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Has anyone applied to YC, got accepted, and quit their day job? That is the scenario we're facing with BitsyBox. We love every minute that we're working on it

Has anyone applied to YC, got accepted, and quit their day job? That is the scenario we're facing with BitsyBox. We love every minute that we're working on it but I wanted to get some feedback from the HN community about whether we should start thinking about it as our big jump out of the corporate developer's life. Basically right now, we go to our corporate jobs during the day, come back at night and work for four hours on it -- this can't be uncommon. We're ready to make the leap to work on this everyday / all day -- but we'd really like to have some seed funding or be ramen-profitable first.

pxlpshr 17y ago
It's a 3 month cycle and most of the team has to move to get funding from ycom. At which point, you better be willing to give it a full-time effort if you're taking someone else's money and you expect success. Building a business is hard work and requires a ton of energy. http://ycombinator.com/faq.html http://ycombinator.com/faq.html Can we do it without moving to where you are? Sorry, no. We tried this once, and by Demo Day that startup was way behind the rest. What we do, we have to do in person. We would not be doing a startup a favor by not making them move. You can leave one founder at home, but the rest, including the CEO, have to live in the Bay Area during the 3 month funding cycle.
speby 17y ago
Yes, I did. I left a $100K+ job to work on Poll Everywhere. Been growing ever since and it was, without a doubt, the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. Never looked back. It also helps, when you're really small still, to have some decent wad of personal savings, too.
maryrosecook 17y ago
On a side note, BitsyBox is a great idea: content management without the content management system, or, a feather rather than a sledgehammer.
pg 17y ago
Most founders quit a job to do the startup. Only about 20-25% were students before.
- jwhitlark 17y ago
  Interesting. I hadn't picked up on that ratio from your essays, although I certainly didn't think all YC applicants were students/fresh out of school.
mst 17y ago
This possibly isn't the right place to offer this information but ... I let your video run for about ten seconds and then turned it off. The characterisation stuff just ... just no. I wanted to see the product. I am, however, -extremely- aware that I Am Not Your Target Market and that the story-oriented style can work perfectly well. But if the video is going to aim for a marcomms style then it'd be nice if you built out the explanation stuff a bit more. And made it work with ctrl+click rather than being javascript silliness only. </grumpy-old-school-unix-head>
- roachsocal 17y ago
  That's good feedback. As far as the video goes, we used to have only the developer stuff in it. Then the non-technical people didn't get a word of it. So we decided to add the first minute to explain the problem we're trying to solve. With the JS overlays -- when we launch the real website (in the next couple of months) it won't use those -- it's just a normal, click as you go, website. Also, we'll very likely split the video back into two, one for developers, one for site owners.
  - moe 17y ago
    Two more things about that video: Get rid of sentences like "The solution xxx has been waiting for". Be humble in language, impress with the demonstration instead. Get rid of the music or change it. It's okay in the beginning when it's hardly noticable but as "drama" builds up it becomes rather ridiculous (reminded me of a really bad McGyver episode). Other than that I liked the video. It did a very good job at getting the point across for me in reasonable time. Many intro-screencasts suffer from being too long or too high- or low-level. I think you struck a good balance there. I don't agree with the complaint that it should be more technical. For me it was just right to get a quick grasp on what you offer. Anything more detailed should either be in text or in a second screencast.
100k 17y ago
We did. (OK, I was contracting which isn't a corporate job in the first place. But I gave up a lot of potential income to do YC.) I second those who are saying that simply filling out the application (and especially, making the video - boiling your startup down to 1 minute is HARD) will be really rewarding. I would recommend that you and your co-founders make a pact: if you get in to Y Combinator, you will do Y Combinator, full-time, 100% all the way. If anyone can't agree to that, then you shouldn't apply. Or maybe find a new co-founder.
jwhitlark 17y ago
I think if you're going to seriously do something like this, you have to make it your sole commitment. pg has lots of essays on why, so I won't rehash them. If you're waiting for the perfect moment, even if there was such a thing, I'd be highly doubtful anyone would be able to identify it except in hindsight. In the end, you have to make up your mind for yourself, because you are going to be the one to live with the consequences.

pxlpshr 17y ago

It's a 3 month cycle and most of the team has to move to get funding from ycom. At which point, you better be willing to give it a full-time effort if you're taking someone else's money and you expect success. Building a business is hard work and requires a ton of energy. http://ycombinator.com/faq.html http://ycombinator.com/faq.html Can we do it without moving to where you are? Sorry, no. We tried this once, and by Demo Day that startup was way behind the rest. What we do, we have to do in person. We would not be doing a startup a favor by not making them move. You can leave one founder at home, but the rest, including the CEO, have to live in the Bay Area during the 3 month funding cycle.

speby 17y ago

Yes, I did. I left a $100K+ job to work on Poll Everywhere. Been growing ever since and it was, without a doubt, the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. Never looked back. It also helps, when you're really small still, to have some decent wad of personal savings, too.

maryrosecook 17y ago

On a side note, BitsyBox is a great idea: content management without the content management system, or, a feather rather than a sledgehammer.

pg 17y ago

Most founders quit a job to do the startup. Only about 20-25% were students before.

jwhitlark 17y ago
Interesting. I hadn't picked up on that ratio from your essays, although I certainly didn't think all YC applicants were students/fresh out of school.

mst 17y ago

This possibly isn't the right place to offer this information but ... I let your video run for about ten seconds and then turned it off. The characterisation stuff just ... just no. I wanted to see the product. I am, however, -extremely- aware that I Am Not Your Target Market and that the story-oriented style can work perfectly well. But if the video is going to aim for a marcomms style then it'd be nice if you built out the explanation stuff a bit more. And made it work with ctrl+click rather than being javascript silliness only. </grumpy-old-school-unix-head>

roachsocal 17y ago
That's good feedback. As far as the video goes, we used to have only the developer stuff in it. Then the non-technical people didn't get a word of it. So we decided to add the first minute to explain the problem we're trying to solve. With the JS overlays -- when we launch the real website (in the next couple of months) it won't use those -- it's just a normal, click as you go, website. Also, we'll very likely split the video back into two, one for developers, one for site owners.
- moe 17y ago
  Two more things about that video: Get rid of sentences like "The solution xxx has been waiting for". Be humble in language, impress with the demonstration instead. Get rid of the music or change it. It's okay in the beginning when it's hardly noticable but as "drama" builds up it becomes rather ridiculous (reminded me of a really bad McGyver episode). Other than that I liked the video. It did a very good job at getting the point across for me in reasonable time. Many intro-screencasts suffer from being too long or too high- or low-level. I think you struck a good balance there. I don't agree with the complaint that it should be more technical. For me it was just right to get a quick grasp on what you offer. Anything more detailed should either be in text or in a second screencast.

100k 17y ago

We did. (OK, I was contracting which isn't a corporate job in the first place. But I gave up a lot of potential income to do YC.) I second those who are saying that simply filling out the application (and especially, making the video - boiling your startup down to 1 minute is HARD) will be really rewarding. I would recommend that you and your co-founders make a pact: if you get in to Y Combinator, you will do Y Combinator, full-time, 100% all the way. If anyone can't agree to that, then you shouldn't apply. Or maybe find a new co-founder.

jwhitlark 17y ago

I think if you're going to seriously do something like this, you have to make it your sole commitment. pg has lots of essays on why, so I won't rehash them. If you're waiting for the perfect moment, even if there was such a thing, I'd be highly doubtful anyone would be able to identify it except in hindsight. In the end, you have to make up your mind for yourself, because you are going to be the one to live with the consequences.