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It would be great to see previous successful applications, if they don't mind. (Unsuccessful ones would be interesting too but that might be weird for them.)
by lacker 17y ago
It would be great to see previous successful applications, if they don't mind. (Unsuccessful ones would be interesting too but that might be weird for them.)
- minalecs 17y agoI agree this would be very helpful, but I imagine they're would be a lot of effort on censoring things like personal info, other ideas. I think for example I would like to read just how the successful ones described they're accepted ideas.
- iamwil 17y agogreat for applicants, but not for the process overall. I imagine if you told people exactly what you're looking for, you'd only just get that from applicants. In essence, you'd have just diluted the power of your discriminator. What pg's doing here seemed mostly to tell applicants what not to do. He's trying to make his application process scale better, and to increase the signal to noise ratio on the good, but not obviously great teams.
- dhouston 17y agoHopefully I won't feel stupid posting this, but I wished someone had done the same thing when I applied. (pg -- if you'd rather I not share this, feel free to delete) Original Dropbox YC app: http://files.getdropbox.com/u/2/app.html http://files.getdropbox.com/u/2/app.html Had to remove some names and one sensitive thing but otherwise unedited
- nostrademons 17y agoYou had applied earlier (SFP05?) and been rejected, right? If you don't mind, it'd be really interesting to see the earlier app too and compare what changed between them?
- dbul 17y agoEven though I don't intend on reapplying, this was thought provoking; thanks. Why would your project be hard for someone else to duplicate? I think this is a critical question. Several weeks ago I was at a coffee shop and some girl was complaining to her friend about saving her data as they were leaving. Her friend said, "I just use DropBox." Had to smile as it was the first time I saw a (presumably) lay person mention a YC-funded company. It was nice to see an indication of such a breadth of success.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- pg 17y agoWow, that is a great application. This is exactly what I meant about being clear and concise. I linked to it from the essay.
- wheels 17y agoHere's the real gem: "Prototype - done in Feb. Version I can charge for: 8 weeks maybe? (ed: hahaha)" Ah, founders' optimism.
- paraschopra 17y agoThe document was very informative. A repository of YC apps would definitely be a tremendously useful collection, not just for future YC applications, but for general startup community as well.
- pegobry 17y agoThat is awesome. Great application. I wish more people would post their applications.
- swaroop 17y agoYou seem to be already doing well at the time of the application, why were you applying to YCombinator? Was it the money, the networking, or something else?
- messel 17y agoThis is exactly what I want to know. Must be the networking to sharp folks and help building the business from concept to concrete.
- felideon 17y agoIf you were applying as a single founder, how and when did you meet Arash (or at what point did you get him to be cofounder)?
- messel 17y agoNice pitch Drew. And of course, I use and love dropbox.