4 ms·

You Didn’t Make It to Y Combinator or TechStars, Now What?

8 points by alain94040 18y ago

pclark 18y ago
interesting way to rationalize not getting in: "it isn't very good"
- alain94040 18y ago
  Don't get me wrong. YC is good. But not getting in is not the end of the world. It's the difference between taking a shortcut or having to do the work yourself.
  - pclark 18y ago
    a shortcut in what sense? I think its like spending a year on a product on your own, vs 3 months being gently advised.
  - pg 18y ago
    From quotes like this "It’s great if you are the kind who learns by sitting passively on a chair listening to someone." it's clear you don't understand what happens within YC. We don't have classes where people sit and listen to us talk about stuff that they could, if they were sufficiently diligent, find by searching in Google. Nearly all interactions we have with startups are about their specific situation: things like what features to build first, when to launch, what to say on the frontpage, how to deal with specific investors they're talking to, etc.
    - alain94040 18y ago
      Thanks for the clarification. I updated the blog accordingly with your comment. I wasn't referring to YC specifically when I wrote the original paragraph, I had other incubators in mind. Sorry if it sounded too harsh.
RobertL 18y ago
If your idea is a good one you probably don't need the "seed" program anyways. I think it's really useful to go through the selection process. Lots to be learned even if you are not selected but keep the focus on your fine tuning your idea. The only thing that really matters is what your ultimate customers think not what they think at YCombinator or TechStars.
old-gregg 18y ago
We took our rejection 2 years ago as a wakeup call: If you can't sell yourself to YC, number one thing you need to learn is how to sell, period. Because "how to sell" part will start matter more and more down the road, approaching "how to code" in importance. If you couldn't sell yourself to YC, you may not sell to your customers either, or other investors, or future employees, etc etc etc Learn how to sell. Your idea is probably fine - 95% of YC-accepted companies are building tiny incremental improvements to existing products.
- ALee 18y ago
  If you can't sell, get closer and closer to having a product or getting to having a business. Talk is cheap, but having made something matters more. A basketball team will be more likely to draft you because you've de-risked yourself, you are probably already on your way to winning the NCAA. I wrote a little about this before on my blog about getting into YC, etc.: http://andrewlee.com/2009/03/01/startup-march-madness-2009-getting-into-launchbox-and-ycombinator-techstars-etc/ http://andrewlee.com/2009/03/01/startup-march-madness-2009-g...
jlees 18y ago
whenever you have the choice between worrying about what will happen, applying to a program, preparing a presentation, or making progress on your product… always choose the latter. Keep coding. Ignore the distractions. You’ll end up ahead. You've got to eat somehow. Not everyone's lucky enough to have the resources to code in isolation for months without thinking about business development. Plus when you finish coding and have to present, you've missed out on valuable practice opportunities ;)
- alain94040 18y ago
  Does the $15K help you eat for any significant amount of time? Let's say t will take a year for your startup to take off or make it to a funding event. For 3 people, you'd be splitting $415/month. Some people can make that kind of income with one day of IT consulting, so there are workarounds to getting into YC. Again, don't get me wrong: if you are accepted, by all means take the offer!
  - jlees 18y ago
    I didn't really just mean YC's money, more the unfeasability of ignoring all concerns but the code. Obviously some people (the IT consultant you mention, or those laid off with a nice severance, etc) don't really have their empty fridges as so much of a motivation ;) I wouldn't really expect a startup to operate on $15k for a year; the whole point is you use it as a springboard for further funding, surely?
okeumeni 18y ago
Try AlphaLab http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=550892 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=550892
brk 18y ago
Your post really sounds like you massively misunderstand the program. You mention using the $15K in funding to buy a graphic design,or to pay for some PR. The idea behind the $15K in funding is (as I understand it, never having directly participated) is that it is just enough to cover reasonable living expenses. It is enough to take your mind off of "how will I pay my rent", but not enough to put your mind on "what clubs will I party at this weekend after I spend a day surfing (ocean surfing, not web surfing). You make reference to Googleing obsessively on certain topics to learn. But how do you know that which you do not know? I've been involved in startups for years, and I still learned things in the very first Startup School ('05, I think), that I had never considered before. No amount of Google-fu would have been as efficient or effective. It is safe to assume that having 1-1 time with pg and his ilk would be massively more valuable than having direct access to Googles entire cache of startup-related data. You also overly discount the value of what you label as "notoriety". No matter what you build, you have to get your message out there somehow. Being prefiltered as a valuable or insightful company can accelerate the growth of your product/company. At the end of the day, YC and programs like it are not the only way to launch a company. But I think the value, especially to "entry level entrepreneurs" is pretty significant.

8 points by alain94040 18y ago

pclark 18y ago

interesting way to rationalize not getting in: "it isn't very good"

alain94040 18y ago
Don't get me wrong. YC is good. But not getting in is not the end of the world. It's the difference between taking a shortcut or having to do the work yourself.
- pclark 18y ago
  a shortcut in what sense? I think its like spending a year on a product on your own, vs 3 months being gently advised.
- pg 18y ago
  From quotes like this "It’s great if you are the kind who learns by sitting passively on a chair listening to someone." it's clear you don't understand what happens within YC. We don't have classes where people sit and listen to us talk about stuff that they could, if they were sufficiently diligent, find by searching in Google. Nearly all interactions we have with startups are about their specific situation: things like what features to build first, when to launch, what to say on the frontpage, how to deal with specific investors they're talking to, etc.
  - alain94040 18y ago
    Thanks for the clarification. I updated the blog accordingly with your comment. I wasn't referring to YC specifically when I wrote the original paragraph, I had other incubators in mind. Sorry if it sounded too harsh.

RobertL 18y ago

If your idea is a good one you probably don't need the "seed" program anyways. I think it's really useful to go through the selection process. Lots to be learned even if you are not selected but keep the focus on your fine tuning your idea. The only thing that really matters is what your ultimate customers think not what they think at YCombinator or TechStars.

old-gregg 18y ago

We took our rejection 2 years ago as a wakeup call: If you can't sell yourself to YC, number one thing you need to learn is how to sell, period. Because "how to sell" part will start matter more and more down the road, approaching "how to code" in importance. If you couldn't sell yourself to YC, you may not sell to your customers either, or other investors, or future employees, etc etc etc Learn how to sell. Your idea is probably fine - 95% of YC-accepted companies are building tiny incremental improvements to existing products.

ALee 18y ago
If you can't sell, get closer and closer to having a product or getting to having a business. Talk is cheap, but having made something matters more. A basketball team will be more likely to draft you because you've de-risked yourself, you are probably already on your way to winning the NCAA. I wrote a little about this before on my blog about getting into YC, etc.: http://andrewlee.com/2009/03/01/startup-march-madness-2009-getting-into-launchbox-and-ycombinator-techstars-etc/ http://andrewlee.com/2009/03/01/startup-march-madness-2009-g...

jlees 18y ago

whenever you have the choice between worrying about what will happen, applying to a program, preparing a presentation, or making progress on your product… always choose the latter. Keep coding. Ignore the distractions. You’ll end up ahead. You've got to eat somehow. Not everyone's lucky enough to have the resources to code in isolation for months without thinking about business development. Plus when you finish coding and have to present, you've missed out on valuable practice opportunities ;)

alain94040 18y ago
Does the $15K help you eat for any significant amount of time? Let's say t will take a year for your startup to take off or make it to a funding event. For 3 people, you'd be splitting $415/month. Some people can make that kind of income with one day of IT consulting, so there are workarounds to getting into YC. Again, don't get me wrong: if you are accepted, by all means take the offer!
- jlees 18y ago
  I didn't really just mean YC's money, more the unfeasability of ignoring all concerns but the code. Obviously some people (the IT consultant you mention, or those laid off with a nice severance, etc) don't really have their empty fridges as so much of a motivation ;) I wouldn't really expect a startup to operate on $15k for a year; the whole point is you use it as a springboard for further funding, surely?

okeumeni 18y ago

Try AlphaLab http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=550892 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=550892

brk 18y ago

Your post really sounds like you massively misunderstand the program. You mention using the $15K in funding to buy a graphic design,or to pay for some PR. The idea behind the $15K in funding is (as I understand it, never having directly participated) is that it is just enough to cover reasonable living expenses. It is enough to take your mind off of "how will I pay my rent", but not enough to put your mind on "what clubs will I party at this weekend after I spend a day surfing (ocean surfing, not web surfing). You make reference to Googleing obsessively on certain topics to learn. But how do you know that which you do not know? I've been involved in startups for years, and I still learned things in the very first Startup School ('05, I think), that I had never considered before. No amount of Google-fu would have been as efficient or effective. It is safe to assume that having 1-1 time with pg and his ilk would be massively more valuable than having direct access to Googles entire cache of startup-related data. You also overly discount the value of what you label as "notoriety". No matter what you build, you have to get your message out there somehow. Being prefiltered as a valuable or insightful company can accelerate the growth of your product/company. At the end of the day, YC and programs like it are not the only way to launch a company. But I think the value, especially to "entry level entrepreneurs" is pretty significant.