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YC Rejection Emails Are Out
YC just sent out rejection emails.
- replayzero 14y agoI know!
- hacknut13 14y agolol sorry bro. You should also consider TechStars! I know they just opened for the next class.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- replayzero 14y agoNo worries. I am kinda glad now, normal service of being broke and working my butt off can resume -
- xackpot 14y agoGot a reject. I kinda feel relieved now. Time to focus on how I can do better with my project. All the best guys.
- jeffreyshaw 14y agoI'm going to show up for an interview anyways.
- biscarch 14y agoafaik that's a terrible idea.
- antonID 14y agoHave fun being escorted out of the office by the cops
- sjtgraham 14y agoA lot of people do that, and unsurprisingly some people (maybe all) working at YC do not appreciate it. Personally I would advise against it and think of a different way to get to the partners, n.b. Instacart, rather than show up to YC when everyone is extremely busy and putting YC staff in difficult positions.
- alrs 14y agoYou can't sell a generation on the never-say-die entrepreneur ethos and then tsk-tsk when they show up at your office uninvited.
- johnrgrace 14y agoCan you at least get someone to video it so we can watch the fail?
- rdl 14y agoDon't do that, but do consider going to Silicon Valley and talking with other startup founders, users, etc. and I'd recommend startup school in the spring, and applying to s2013. Showing up uninvited during interview days will probably just get you escorted out, and won't help your chances to get in in the future -- you'd be "that crazy stalker guy from last year, should we call the cops?"
- visualcsharp 14y agoOH NOOOOOOOOOOOOES!!!!11eleventyhundredandone!! Life goes on, folks, in spite of angel investors wanting every last ounce of your collective creative juices for almost no wage.
- visualcsharp 14y agoUh oh, downvoted for writing the truth? That's /never/ been done before--not /once/!
- nicholasreed 14y agoPerhaps it is because your comment did not add anything useful to the discussion, but instead came across as an unproductive and unsubstantiated rant.
- antoko 14y agoyeah but you can write the truth without being an ass. Actually bother to make the case that YC isn't the be all and end all. Just stating it (not that you even went that far) doesn't add anything so you're being downvoted for being noise, not because you're speaking the "truth" and being oh so brave to do it on news.yc
- Khurrum 14y agoSwitching to anger is a practical way of dealing with disappointment - it makes it easier to move forward and take action... Your comment may help some people get over being rejected and its not like YC is affected by how people they rejected handle things.
- ricardobeat 14y agoI am the 97%.
- viviantan 14y agoMe too. Best of luck next time to everyone! Btw, there are post-application morale-boosting celebrations happening all over the place. I'm hosting one this Saturday in the Bay Area. Hope you'll join us! More info here and here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4787228 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4787228 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4775943 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4775943
- visualcsharp 14y agoIs this serious? Folks really throw rejection parties?
- viviantan 14y agoLol no! Not "rejection" parties! Everyone is invited whether they're past, present, or future YC applicants, with or without having been accepted by YC. This is just a way for people to hang out and unwind and have fun, especially those who have gone through the application process.
- trefn 14y agoHi everyone - Startups are hard. I hope you'll keep going in the face of adversity. If so, Mixpanel is here to help. Forward a copy of your YC rejection email to free@mixpanel.com and we'll hook you up with our $150/month Startup plan, free forever.
- visualcsharp 14y agoIt's cool what you're offering, but IMO being rejected by YC isn't "adversity." Folks need to stop pinning their hopes on a handout from others. How about everyone uses their spare time to build something cool, deploy it to a cheap Web server costing $30/m, see if people use it, actually /sell/ product and then go straight to the big dog investors?
- scottmagdalein 14y agoI think he's just being nice and using "we didn't get into YC" as a chance to show some love.
- colbyh 14y agoI actually think what he's offering is incredibly awesome. Startups at this level NEED a product like Mixpanel and he's offering it for free. Not all rejection is "adversity" per se, but a lot of people had a non-negligible amount of hope resting on their YC applications. At this stage in the game everything that isn't a giant step forward can feel like a kick in the face. Kudos to Mixpanel for understanding that.
- justizin 14y agoInvestments are not a handout, homey.
- zoba 14y agoSent! I only forwarded it, didn't include any extra text. Do I need to do anything else or should I just wait patiently for a response? Thanks for offering this! Doesn't feel as much like rejection any more ;)
- ryangallen 14y agoIt was fun anyways. Applying really lit a fire under my ass. Since September, I learned a ton about web development and starting a business.
- johnabowen 14y agoDo all of the team members get an email, or just the one who submitted?
- nabeards 14y agoIn our case, just the one who submitted got the email. As said above, though, just a motivator for us to focus even more on the beta launch.
- mattmenefee 14y agoseems like only the person who submitted it
- stilldetermined 14y agoCurious how many other people got questions from the partners, website logins, video views, and then got rejected. I didn't put much effort into my app, thinking it unlikely that they'd accept me, but darn it, they did get my hopes up a bit :-)
- robbiet480 14y agoI got 3 questions from pg, 10 video views, rejected
- sjtgraham 14y agoWhat were the questions if you don't mind my asking?
- robbiet480 14y agoSure Which one of you is the CEO? How did the founders meet? What's going to happen to (my previous company that laid me off) if we fund you?
- replayzero 14y agoOh man, thats gotta hurt worse than getting 0 questions!
- robbiet480 14y agoYup :(
- hashmij 14y agoYeah, I got 1 question from PG, which really got my hopes up, because I wondered, "why would he ask this if he wasn't interested?" This was especially so since his question implied interest. A real bummer. I wouldn't have been so heartbroken if it hadn't been for this message, which really got my expectations up. It's my own fault though.
- ildabu87 14y agoOk not a problem. But I want to continue and carry on my idea. Is there anyone based in New York that can set up a website like Airbnb or something?
- ildabu87 14y agoWhich is willing to work for glory and/or equity
- replayzero 14y agoairbnb are big in NY. Mayor Bloomberg just endorsed them.
- ildabu87 14y agoI know, we are looking to create something similar, we need to find a good creator of websites
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- cryptoz 14y agoJust got mine. Maybe next time! Gives a few more months to grow, gain users, build more features and change the world before YC interviews me. I got the email while arriving at a cafe to write more code to analyze Sandy, so the timing is apt I suppose. Teaser: http://i.imgur.com/c87tV.png http://i.imgur.com/c87tV.png
- ramidarigaz 14y agoBummer :( PressureNET is really cool. I can't wait to see where it goes!
- cryptoz 14y agoThanks! :) Really, all a YC rejection email does is get the motivators going. Plus, life in Montreal is really, really awesome and it would be tough to leave, even for a few months in the Bay Area. As others are saying, it's almost a relief. I can keep chugging away, enjoying my current life and continuing to build my startup in the evenings. Life ain't bad.
- rdl 14y agoI really like the pressureNET idea. I suspect this will be one of the "regrets" investors talk about later among themselves. Please don't slow down!
- khmel 14y agoYou could make huge fund money on hurricane preditions - it matters for commodity market. I know guys who made 300M because predicted Katrina. Approach this market!
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- bruceb 14y agorejected and they even watched the video...
- khmel 14y agoI found video experience very useful - I found 200K angels because of my team video. Share this with other investors - they will appreciate.
- mirrormicky 14y agohttp://www.herostart.com/productshow/ventilation-fan-motor http://www.herostart.com/productshow/ventilation-fan-motor
- TylerJewell 14y agoHi Everyone: I am always impressed and amazed at the effort, focus, and passion teams put into their YC application. The stories of joy, heartbreak, and relief exhibit a sheer love of technology & entrepreneurship. In many situations, worthy teams are short changed. We'd like to change that :) We (Exo IDE) are a startup focused on building solutions for software developers. We are looking to hire talent, and would like to chat with any YC applicants (accepted or not) about what we are doing. Our ideal situation would be to recruit a small, pre-existing team that contain designer + engineers that have worked together on projects. The work would be in SF. Even if it's not a fit with us, we wish everyone success in the pursuit of their ambitions. At a minimum, we love hearing about your ideas and making any connections that may help you on your own path. If you'd like a chat - you can reach me at my personal email @ tylerjewell@gmail.com.
- nodemaker 14y agoHackernode app rejected :(
- xoail 14y agoA big part of startup life is getting Rejections. Let's move on and focus on more important things, products, customers, growth. Let's try again next time.
- replayzero 14y agoI actually think rejection is the key to getting better. I have been rejected before it's no big deal. YC is a big opportunity to progress, but it's not the only way to progress.
- replayzero 14y agoI applied with www.bfore.me - It would be great if you guys could show us some love and spread the word. We have just got to keep trucking!
- freework 14y agoI got my rejection letter. My project is already built, and has 3000 users. I'm a solo developer, so thats probably why I was rejected. Also I'm 29 years old (started developing at 25). I'm the anti-YC demographic, so I wasn't really expecting to get accepted. The only think that kept me thinking I had a chance was the fact that the application process was actually pretty easy in my opinion. All the loggers out there talk like the application form is super hard, but I filled mine out in under a half hour. The questions are the kind of things you should be thinking about if you're doing things right. The hardest part for me was doing the video. The length came in at 0:56, because I was too nervous to say much other than the bare minimum. Also, something else I want to say: The YC people really need to fix their application page. The day after I filled out my application, I came back to clean up the grammer, and when I went to click "save", it gave me the "expired link" error. All those grammer fixes down the drain. I never did go back and fix them. That may have also attributed to my rejection. In this day and age there is no excuse to screwing up basic crud :/
- ricardobeat 14y agoTo be fair, they recommend that you do not do any editing in the form itself and save your application somewhere else.
- mion 14y ago"but I filled mine out in under a half hour" See this: http://lloyd.tc/how-we-hacked-the-y-combinator-application-process/ http://lloyd.tc/how-we-hacked-the-y-combinator-application-p... It took them one month to fill out theirs.
- ohashi 14y agoI can't help but point out, it's grammar not grammer. It's hard being a solo dev though, it's very possible though and it sounds like you're on a great track with 3k users :)
- cpg 14y agoWe also got rejected http://www.amahi.com http://www.amahi.com though we are ramen-profitable, we will hack growth no matter what :) A bunch of us applicants are getting together in Mountain View on Saturday @ 6pm for a drink to share ideas/experiences in the startup path. Email if you are local and want to join. EDIT: not 8pm, 6pm.
- webuntu 14y ago...I think the hardest part is deciding whether to continue, or cut your losses.
- replayzero 14y agoOr pivot!
- bmelton 14y agoIf you're genuinely considering closing the doors because you didn't get into YC, that's really good evidence that YC made a good choice in rejecting you. Take it as a slap in the face if you want. Be pissed. Cry like a baby. Throw something at a wall. Those are all perfectly valid, but the best YC applicants are the ones that don't need YC at all, so if you want to better your chances for the next round, prove to them how stupid they were in passing you up.
- gabhijit 14y agoWell, I got a reject as well. Last time a few years ago, I'd actually got a call for interview and personally, if I've to judge the two ideas on merit, the current one was way more superior than the one that got an interview call(eventually we didn't get funding but we were very very under-prepared back then). My key takeaway is - there's no 'right or wrong' here, it's kind of random. It's got a lot to do with your luck. So what YC says in their rejection letter is actually right, we can always cook up reasons, why one got rejecte. The only way to make sure (well not really, just making it highly probable) that you make it to YC is be extremely well prepared, but then you are probably beyond a point where you need to go to YC.
- replayzero 14y agoGoodnight from London Fellow Rejects!
- T_Electronics 14y agoWhen I received my rejection email I wanted to throw a huge 6yr old kid temper tantrum and go around the room fucking sht up tornado style lmao! But I'll just frame my rejection email and use it as motivation for my next big obstacles in life. When I do finally become successful I'll put "Y Combinator Reject" in all my about me sections! YC alumni would've sounded better though :(
- rooshdi 14y agoTo all those rejected, keep building for the love. That's all that matters.
- T_Electronics 14y agoI should start a company that gives rejected applicants a second chance, lol yc-rejects.com We will RE-View your app and pick the most promising startups, based off good ideas!
- TheMakeA 14y agoFog Creek was bootstrapped by taking web development overflow from another company. There are certainly startup gems that were rejected today.
- ankushdixit 14y agoAny idea when do late applicants usually hear about interview decisions? (If they hear at all)
- keeptrying 14y agoIf anyone wants to work in the health and fitness space then do drop me a line. My email is in my profile.
- jmsotelo 14y agoWe got rejected too but I have a great feeling about this. I'm really happy to know that my co-founder and me can do amazing things together, and how you can achieve a lot of cool stuff while you apply to YC. I see this as an incentive to keep working and focus on delivering a great product.
- TimJRobinson 14y agoMust be a strong group this year. We're a coder / marketer duo each having already founded profitable startups in the past, in our mid 20's in a market we understand well and with a solid business plan and way to make profit and grow yet we still got rejected. I presume it's because we're in the gaming industry and ycombinator doesn't normally fund gaming companies.
- hashmij 14y agoThe last two days have been an emotionally draining rollercoaster. On Nov. 13th, I checked my email about 10,000 times. This increased the anticipation, but after not hearing anything the whole day, I figured I got rejected and I was OK with it at that time. After all, I had anticipated this as the most likely outcome. Then, I found out on HN that the interview notification got delayed by two days. This was followed up by a message from PG. It really sounded like he was interested in us! I thought to myself, "Why would a big shot like him have sent me such a question if he wasn't really interested in us???" So, for the next day and a half I was daydreaming of getting into YC. We had then convinced ourselves, "We're getting an interview!" Then, on Nov. 15, I checked my email another 10,000 times. The anticipation was unbearable. Then, when I got the rejection email, it hit me like someone punched me in the gut. It really hurt. I feel like it would not have hurt so much if I hadn't have gotten my hopes up after the PG message. I feel stupid since I should have known that a PG message is just that: a PG message. Why on earth did I over-interpret that? Anyways, this really hurts...We took a day off to mourn, and then we'll get back up and keep pressing forward. I wonder if I answered PG's question incorrectly...Did that have something to do with the rejection? Anyways, at the end of the day, I still respect what PG and YC are doing. No point in being a sore loser. In my life, I've been rejected by a lot of places and accepted at others, and in the end, I am happy and grateful where I am now. You win some, you lose some.
- eduardordm 14y agoI feel the same way as you. I won't be applying anymore: this was the first time I applied to an incubator. I built a startup before (that succeeded) and we got a lot of rejections, but thing is they were pretty much immediate. They didn't feel so bad, no anticipation was built, there were similar opportunities to try. YC is unique, it gets emotional and the anticipation drains the very energy you need to succeed. Good luck,
- hashmij 14y agoThanks for your comment. Yeah, it really really sucked the wind out of me. It's not going to stop us from going forth, but it is a momentary pause to catch our breath and get back up from the floor.
- hashmij 14y agoI wish PG hadn't messaged me. It made my expectations go up so much. It's like asking out a really hot girl to the theater that you think you have no chance with, but then she texts you back with "which movie?", so then all of a sudden your expectations go up...But then she says no. haha