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Honestly, I wouldn't take it seriously at all. Find a paying customer. Make them happy. Find another. If you can't find any, try something else. We got rejecte

Honestly, I wouldn't take it seriously at all. Find a paying customer. Make them happy. Find another. If you can't find any, try something else. We got rejected from YC several times and we are doing quite well despite it. It really means little, unless you make it a big deal. Just move on. The magic you need to succeed is inside of you, not anyone else.

dpapathanasiou 14y ago
This really needs to be the top comment. Despite what you think you saw in that meeting, you really have no idea why they rejected you (see Rashomon[1]). And while writing this kind of post can be cathartic, you're also leaving behind an artifact that will be there to remind you again in the future. You're almost better off just writing a draft post to get it off your chest, then deleting a few days later. [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/?ref_=sr_1 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/?ref_=sr_1
mariusz331 14y ago
Great advice. We aren't thinking too much of it and are excited to [in?]validate some assumptions. We just thought we'd share our experience and what we learned.
plehoux 14y ago
Exactly, we launched three months ago, have revenues(4 digits monthly), a healthy 100% monthly growth rate. We just left the interview really confused about the reasons why they wanted to interview us in the first place. Since all they really did was arguing our market had 0 potential and our app was not useful, which in itself is totally fine. But why interview us, in the first place, if you don't believe in it? The fact is, we will never know why they interviewed us and subsequently rejected us. We just need to carry on. Our goal now is to get ramen profitable(we are really close) and prove them wrong ;)
- jfoster 14y ago
  The interview from their perspective is probably an opportunity to learn more about it and see if you can ease any concerns they have. Another possibility is that they may have liked the team and wanted to see if you would consider working on something else.
  - plehoux 14y ago
    Totally agree with this. And it is where we probably dropped the ball.
- johnrob 14y ago
  They probably were hoping you'd prove them wrong during the interview.
  - derefr 14y ago
    Or it might have been the classic "husband-and-wife squabble": one of the partners really liked you (possibly not someone in the interview), then convinced the rest (who disagreed) to give you a shot. The others came in pre-biased to reject you, but willing to be just polite enough to appease your advocate partner. If you really aced the interview, you'd never know it. They'd still dislike you. But they wouldn't be able to say no, since they knew they'd have to tell your advocate what happened in the interview--so they'd give you a "we'll get back to you." Then, later that day, the interviewers and the advocate have a huge argument on the real merits of your company. Your fate hangs in the balance of that argument. If you've ever run a garage sale, you'll have seen this all play out in real-time on your lawn. :)
    - rdl 14y ago
      I don't think it works like that at YC. That's more common in larger funds, and usually is just an excuse except at the more dysfunctional ones.

dpapathanasiou 14y ago

This really needs to be the top comment. Despite what you think you saw in that meeting, you really have no idea why they rejected you (see Rashomon[1]). And while writing this kind of post can be cathartic, you're also leaving behind an artifact that will be there to remind you again in the future. You're almost better off just writing a draft post to get it off your chest, then deleting a few days later. [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/?ref_=sr_1 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/?ref_=sr_1

mariusz331 14y ago

Great advice. We aren't thinking too much of it and are excited to [in?]validate some assumptions. We just thought we'd share our experience and what we learned.

plehoux 14y ago

Exactly, we launched three months ago, have revenues(4 digits monthly), a healthy 100% monthly growth rate. We just left the interview really confused about the reasons why they wanted to interview us in the first place. Since all they really did was arguing our market had 0 potential and our app was not useful, which in itself is totally fine. But why interview us, in the first place, if you don't believe in it? The fact is, we will never know why they interviewed us and subsequently rejected us. We just need to carry on. Our goal now is to get ramen profitable(we are really close) and prove them wrong ;)

jfoster 14y ago
The interview from their perspective is probably an opportunity to learn more about it and see if you can ease any concerns they have. Another possibility is that they may have liked the team and wanted to see if you would consider working on something else.
- plehoux 14y ago
  Totally agree with this. And it is where we probably dropped the ball.
johnrob 14y ago
They probably were hoping you'd prove them wrong during the interview.
- derefr 14y ago
  Or it might have been the classic "husband-and-wife squabble": one of the partners really liked you (possibly not someone in the interview), then convinced the rest (who disagreed) to give you a shot. The others came in pre-biased to reject you, but willing to be just polite enough to appease your advocate partner. If you really aced the interview, you'd never know it. They'd still dislike you. But they wouldn't be able to say no, since they knew they'd have to tell your advocate what happened in the interview--so they'd give you a "we'll get back to you." Then, later that day, the interviewers and the advocate have a huge argument on the real merits of your company. Your fate hangs in the balance of that argument. If you've ever run a garage sale, you'll have seen this all play out in real-time on your lawn. :)
  - rdl 14y ago
    I don't think it works like that at YC. That's more common in larger funds, and usually is just an excuse except at the more dysfunctional ones.