4 ms·

I'm sort of confused with the obsession some people have with applying to YC. It seems like something a lot of people do now because it is sort of prestigious a

by leoh 14y ago

I'm sort of confused with the obsession some people have with applying to YC. It seems like something a lot of people do now because it is sort of prestigious and because a lot of the companies seem to do well afterwards. Maybe that's good enough, but I often feel confused reading posts like "How to get in to YC" because I'm not sure I've read one of these posts yet where the author articulates a clear reason why getting into YC was so important.

eo3x0 14y ago
The path to success is such a marathon that it's often easier to think about the smallest quantum first step. Hence the posts about YC and weekend projects. A few years ago it was how to raise a round or how to get on techcrunch. Same game, different name. It's not unlike how we often fascinate about the gear we need to embark on a trip while we forget the hard/interesting part is the journey itself.
bconway 14y ago
It seems more like a certificate or degree than anything else these days.
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  At the risk of linking to myself: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5218226 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5218226
  - jdotjdot 14y ago
    If by "at the risk of" you mean "I'm just going to go ahead and do it"
jacques_chester 14y ago
> I'm sort of confused with the obsession some people have with applying to YC. Reading HN will give you a skewed perspective. This site is literally and by design the HQ for YC applicants, alumni and fellow travellers. A lot of those fellow travellers worship pg. Read the comments whenever a new essay is posted. Lots of /r/cringe material.
- jacquesm 14y ago
  Don't blame the band for the groupies. Being in YC definitely has its advantages, it will - all other things being equal - give a stamp of approval to a start-up that will translate into easier funding, more press coverage and more 'buzz'. Those are real advantages when it comes to competition. Right now, planetwide in my opinion there is no other single advantage as large as YC for as little dilution. If you can spare the time for an application when you're seriously (that's the bit that many people seem to overlook) working on a startup then applying to YC is an absolute no-brainer. This has 0 to do with pg worship. And being part of the YC alumni network is a benefit all by itself.
  - lifeisstillgood 14y ago
    Plus 1 on this In fact I would say that any entrepreneur / startup Network will far exceed in returned value the costs of setting up. For example a mailing list and regular meet at the Starbucks nearest londons silicon roundabout would mean more to introduce new startups into the area than any government program There may already be one
  - jacques_chester 14y ago
    I don't know how we got from pg worship to the benefits of being a YC alumnus. Those are well known at this point and YC has essentially gone from being a plucky outsider to part of the valley establishment. I'm sure somebody somewhere is writing breathless blog posts about how to get into Stanford.
homosaur 14y ago
Developer starfuckers. I'm not saying YC is without value, I think for certain people it's fantastic. Not everyone knows how to build a business out of the box. But the obsession with certain types of getting into YC is purely so they can be in the club and get rich and get onto TechCrunch.
MakeUsersWant 14y ago
I read "how to get into YC" as a guide what traits will make me a more successful academic. After all, a fellowship is much like YC financing, except my high-risk project does papers, grants, networking instead of software.

by leoh 14y ago

eo3x0 14y ago

The path to success is such a marathon that it's often easier to think about the smallest quantum first step. Hence the posts about YC and weekend projects. A few years ago it was how to raise a round or how to get on techcrunch. Same game, different name. It's not unlike how we often fascinate about the gear we need to embark on a trip while we forget the hard/interesting part is the journey itself.

bconway 14y ago

It seems more like a certificate or degree than anything else these days.

jacques_chester 14y ago
At the risk of linking to myself: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5218226 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5218226
- jdotjdot 14y ago
  If by "at the risk of" you mean "I'm just going to go ahead and do it"

jacques_chester 14y ago

> I'm sort of confused with the obsession some people have with applying to YC. Reading HN will give you a skewed perspective. This site is literally and by design the HQ for YC applicants, alumni and fellow travellers. A lot of those fellow travellers worship pg. Read the comments whenever a new essay is posted. Lots of /r/cringe material.

jacquesm 14y ago
Don't blame the band for the groupies. Being in YC definitely has its advantages, it will - all other things being equal - give a stamp of approval to a start-up that will translate into easier funding, more press coverage and more 'buzz'. Those are real advantages when it comes to competition. Right now, planetwide in my opinion there is no other single advantage as large as YC for as little dilution. If you can spare the time for an application when you're seriously (that's the bit that many people seem to overlook) working on a startup then applying to YC is an absolute no-brainer. This has 0 to do with pg worship. And being part of the YC alumni network is a benefit all by itself.
- lifeisstillgood 14y ago
  Plus 1 on this In fact I would say that any entrepreneur / startup Network will far exceed in returned value the costs of setting up. For example a mailing list and regular meet at the Starbucks nearest londons silicon roundabout would mean more to introduce new startups into the area than any government program There may already be one
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  I don't know how we got from pg worship to the benefits of being a YC alumnus. Those are well known at this point and YC has essentially gone from being a plucky outsider to part of the valley establishment. I'm sure somebody somewhere is writing breathless blog posts about how to get into Stanford.

homosaur 14y ago

Developer starfuckers. I'm not saying YC is without value, I think for certain people it's fantastic. Not everyone knows how to build a business out of the box. But the obsession with certain types of getting into YC is purely so they can be in the club and get rich and get onto TechCrunch.

MakeUsersWant 14y ago

I read "how to get into YC" as a guide what traits will make me a more successful academic. After all, a fellowship is much like YC financing, except my high-risk project does papers, grants, networking instead of software.