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While I've always felt a strong attraction to YCombinator (especially the cameraderie that comes from being a part of it) and been very inspired to apply, I can

by atonse 12y ago

While I've always felt a strong attraction to YCombinator (especially the cameraderie that comes from being a part of it) and been very inspired to apply, I can't help but feel that I am in a phase of life that's simply not a good fit for YC, or at least the narrative that's pushed. I'm no longer a mid 20-something that can live on Ramen and 16 hour days. I'm married and have a young child. Are there YC founders in this phase of life that were able to make it work in YC? What did you do differently? Is YC interested in working with these kinds of founders? (it's certainly a different kind of "Diversity")

randall 12y ago
I had a pregnant wife and a kid at home when I went through YC last January. Another friend of mine had 3 kids and a wife he had to leave home. Realistically YC doesn't care what stage of life you're in, they just want you in Mountain View for 3 months so you can significantly improve the chances of your company growing large. It's difficult to make it work, but I promise for me it was totally worth it.
- Chronic29 12y ago
  You are a single data point. We have hundreds of other YC participants that fit the 20-something and single description.
- radicalbyte 12y ago
  My wife would kill me if I left her alone for 3 months with a baby whilst she was pregnant.
  - reitanqild 12y ago
    I guess for some families it depends a lot on how long they have been hungry, having to put off everything etc. Not having money must be worse than beeing alone a few months?
  - randall 12y ago
    Then you haven't done a good enough job communicating why it's important. :) My wife was really supportive because she knew it'd be worth it.
  - desireco42 12y ago
    And she should, this is important to be present when baby is born and growing. Those who 'communicated' importance to their wives... I don't have good explanation honestly. You don't want to be their kid anyway.
ajiang 12y ago
There were plenty of older, married founders in our batch (S14) at YC. Some with kids. Message me directly at andrew at bayesimpact.org, and I can connect you with some to speak to.
katm 12y ago
We're absolutely interested in working with these kinds of founders. Shoot me an email at kat at ycombinator. Happy to talk more or introduce you to some of the founders who went through YC with families.
kevin 12y ago
If you're willing to work hard and are talented, we'd love for you to apply. If you have those two qualities, I could care less about that number. Only you can answer whether you're willing to do what it takes to make a startup succeed. I personally do not believe it requires sacrificing things like family and personal health. I'm not going to lie, it's easier when you have less obligations in your life (like when you're young), but not impossible.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
wellboy 12y ago
It doesn't matter what your situation is, it's the same with any investor. If you have strong traction or a strong track record, you will get investment, be it YC or someone else, no matter if you're a parent or not. Of course you have to have a scalable startup.
marcelsalathe 12y ago
There was a priceonomics piece recently about Founders with kids: http://priceonomics.com/founders-with-kids/ http://priceonomics.com/founders-with-kids/ It's more a question of whether your life fits to everything that comes with being a startup founder, rather than YC itself.
sgustard 12y ago
One should consider statements Paul Graham has publicly made as to where he places his bets. "This is one reason I'd bet on the 25 year old over the 32 year old." "By 38 you can't take so many risks-- especially if you have kids" I would be wary approaching an organization that has publicly expressed such age discrimination.
- syntern 12y ago
  I think it is much better that he made it clear where he places his bets. If you have kids and over 40, it is very likely that a slower paced, bootstrapped business growth model will suite your lifestyle better anyway.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  It's not "age discrimination" (in the negative-connotation sense), it's sober rational thinking. "By 38 you can't take so many risks-- especially if you have kids" is a statement of fact. "This is one reason I'd bet on the 25 year old over the 32 year old." is a reasonable conclusion. Calling this age discrimination is like saying all employers are evil because they discriminate based on having or not having skills required for a job.
  - Iftheshoefits 12y ago
    Even if we suppose it were "sober rational thinking" that doesn't mean it's also not a "negative-connotation". Fifty years ago a southern business would have been engaged in "sober rational thinking" to deny service to blacks or at worst to make sure they were "properly" segregated. In more modern times a more apt comparison would be with respect to pregnant women. Suppose he'd written instead "This is one reason I'd take the childless, single 25 year old woman over the married 32 year old. By 33 she'll probably be pregnant or have a baby." That's very clearly discrimination, and very clearly in the negative-connotation sense. For similar reasons, PG's statements re: age are very clearly "negative-connotation" age discrimination. Moreover, there's nothing particularly "sober" or even "rational" about it, considering the heaps of evidence regarding age and people who are very successful in running businesses (hint: "young" isn't exactly a word that comes to mind).
phkahler 12y ago
I was in that boat, but now if I was really motivated I could leave the family home for 3 months to do YC. The problem now is that everyone I know is in that same situation, so I've got NO co-founders to bring along. PG wrote a whole essay about why middle-aged guys don't do startups, but he also wrote one about the importance of cofounders. You solve one and end up not having the other...
nwenzel 12y ago
My second child was born after submitting the application and before being accepted. The fact that I have kids was on my twitter profile and not hidden. It's tough. But not impossible. My solution was to cut everything else out. But, I love my family, my co-founder is awesome, and building my company is what I want to do. So, "everything else" should probably have been cut out anyway. SimpleLegal YC S2013

by atonse 12y ago

randall 12y ago

I had a pregnant wife and a kid at home when I went through YC last January. Another friend of mine had 3 kids and a wife he had to leave home. Realistically YC doesn't care what stage of life you're in, they just want you in Mountain View for 3 months so you can significantly improve the chances of your company growing large. It's difficult to make it work, but I promise for me it was totally worth it.

Chronic29 12y ago
You are a single data point. We have hundreds of other YC participants that fit the 20-something and single description.
radicalbyte 12y ago
My wife would kill me if I left her alone for 3 months with a baby whilst she was pregnant.
- reitanqild 12y ago
  I guess for some families it depends a lot on how long they have been hungry, having to put off everything etc. Not having money must be worse than beeing alone a few months?
- randall 12y ago
  Then you haven't done a good enough job communicating why it's important. :) My wife was really supportive because she knew it'd be worth it.
- desireco42 12y ago
  And she should, this is important to be present when baby is born and growing. Those who 'communicated' importance to their wives... I don't have good explanation honestly. You don't want to be their kid anyway.

ajiang 12y ago

There were plenty of older, married founders in our batch (S14) at YC. Some with kids. Message me directly at andrew at bayesimpact.org, and I can connect you with some to speak to.

katm 12y ago

We're absolutely interested in working with these kinds of founders. Shoot me an email at kat at ycombinator. Happy to talk more or introduce you to some of the founders who went through YC with families.

kevin 12y ago

If you're willing to work hard and are talented, we'd love for you to apply. If you have those two qualities, I could care less about that number. Only you can answer whether you're willing to do what it takes to make a startup succeed. I personally do not believe it requires sacrificing things like family and personal health. I'm not going to lie, it's easier when you have less obligations in your life (like when you're young), but not impossible.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

wellboy 12y ago

It doesn't matter what your situation is, it's the same with any investor. If you have strong traction or a strong track record, you will get investment, be it YC or someone else, no matter if you're a parent or not. Of course you have to have a scalable startup.

marcelsalathe 12y ago

There was a priceonomics piece recently about Founders with kids: http://priceonomics.com/founders-with-kids/ http://priceonomics.com/founders-with-kids/ It's more a question of whether your life fits to everything that comes with being a startup founder, rather than YC itself.

sgustard 12y ago

One should consider statements Paul Graham has publicly made as to where he places his bets. "This is one reason I'd bet on the 25 year old over the 32 year old." "By 38 you can't take so many risks-- especially if you have kids" I would be wary approaching an organization that has publicly expressed such age discrimination.

syntern 12y ago
I think it is much better that he made it clear where he places his bets. If you have kids and over 40, it is very likely that a slower paced, bootstrapped business growth model will suite your lifestyle better anyway.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
TeMPOraL 12y ago
It's not "age discrimination" (in the negative-connotation sense), it's sober rational thinking. "By 38 you can't take so many risks-- especially if you have kids" is a statement of fact. "This is one reason I'd bet on the 25 year old over the 32 year old." is a reasonable conclusion. Calling this age discrimination is like saying all employers are evil because they discriminate based on having or not having skills required for a job.
- Iftheshoefits 12y ago
  Even if we suppose it were "sober rational thinking" that doesn't mean it's also not a "negative-connotation". Fifty years ago a southern business would have been engaged in "sober rational thinking" to deny service to blacks or at worst to make sure they were "properly" segregated. In more modern times a more apt comparison would be with respect to pregnant women. Suppose he'd written instead "This is one reason I'd take the childless, single 25 year old woman over the married 32 year old. By 33 she'll probably be pregnant or have a baby." That's very clearly discrimination, and very clearly in the negative-connotation sense. For similar reasons, PG's statements re: age are very clearly "negative-connotation" age discrimination. Moreover, there's nothing particularly "sober" or even "rational" about it, considering the heaps of evidence regarding age and people who are very successful in running businesses (hint: "young" isn't exactly a word that comes to mind).

phkahler 12y ago

I was in that boat, but now if I was really motivated I could leave the family home for 3 months to do YC. The problem now is that everyone I know is in that same situation, so I've got NO co-founders to bring along. PG wrote a whole essay about why middle-aged guys don't do startups, but he also wrote one about the importance of cofounders. You solve one and end up not having the other...

nwenzel 12y ago

My second child was born after submitting the application and before being accepted. The fact that I have kids was on my twitter profile and not hidden. It's tough. But not impossible. My solution was to cut everything else out. But, I love my family, my co-founder is awesome, and building my company is what I want to do. So, "everything else" should probably have been cut out anyway. SimpleLegal YC S2013