6 ms·

Ask HN: Most successful startup that applied but never got into YC?

65 points by pshin45 13y ago

kevando 13y ago
Ask me in 6 months :)
- rfnslyr 13y ago
  What's your startup? Any name? Clues? Or do I have to sign an NDA because it's the next Facebook+dropbox+instagram? Easy on the downvotes there kids, it was just a joke.
  - movemb 13y ago
    just a guess, but it may be http://www.roybiv.net/ http://www.roybiv.net/
    - kevando 13y ago
      haha, no I tried to start (above) agency earlier but that crumbled. We applied with an eyewear concept http://frameri.com http://frameri.com knowing YC doesn't really accept physical product companies so it's not a surprise we got rejected.
      - rfnslyr 13y ago
        Why did the agency fail? One of my goals was to start a small agency and work with a few developers/designers and take on projects.
        kevando 13y ago
        It failed partly because I never ran a business and never saw how a successful agency operates. Only poorly operated digital agencies and thought "I could do this better." Also, I had to make a decision to push the agency forward or take another idea into an accelerator. I chose the latter.
        rfnslyr 13y ago
        Thanks. That's the path I want to take soon, running my own little agency. Do you know of anyone in the same position that runs a blog? Or any tips? Readings on starting something like this?
  - kevando 13y ago
    It's actually more like linkedin+4sq but for dogs.. So you're fine but I'd need a video of your dog barking a response to the NBA I would need him/her to read.
    - chimeracoder 13y ago
      > I'd need a video of your dog barking a response to the NBA So the pitch is, "We're like patent trolls, but for breach-of-contract entrapment lawsuits?" I'd invest! ;)
    - pshin45 13y ago
      > NBA I see what you did there.
- madoublet 13y ago
  That is a cool concept (Frameri). Are you going to offer sunglass lenses? I would much rather have 1 frame with 2 lenses (sun + normal).
  - kevando 13y ago
    Yes! I wish I made that more clear on our website. Would that be obvious if we just put a picture of sunglasses? Also, would you want Rx lenes and Rx sun or just regular sun lenses?
    - madoublet 13y ago
      I would want Rx for both.
      - kevando 13y ago
        shoot me an email kevin at frameri.com I am updating our pre-order page and I'd like to run the new ux by you, since I creeped and saw you do that full time
- baku 13y ago
  Frameri looks really interesting. As someone with an abnormally wide nose, my biggest trouble isn't the lack of variety of frames, but that few standard frames actually fit my face. Do you see yourself as moving into the highly customized frames space at all (like protos eyewear, who recently crowdfunded their first batch of 3D printed glasses a few months ago): https://crowdfunding.protoseyewear.com/3d-printed-eyewear-tailored-to-fit-you https://crowdfunding.protoseyewear.com/3d-printed-eyewear-ta...
  - kevando 13y ago
    Yep!! Protos is a very interesting company, but I'm not sure 3D printing will produce something near the current frame quality for another year or so. Also, eyewear design is extremely detailed and realistically getting customized glasses will still take a professional for a while. (See our live 2 hour demo of a professional creating a 3D render of frames from a sketch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxsu3EzOzJI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxsu3EzOzJI) ... With all that said, we believe 3D printing has incredible possibilities and we hope to play a big role in in that space. One of our "growth hack" ideas to get site visitors was a contest (http://frameri.com/contest/#!/entries http://frameri.com/contest/#!/entries) and you can see some really cool concepts.
Sakes 13y ago
This might need to be an Ask PG. I wonder if there is a startup that he recalls passing on that influenced the way (minorly or majorly) he evaluates startups.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Baadier_Sydow 13y ago
I actually this could be quite a fascinating question.
noodle 13y ago
sendgrid, iirc
- timhargis 13y ago
  Were they TechStars?
  - noodle 13y ago
    I think they were YC rejects who then went to TechStars.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
aegiso 13y ago
Recalling PG's previous answers to this question: there are several instances of successes that YC didn't accept, but it's not PG's place to disclose who did and didn't apply.
TallboyOne 13y ago
Wasn't it AirBnB?
- jonny_eh 13y ago
  They're YC alum.
  - TallboyOne 13y ago
    What was the company then that had a Cheerios box in their office because they turned down AirBnB and that was their guerrilla marketing prop?
    - jonny_eh 13y ago
      That was Union Square Ventures, in NY. http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/airbnb.html http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/airbnb.html
- sim0n 13y ago
  Airbnb is a YC co.
larrys 13y ago
This is pure HN porn. Entertaining and satisfies curiosity but no significance whatsoever. Edit: Noting somewhat predictable downvotes so I would ask that someone reply with what the significance of a single data point is other than satisfying curiosity? Note also I didn't say it didn't belong on HN or "hey why is this on the front page" etc.
- namenotrequired 13y ago
  I'm neither the OP nor one of the downvoters (I don't have enough karma for that anyway) but isn't satisfying (or in PGs words, gratifying) curiosity exactly what's asked for in HN submissions by the guidelines?
  - larrys 13y ago
    Sure and I've acknowledged that by what I said.
- pshin45 13y ago
  I wasn't actually expecting just a single data point (perhaps I should have written the plural "startups" instead), rather I was hoping that we could crowdsource several contenders/candidates, and then use those examples to pose the following follow-up questions: A. Historically, how many now-thriving companies have "slipped through the cracks" of the YC evaluation process? B. If there are several notable examples that fit a certain pattern, what can/should YC do to better identify and/or attract those kinds of teams? I like to think that YC has become its own type of graduate school at this point, so I guess a very rough analogue would be the phenomenon of many high-achieving low-income students never even considering the option of applying to an elite university[1], even though they would have a high chance of getting in AND receiving sufficient financial aid. And the few who actually did apply might not constitute a sufficiently large sample size to generate enough "success stories" to encourage others to follow suit. [1] http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/no-point-in-applying-why-poor-students-are-missing-at-top-colleges/279699/ http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/no-poin...
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
codybrown 13y ago
art.sy
ig1 13y ago
It's too early to say (remember it typically takes 7-8 years to reach a major exit event). But SendGrid and LightSail Energy are probably the two that have raised the most money and are public about being rejected from YC.

65 points by pshin45 13y ago

kevando 13y ago

Ask me in 6 months :)

rfnslyr 13y ago
What's your startup? Any name? Clues? Or do I have to sign an NDA because it's the next Facebook+dropbox+instagram? Easy on the downvotes there kids, it was just a joke.
- movemb 13y ago
  just a guess, but it may be http://www.roybiv.net/ http://www.roybiv.net/
  - kevando 13y ago
    haha, no I tried to start (above) agency earlier but that crumbled. We applied with an eyewear concept http://frameri.com http://frameri.com knowing YC doesn't really accept physical product companies so it's not a surprise we got rejected.
    - rfnslyr 13y ago
      Why did the agency fail? One of my goals was to start a small agency and work with a few developers/designers and take on projects.
      - kevando 13y ago
        It failed partly because I never ran a business and never saw how a successful agency operates. Only poorly operated digital agencies and thought "I could do this better." Also, I had to make a decision to push the agency forward or take another idea into an accelerator. I chose the latter.
        rfnslyr 13y ago
        Thanks. That's the path I want to take soon, running my own little agency. Do you know of anyone in the same position that runs a blog? Or any tips? Readings on starting something like this?
- kevando 13y ago
  It's actually more like linkedin+4sq but for dogs.. So you're fine but I'd need a video of your dog barking a response to the NBA I would need him/her to read.
  - chimeracoder 13y ago
    > I'd need a video of your dog barking a response to the NBA So the pitch is, "We're like patent trolls, but for breach-of-contract entrapment lawsuits?" I'd invest! ;)
  - pshin45 13y ago
    > NBA I see what you did there.
madoublet 13y ago
That is a cool concept (Frameri). Are you going to offer sunglass lenses? I would much rather have 1 frame with 2 lenses (sun + normal).
- kevando 13y ago
  Yes! I wish I made that more clear on our website. Would that be obvious if we just put a picture of sunglasses? Also, would you want Rx lenes and Rx sun or just regular sun lenses?
  - madoublet 13y ago
    I would want Rx for both.
    - kevando 13y ago
      shoot me an email kevin at frameri.com I am updating our pre-order page and I'd like to run the new ux by you, since I creeped and saw you do that full time
baku 13y ago
Frameri looks really interesting. As someone with an abnormally wide nose, my biggest trouble isn't the lack of variety of frames, but that few standard frames actually fit my face. Do you see yourself as moving into the highly customized frames space at all (like protos eyewear, who recently crowdfunded their first batch of 3D printed glasses a few months ago): https://crowdfunding.protoseyewear.com/3d-printed-eyewear-tailored-to-fit-you https://crowdfunding.protoseyewear.com/3d-printed-eyewear-ta...
- kevando 13y ago
  Yep!! Protos is a very interesting company, but I'm not sure 3D printing will produce something near the current frame quality for another year or so. Also, eyewear design is extremely detailed and realistically getting customized glasses will still take a professional for a while. (See our live 2 hour demo of a professional creating a 3D render of frames from a sketch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxsu3EzOzJI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxsu3EzOzJI) ... With all that said, we believe 3D printing has incredible possibilities and we hope to play a big role in in that space. One of our "growth hack" ideas to get site visitors was a contest (http://frameri.com/contest/#!/entries http://frameri.com/contest/#!/entries) and you can see some really cool concepts.

Sakes 13y ago

This might need to be an Ask PG. I wonder if there is a startup that he recalls passing on that influenced the way (minorly or majorly) he evaluates startups.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

Baadier_Sydow 13y ago

I actually this could be quite a fascinating question.

noodle 13y ago

sendgrid, iirc

timhargis 13y ago
Were they TechStars?
- noodle 13y ago
  I think they were YC rejects who then went to TechStars.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

aegiso 13y ago

Recalling PG's previous answers to this question: there are several instances of successes that YC didn't accept, but it's not PG's place to disclose who did and didn't apply.

TallboyOne 13y ago

Wasn't it AirBnB?

jonny_eh 13y ago
They're YC alum.
- TallboyOne 13y ago
  What was the company then that had a Cheerios box in their office because they turned down AirBnB and that was their guerrilla marketing prop?
  - jonny_eh 13y ago
    That was Union Square Ventures, in NY. http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/airbnb.html http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/airbnb.html
sim0n 13y ago
Airbnb is a YC co.

larrys 13y ago

This is pure HN porn. Entertaining and satisfies curiosity but no significance whatsoever. Edit: Noting somewhat predictable downvotes so I would ask that someone reply with what the significance of a single data point is other than satisfying curiosity? Note also I didn't say it didn't belong on HN or "hey why is this on the front page" etc.

namenotrequired 13y ago
I'm neither the OP nor one of the downvoters (I don't have enough karma for that anyway) but isn't satisfying (or in PGs words, gratifying) curiosity exactly what's asked for in HN submissions by the guidelines?
- larrys 13y ago
  Sure and I've acknowledged that by what I said.
pshin45 13y ago
I wasn't actually expecting just a single data point (perhaps I should have written the plural "startups" instead), rather I was hoping that we could crowdsource several contenders/candidates, and then use those examples to pose the following follow-up questions: A. Historically, how many now-thriving companies have "slipped through the cracks" of the YC evaluation process? B. If there are several notable examples that fit a certain pattern, what can/should YC do to better identify and/or attract those kinds of teams? I like to think that YC has become its own type of graduate school at this point, so I guess a very rough analogue would be the phenomenon of many high-achieving low-income students never even considering the option of applying to an elite university[1], even though they would have a high chance of getting in AND receiving sufficient financial aid. And the few who actually did apply might not constitute a sufficiently large sample size to generate enough "success stories" to encourage others to follow suit. [1] http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/no-point-in-applying-why-poor-students-are-missing-at-top-colleges/279699/ http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/no-poin...

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

codybrown 13y ago

art.sy

ig1 13y ago

It's too early to say (remember it typically takes 7-8 years to reach a major exit event). But SendGrid and LightSail Energy are probably the two that have raised the most money and are public about being rejected from YC.