2 ms·
Is letting them dictate the course of the interview really a bad thing? It's an admissions interview, not a negotiation. I've pretty much already stated my ca
by dfranke 19y ago
Is letting them dictate the course of the interview really a bad thing? It's an admissions interview, not a negotiation. I've pretty much already stated my case by way of the application. Any remaining reservations they may have seem better addressed by letting them ask the questions than by letting my preconceived notions of what they want to hear dominate the conversation. Plus, that way, even if we get rejected, we've still gotten a 15 minute consulting session out of it.
- rms 19y agoWe were rejected because they didn't think we solved the design problem our product was addressing and I know we did solve said design problem. Instead of talking about design, we talked about the difference between our product and yahoo.com. We could have had a shot if the interview would have gone in a different direction. Most people would be fine letting them dictate the course of the interview, just keep in the back of your mind that you need to convince them your product will be successful and that you can make it. 15 minutes is so short that if you go off on tangents not related to those two main goals you're really hurting yourself.
- mattmaroon 19y agoThey're going to dictate the course of an interview to a much larger extent than you are. That's pretty much the nature of the interview. You should be flexible, I agree, but not wishy-washy. I don't think they'd respect anyone who was willing to totally revamp their idea instantly just because of their suggestion anymore than they would someone who was totally inflexible. There's a middle ground that you should walk, not just in trying to be accepted into YC, but in life in general.