the moment. So, you could "conference" between two people (or two locations), but that's it (which should be enough if it's just two founders).
    - unalone 18y ago
      Hm. Still not certain how I would record that...