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Most of the comments have (thus far) had quite a snotty attitude regarding the OP's very directed attempt to try and get into YC. I have a different opinion. I

by dvt 14y ago

Most of the comments have (thus far) had quite a snotty attitude regarding the OP's very directed attempt to try and get into YC. I have a different opinion. I don't buy the "do whatever your passion is" bullshit. I just don't. I think that people that win are people that WANT to win. Of course, some times you see some guy who's passion was building boats all his life (or something) and he happens to get on CNN and get some major coverage and his business booms (when he's like 60); my argument is that those are largely exceptions. If you want to win, you need to focus on winning (like the OP is/was doing). Winning in the start-up world is largely contingent on two things: VC and media coverage. YC can bring both home. I see absolutely nothing wrong with OP's attempt to enhance his application (heck even "leveraging" a woman co-founder is fair game). Here's a (somewhat poor) analogy: I have a large number of friends that go to law schools (or have already graduated). In many cases, the most ambitious ones will not even consider a sub-T14 school. If they don't get into a top law school, what's the point of paying for a degree and practicing law at some sub-par firm? Of course, the romantics in us don't really appreciate this cold-hearted realism (if you really really like law, you can succeed! see Erin Brokovich!) But real life doesn't work like that. YC is, in many ways, prime real-estate for new start-ups. I see no reason why you WOULDN'T cater your application and idea to trying to get in. Heck, that's exactly what people to do when trying to get Fullbright scholarships, Ivy league acceptances, etc.

itafroma 14y ago
The question I have is "Win what?" There's no doubt getting into YC is a feather in one's cap. But for what purpose? What's the plan here? That's what struck me as surprising in this story. "I want to be a YC startup to say I was a YC startup and I'll do anything to get it" doesn't make a lot of sense. If you aren't, to use your terminology, leveraging that for something bigger that you already had your heart set on, why go through all the effort?
- dvt 14y ago
  > The question I have is "Win what?" I was fairly explicit: VC and media coverage. YC is much (much) more than a feather in one's cap. Most astute start-uppers understand that exceedingly well. That's why YC is so competitive.
- tunesmith 14y ago
  There's something to be said for having a clear goal, but there's also something to be said for establishing the conditions such that when you do identify your goal, you're in a better position to be able to meet it. Years ago, people weren't doing MBAs at Harvard because they already had a business plan. It was because it made it more likely they'd succeed later one when they had their plan.
  - itafroma 14y ago
    I think you've clarified it better, thanks for that. But take the MBA: the narrative typically goes something like, "I want power/money, being a corporate executive is one of the best means of achieving that, getting an MBA at Harvard makes that much easier, therefore I'll do whatever it takes to get into Harvard." The narrative here is "I want to succeed/win, getting into YC is going to help me, therefore I must get into YC and I'll do whatever it takes even though every time I've tried so far I've failed." The seemingly obvious question here is: what are you trying to succeed/win at? It obviously wasn't a product you're passionate about (although going into the fourth try, it sounds like the latest pivot is growing on you). Fame, power, money, personal validation? 2.3 kids and a white picket fence? YC isn't the only way to get it, and it's probably one of the harder ways to do it. If it's common to treat YC as a Harvard MBA—something like "if I have it, everything in life will almost magically work out for me"—that's pretty interesting and surprising to me. I always thought it was more about speeding up getting a specific vision or idea to market, or at the very least iterating on an idea until it grows into something huge.
starky 14y ago
> YC can bring both home. Yes it can, but being funded by YC isn't the only way to accomplish these goals, yet the author makes it seem like that is the only validation of success they will accept. I completely agree with you that the people that win are the ones that want to win, but winning isn't getting into an incubator, it is shipping a successful, profitable product. The author needs to re-frame their metric of success because they don't seem to have a goal of making the product they are working on successful, or rather, they seem to think their product's success is dependent on them getting into YC. The difference between your law school analogy and YC is that people actually care about what law school you attended. When it comes down to it, your customers are unlikely to care that you are a YC funded company, they end up caring about your product's value proposition.
ldh 14y ago
> If you want to win, you need to focus on winning (like the OP is/was doing). I don't really see what would be "winning" here and I think the whole concept is weird, so your Glengarry Glen Ross angle just seems satirical. But I think you're being serious.

by dvt 14y ago

itafroma 14y ago

The question I have is "Win what?" There's no doubt getting into YC is a feather in one's cap. But for what purpose? What's the plan here? That's what struck me as surprising in this story. "I want to be a YC startup to say I was a YC startup and I'll do anything to get it" doesn't make a lot of sense. If you aren't, to use your terminology, leveraging that for something bigger that you already had your heart set on, why go through all the effort?

dvt 14y ago
> The question I have is "Win what?" I was fairly explicit: VC and media coverage. YC is much (much) more than a feather in one's cap. Most astute start-uppers understand that exceedingly well. That's why YC is so competitive.
tunesmith 14y ago
There's something to be said for having a clear goal, but there's also something to be said for establishing the conditions such that when you do identify your goal, you're in a better position to be able to meet it. Years ago, people weren't doing MBAs at Harvard because they already had a business plan. It was because it made it more likely they'd succeed later one when they had their plan.
- itafroma 14y ago
  I think you've clarified it better, thanks for that. But take the MBA: the narrative typically goes something like, "I want power/money, being a corporate executive is one of the best means of achieving that, getting an MBA at Harvard makes that much easier, therefore I'll do whatever it takes to get into Harvard." The narrative here is "I want to succeed/win, getting into YC is going to help me, therefore I must get into YC and I'll do whatever it takes even though every time I've tried so far I've failed." The seemingly obvious question here is: what are you trying to succeed/win at? It obviously wasn't a product you're passionate about (although going into the fourth try, it sounds like the latest pivot is growing on you). Fame, power, money, personal validation? 2.3 kids and a white picket fence? YC isn't the only way to get it, and it's probably one of the harder ways to do it. If it's common to treat YC as a Harvard MBA—something like "if I have it, everything in life will almost magically work out for me"—that's pretty interesting and surprising to me. I always thought it was more about speeding up getting a specific vision or idea to market, or at the very least iterating on an idea until it grows into something huge.

starky 14y ago

> YC can bring both home. Yes it can, but being funded by YC isn't the only way to accomplish these goals, yet the author makes it seem like that is the only validation of success they will accept. I completely agree with you that the people that win are the ones that want to win, but winning isn't getting into an incubator, it is shipping a successful, profitable product. The author needs to re-frame their metric of success because they don't seem to have a goal of making the product they are working on successful, or rather, they seem to think their product's success is dependent on them getting into YC. The difference between your law school analogy and YC is that people actually care about what law school you attended. When it comes down to it, your customers are unlikely to care that you are a YC funded company, they end up caring about your product's value proposition.

ldh 14y ago

> If you want to win, you need to focus on winning (like the OP is/was doing). I don't really see what would be "winning" here and I think the whole concept is weird, so your Glengarry Glen Ross angle just seems satirical. But I think you're being serious.