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Learn what you need to lay down an architectural foundation. Hell, before that, start doing what you can. Break your idea down into the smallest essential parts

by dhagz 12y ago

Learn what you need to lay down an architectural foundation. Hell, before that, start doing what you can. Break your idea down into the smallest essential parts, and figure out what you can make with your current knowledge. Make those things, THEN learn how to make the things you can't. Maybe realize applying to YC this winter is a slightly unrealistic goal and set a realistic one, like next winter. Or don't worry about any sort of VC until you have something to show them. Seriously. They NEED to see a product, and they need to see that it can make an impact. If you approached them this winter with just an idea, your pitch would be instantly forgotten. Ideas are a dime a dozen, products are worth so much more.

michaelmior 12y ago
I think part of the "make what you can" bit is to forget about a good architectural foundation and just build something almost sort of barely works. This probably goes against your instincts (it certainly does go against mine). And yes, you might run into trouble because of bad design decisions made early on. But there's not going to be a later unless you get something started :)
ModernMech 12y ago
> They NEED to see a product, and they need to see that it can make an impact. If you approached them this winter with just an idea, your pitch would be instantly forgotten. Ideas are a dime a dozen, products are worth so much more. By "they" do you mean YC? By my understanding, YC really gives emphasis to investing in the founders, not the idea, and they fully embrace the fact that the idea will evolve and may be completely different by the end of the program. For instance, Codecademy only came up with their idea a few weeks before Demo Day. With that in mind, there's no reason not to apply to YC this winter. Best case, he gets in. Worst case, he doesn't and he learned more about his startup by really thinking about the application questions.
- aerovistae 12y ago
  Yes, these are excellent points. They emphasize very strongly that they will even accept teams with no idea, so I believe ModernMech is very much in the right on this one. But I understand the original point as well.

by dhagz 12y ago

michaelmior 12y ago

I think part of the "make what you can" bit is to forget about a good architectural foundation and just build something almost sort of barely works. This probably goes against your instincts (it certainly does go against mine). And yes, you might run into trouble because of bad design decisions made early on. But there's not going to be a later unless you get something started :)

ModernMech 12y ago

> They NEED to see a product, and they need to see that it can make an impact. If you approached them this winter with just an idea, your pitch would be instantly forgotten. Ideas are a dime a dozen, products are worth so much more. By "they" do you mean YC? By my understanding, YC really gives emphasis to investing in the founders, not the idea, and they fully embrace the fact that the idea will evolve and may be completely different by the end of the program. For instance, Codecademy only came up with their idea a few weeks before Demo Day. With that in mind, there's no reason not to apply to YC this winter. Best case, he gets in. Worst case, he doesn't and he learned more about his startup by really thinking about the application questions.

aerovistae 12y ago
Yes, these are excellent points. They emphasize very strongly that they will even accept teams with no idea, so I believe ModernMech is very much in the right on this one. But I understand the original point as well.