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This is exactly how our "interview" went. Despite being given the same advice by others that had been through the process we still foolishly wasted time prepar

This is exactly how our "interview" went. Despite being given the same advice by others that had been through the process we still foolishly wasted time preparing a short 1 minute pitch. We might have had a better result if we'd invested more time in getting the user experience in our demo right and answering the one critical question - "Why would people want this?" Don't make the same mistake we did. :)

araneae 17y ago
It seems to me that the pitch is in the application anyway. I can't imagine why they'd want you to just repeat yourselves.
- madmotive 17y ago
  You shouldn't expect them to remember what was in the application. If they do remember something it will probably only be one line.
  - wheels 17y ago
    That actually goes for investors in general, from what I can tell. Biggest mistake we made with the first investor that invited us in was assuming that he knew what we did. (One of his associates apparently had said that he should talk to us; he'd never looked at our website.) In the case of YC interviews, that paragraph that says what your company does is buried in the thousands of pages of text that are going across their eyes during the screening process. Don't expect them to remember it verbatim. ;-)
chrischen 17y ago
Is a demo required?
- aberman 17y ago
  No, but obviously better if you have one.
- rantfoil 17y ago
  I think its incredibly foolish to try to get funding for something that has no basis in reality yet. That's what a demo really is -- a toe-hold. But that toehold is usually enough to know whether a team can make it a reality, and whether they have a chance in the real world. There's so much competition from great teams that it may well be a waste of time without showing your best.
  - chrischen 17y ago
    I understand but Paul Graham really makes an emphasis on the team, and that a demo is not required. I mean there has to be a way to prove that that the team can produce what they claim: past work, past startups, etc right?
    - joez 17y ago
      I think YC is sufficiently competitive that teams without a demo (on the application) will not even get an interview. Also (I believe it has been said), the two weeks from when you're notified to the weekend of the interview should be sufficient to produce some kind of early stage demo. Your startup idea might be unfit for YC if you can't at least have something to show in two weeks of fervent work.
      - chrischen 17y ago
        Thanks for the advice. I was under the impression that the demo would be unimportant, and since I'm in school right now, I thought I'd go slow at it unless I am accepted. I can whip up something in two weeks easy (even with school), but I didn't submit a demo in the application because I didn't think it would be necessary, so I focused on developing the idea instead.
        wheels 17y ago
        Trevor talked about this in the comments to my article on applying to YC: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=854088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=854088

araneae 17y ago

It seems to me that the pitch is in the application anyway. I can't imagine why they'd want you to just repeat yourselves.

madmotive 17y ago
You shouldn't expect them to remember what was in the application. If they do remember something it will probably only be one line.
- wheels 17y ago
  That actually goes for investors in general, from what I can tell. Biggest mistake we made with the first investor that invited us in was assuming that he knew what we did. (One of his associates apparently had said that he should talk to us; he'd never looked at our website.) In the case of YC interviews, that paragraph that says what your company does is buried in the thousands of pages of text that are going across their eyes during the screening process. Don't expect them to remember it verbatim. ;-)

chrischen 17y ago

Is a demo required?

aberman 17y ago
No, but obviously better if you have one.
rantfoil 17y ago
I think its incredibly foolish to try to get funding for something that has no basis in reality yet. That's what a demo really is -- a toe-hold. But that toehold is usually enough to know whether a team can make it a reality, and whether they have a chance in the real world. There's so much competition from great teams that it may well be a waste of time without showing your best.
- chrischen 17y ago
  I understand but Paul Graham really makes an emphasis on the team, and that a demo is not required. I mean there has to be a way to prove that that the team can produce what they claim: past work, past startups, etc right?
  - joez 17y ago
    I think YC is sufficiently competitive that teams without a demo (on the application) will not even get an interview. Also (I believe it has been said), the two weeks from when you're notified to the weekend of the interview should be sufficient to produce some kind of early stage demo. Your startup idea might be unfit for YC if you can't at least have something to show in two weeks of fervent work.
    - chrischen 17y ago
      Thanks for the advice. I was under the impression that the demo would be unimportant, and since I'm in school right now, I thought I'd go slow at it unless I am accepted. I can whip up something in two weeks easy (even with school), but I didn't submit a demo in the application because I didn't think it would be necessary, so I focused on developing the idea instead.
      - wheels 17y ago
        Trevor talked about this in the comments to my article on applying to YC: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=854088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=854088