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I never got into Y Combinator (I think I applied 4 times but I'm not sure) but I'm now the CEO of a rapidly growing, well funded startup that actually SERVES an
by tomasien 12y ago
I never got into Y Combinator (I think I applied 4 times but I'm not sure) but I'm now the CEO of a rapidly growing, well funded startup that actually SERVES an increasing number of YC companies. The way I always thought about YC was that it is ALWAYS worth applying because the exercise is good and the upside is high (and the downside minimal) but getting into YC should never be "part of your plan" - there are too many other great applicants, plain and simple.
It's the same as how no student should ever PLAN to get into Harvard, and Harvard even has SATs and GPAs to rely on (fairly objective stats around which you can make a guess about your odds) while YC has only heuristics based on experience and founder reputation. Never judge yourself based on something that has an open application process - it doesn't define you, it defines them. No reason not to apply, but take it as a bonus if you get in, don't take it personally if you get rejected.
- downandout 12y ago>I never got into Y Combinator but I'm now the CEO of a rapidly growing, well funded startup that actually SERVES an increasing number of YC companies This this kind of thing always feels like a bit of a victory. I never came close to being admitted to Stanford, but years ago found myself on the campus, hiring a professor as a consultant to a startup I co-founded. As we walked around the campus and then sat in his office, this far-off universe of people that the Stanford admissions committee had long-ago decided were smarter and more capable than I was suddenly seemed far less so. I was already doing what many of the students, and even many professors, aspired to do. A rejection from YC, Stanford, or any other exclusive club with limited space isn't necessarily an indictment of your abilities. In the case of a startup, launch your product and let the market tell you how valuable you are. Remarkable products will quickly spread, and investors will line up to write you checks. You can have VC partners worth hundreds of millions of dollars literally walking the streets [1] to find you, too. [1] http://youtu.be/8-pJa11YvCs?t=13m http://youtu.be/8-pJa11YvCs?t=13m
- vacri 12y agoI once tried to become a paramedic. I was working in a sort-of outpatient clinic at the time, talked a couple of times with an paramedic instructor, along with some regular officers. I never got in - the HR recruiters didn't like me for some reason. This made no sense to the instructor, who thought I was a prime candidate, nor to my medical colleagues, and I also later successfully coached two friends through the process. I often wonder how life would have turned out differently had I been accepted. Sometimes people on both sides of the wall think you'd be the best for the job, but if the gatekeepers don't think so... :)
- tomasien 12y agoAbsolutely, and you've got to remember that the gatekeepers use heuristics meant to target the greatest chance at being the rightest, not ensuring that they don't miss a few obvious ones. Such it is with YC - their heuristics are designed to ensure that they catch the potential unicorns (among other things) and aren't concerned with missing a few that would seem obvious in retrospect. And btw they seem to do well - all the "misses" are middling wins - for example Buffer (a poster boy for a YC miss) is an amazing company, but it's not a miss YC will ever rue. The misses for YC should actually validate so many founders - if you're looking to be a Buffer (which, if you want to live a good life, you should consider) you should bear in mind that I think even looking back on Buffer, YC would take them knowing about them what they know, but they wouldn't change their criteria for accepting founders to make sure they don't miss Buffer and they shouldn't. There are lots of great businesses and even big-win startups that YC isn't set up to catch, and that could be you.
- ttty 12y agoAnywhere to know those "heuristics"?
- tankenmate 12y agoRead Paul Graham's and Sam Altman's postings; that should get you enough of a head start to be able to find the rest.
- hessenwolf 12y agoI got a reply from a financial engineering consultancy HR person on Friday to say that they would not be able to process my application until I had submitted my high school results. From 1997. I have several applications on the go right now, so I do not have time to go historical for them. They miss a candidate.
- logicallee 12y agoTell them this!! :)
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- robomartin 12y ago> it doesn't define you, it defines them. Brilliant observation.
- 3pt14159 12y agoI wanted to see what your company did so I checked your profile. I'm getting an error on your website: Error 521 Ray ID: 180f9c9b35c10ec7 Let me know when this is fixed and I'll delete this comment.
- tomasien 12y agoThanks for letting me know that is super weird - I don't see that error and I don't recognize it. Are you browsing in some non-standard way I need to account for (weird browser or something?)