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Last Minute Advice for YC Applicants
- porter 13y agoShould be first minute advice.
- deathflute 13y agoThanks for the great advice. We would love to have you look at our application ;)
- shenoybr 13y agoAre there any YC alumni in the NYC area who would kindly oblige to have a look at our application? We'll buy beer :).
- deathflute 13y agoLet me pile on the offer. Along with drinks, I can help you analyze your data or advice you on your technology stack.
- joncalhoun 13y agoadd your email to your profile if it isn't already and I'm sure someone would at least look it over remotely.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- hn_troll_256 13y agoAdvice? Give PG the finger and go somewhere better!
- thehn123 13y agoThis sounds like good advice. Strike out on your own, dont sell out to others.
- ScottWhigham 13y agoOdd title. It's sage advice but I struggle with the inclusion of "last minute". There's nothing "last minute" about this IMO - if you're having to figure any of this out at the last minute, you aren't the YC type, I would guess.
- mhluongo 13y agoThere are plenty of super-early or even idea stage companies that apply, right? Seems relevant in that case.
- lalwanivikas 13y agoAgree. And couple of points are applicable to any stage company, so makes perfect sense.
- katm 13y agoIt's "last minute" because the application deadline for Summer 2014 is March 28.
- malanj 13y agoI might be being naive, but I don't agree. We've decided to enter YC 3 days ago with an new idea. Surely the fact that we have not spent months preparing betas before the YC entry deadline doesn't effect our chances of building a $1B company. I understand that YC is primarily looking for founders with a good shot at achieving that. I don't think that not having a clear idea of what we want to build yet is as important as our ability to figure that out by talking to customers. Paul Graham keeps hammering in that a good founding team capable of thinking up good ideas and executing them well is what matters most. So I'm choosing to take that at face value.
- thekonqueror 13y agoFirst time applicant here. I was wondering, How should I ask for feedback on my application from YC alums without sounding like spam email?
- the_economist 13y agoJust ask! No one will think it's spam.
- joncalhoun 13y agoAre there any yc companies that would really benefit from your company? Reach out to them and ask them for feedback and explain that you chose them because you believe they understand the problem because they experience it.
- thekonqueror 13y agoWe're working on cloud automation using NLP, so anyone with cloud infrastructure would benefit from it. But I see your point. Thanks for the advise.
- paulbaumgart 13y agoBe authentic in what you write. Spam mostly sounds the way it does because it's lying to you.
- keithwarren 13y agoI just did research, found them on their websites and emailed whatever public address I could find. Be direct, these are busy people so they dont want to read your life story when you are just asking them to review. Also, be ready to share your application - even go so far as giving them a sharing link to a Google doc with your questions and answers in it. If they have to say 'sure, I will take a look' and then wait for you to respond you may miss the window.
- keithwarren 13y agoIn case you are wondering I emailed about 30 people and 8 reviewed our application. Most did cursory reviews and offered some changes and a few paragraphs of advice while others really got into helping us - it was quite the gift.
- togasystems 13y agoAny YC alums care to give my application a once over?
- henry120 13y agoAmazing advice.
- pg_is_a_butt 13y agofund yourselves, and keep your profits.
- lalwanivikas 13y agoAny YC alumni in India? (Preferably Bangalore) Would love to get some feedback on my idea/application. Thanks!
- puppetmaster3 13y agoI'm not a chick and don't have an axe to grind other than my business. Did not apply.
- sixQuarks 13y agoIn one of the photos, in the background, there are several crock pots. What's up with that? What are they cooking and why so many?
- kevin 13y agoDinner. With over 50 startups a batch (75 in the current one), we have to feed almost 200 people every week. Hence, lots of crock pots.
- irollboozers 13y agoWill there ever by a YC recipe book? Pretty please? I want to know all of PG's culinary secrets.
- eurleif 13y agohttp://paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html#f1n http://paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html#f1n
- kirillzubovsky 13y agoIf you meant that literally, as in food, then it could probably fit on a flash card :D
- icu 13y agoGreat article. While I agree that writing skill is incredibly important, I disagree with Mr. Tan's advice to just 'write lots and keep reducing your text' as the best way to go about writing clearly. I certainly didn't learn how to write clearly at University and I had to write loads of reports and essays for 5 years. I actually owe a great debt of gratitude to my first job out of University where I worked as an analyst for a finance and economics consultancy. The CEO was fanatical about making everything Plain English writing style. It was a trial by fire. Anyway, my advice is to go on a Plain English writing course. The course instructors usually critique your writing and offer helpful insights on how to improve. If that's not possible, go through the guides on the Plain English website (http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides.html). I also highly recommend applying the writing principals in Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Style-Clarity-Chicago-Writing-Publishing/dp/0226899152 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Style-Clarity-Chicago-Writing-Publis...). This book is worth its weight in gold.
- Alexontwowheels 13y agoThanks for this!