5 ms·

Y Combinator rejection reasons

61 points by blueintegral 11y ago

byoung2 11y ago
I think there is a sweet spot that you have to hit where you have the focus to start on a solution to a small part of a big problem, but still show investors that there is a clear path to eventually tackle more and more of the bigger problem. Reid Hoffman talks about "boil the ocean" startups that are just too big to tackle, but if you approach it as boiling a cup or a pot first, and convince investors that there is still an ocean to be boiled down the line, you have a good shot.
- mej10 11y ago
  PG has several themes in his essays around this idea. Others have talked it about it as well. It isn't a hidden secret or unknown. Most people just choose to ignore it.
- empressplay 11y ago
  That said, YC could be missing out on opportunities if they fail to have the foresight to see the cups that could eventually become oceans -- ie the ability of sniply to (hypothetically) bring their users over to other products in the future. Just because a particular seed from a startup isn't going to sprout into a forest overnight doesn't mean that particular startup doesn't have the potential to find other seeds that do. I guess what I'm saying is YC would do well to consider funding people with good ideas as much as the ideas themselves.
  - byoung2 11y ago
    I guess what I'm saying is YC would do well to consider funding people with good ideas as much as the ideas themselves. That's a good point. YC does claim to look at people first and then ideas, and really the idea is just evidence that you can have good ideas. But I guess they are also looking for pattern recognition, as in, can you spot the pattern that YC is looking for. That seems to be (in my opinion) smart teams who can tackle a small chunk of a big problem before and during YC, and sell investors the dream of the whole chunk after YC. Think couch surfing app now, disrupting the hotel industry later. Cloud based USB stick now, revolutionize the cloud storage industry later.
danieltillett 11y ago
Is this a joke that I am not getting? Is linking to google supposed to be a suggestion that there are a very large number of reasons for rejection?
- logicallee 11y ago
  the person didn't bother to collect them, but I think you're supposed to click through one at a time and read the reasons.
- BinaryIdiot 11y ago
  I thought OP was simply sharing a unique way of searching Google for all YC rejections. I've done plenty of complex searching and I've wondered what the reasons were that various companies get rejected; for whatever reason I never thought to try a tight search like this.
- Tideflat 11y ago
  I think it is just a clever way of linking to a collection of related articles.
  - mynegation 11y ago
    Apparently too clever for its own good. Mobile Safari just shows clean Google search page, no search results. I guess this is what happened to the GP poster.
    - DanBC 11y ago
      The submitted url is: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=y+combinator+interview+%22I%27m+sorry+to+say%22++%22decided+not+to+fund%22 https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=y+combinator+interview+... If I paste this into Safari on iOS it redirects to a blank Google page in my country: https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=yqk0VcmaLaa07QbeqoH4CQ https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=yqk0VcmaLaa07QbeqoH4C...
      - 11y ago
sparkzilla 11y ago
I don't know why YC needed an interview to tell Sniply that "we can’t see it becoming the huge type of company that investors like to fund." Surely that should have been weeded out in the initial selection. Their story highlights a lack of transparency in the YC selection process. Those who are rejected at the application stage get no reasons at all. Then they hear stories like this and wonder if there is any method to the selection process at all. If YC has internal tools to assess all the applications (as they claim) then what is the harm in publishing those criteria, and publishing the results publicly. For example, let's say Sniply got 5/10 for market size, but had 10/10 for member ability (and that ability was weighted evenly) then we could see how it was selected, and we could see why it was selected over other applicants. Then all applicants could see where they stand. As it stands it seems to be a real crapshoot, which gives false hope to companies like Sniply, while denying others the chance to be selected.
- robertandy 11y ago
  And that spot could have gone to someone with a bigger/better idea but sadder application, huh? Makes sense.
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Don't be confused about the process. It isn't there to be fair to anyone, or to weed out efficiently, or to give feedback. Its there to maximize the chance that some big winners get funded. The final metric is, do they find and fund big winners? The answer is yes, clearly. Any other criticism is moot.
  - sparkzilla 11y ago
    If that was the case they would have eliminated Sniply at the first round. Also, judging from the last batch I don't see many Unicorns.
    - jordanthoms 11y ago
      There won't be many unicorns. They'll be one or maybe two, and it won't be obvious for a few years which companies they are.
robertandy 11y ago
There can be umpteen number of reasons for rejection. As long as the process is opaque, people can only speculate. Time to move on, focus on what's critical for you to succeed.
andrewchambers 11y ago
Just because a business is too small for investors like YC, doesn't mean it will not be profitable if the team stays small and delivers to it's niche.
rnc 11y ago
I remember that some years ago while reading "Hacker and Painters" I got the naive impression(I was 18) that I could just go to grad school and then become rich by just building a technically superior product, without having business experience. How wrong I was.
ChrisNorstrom 11y ago
YC is not going to be completely transparent in their selection process because doing so would make it easier to manipulate the interview process. Jessica Livingston already mentioned in an interivew that they've revealed too much. Now founders are going in lying about working together for years on projects and being life-long friends. Entrepreneur: "Hey YC, what do I have to tell you in order for me to get in? You know, so I can practice it and avoid being weeded out by your process. So I can tell you all the things you want to hear during the interview. I promise I won't lie during my interview."
e2e4 11y ago
Thanks for the post; very helpful. You might consider sharing the link via your own product; this way people will see how it works ...
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
apandhi 11y ago
We applied (and interviewed!) for YC last season. We didn't get in, but they were dead on about the issues with our business. Since then, we've addressed the issue and are continuing to move forward. Remember, not getting into YC isn't the end - and YC does make mistakes. Just remember to hear their reasons out and really consider what they have to say. They're all brilliant people and have an uncanny ability to unravel your business in less than 10 minutes. Build, fail, listen, learn, keep building, keep listening, keep learning, keep moving.
reality_czech 11y ago
Most common Y Combinator rejection reasons: 1. Facebook is already the best "Facebook for X". 2. The founders are old enough to know better. 3. Co-founder looks like an extra from "Wayne's World" 4. The co-founder is the founder's left hand inside a sock puppet. 5. Someone mentioned "Java" and it killed the mood. 6. The founders somehow discovered that the VCs are reptillians, as are most world leaders

61 points by blueintegral 11y ago

I think there is a sweet spot that you have to hit where you have the focus to start on a solution to a small part of a big problem, but still show investors that there is a clear path to eventually tackle more and more of the bigger problem. Reid Hoffman talks about "boil the ocean" startups that are just too big to tackle, but if you approach it as boiling a cup or a pot first, and convince investors that there is still an ocean to be boiled down the line, you have a good shot.

mej10 11y ago
PG has several themes in his essays around this idea. Others have talked it about it as well. It isn't a hidden secret or unknown. Most people just choose to ignore it.
empressplay 11y ago
That said, YC could be missing out on opportunities if they fail to have the foresight to see the cups that could eventually become oceans -- ie the ability of sniply to (hypothetically) bring their users over to other products in the future. Just because a particular seed from a startup isn't going to sprout into a forest overnight doesn't mean that particular startup doesn't have the potential to find other seeds that do. I guess what I'm saying is YC would do well to consider funding people with good ideas as much as the ideas themselves.
- byoung2 11y ago
  I guess what I'm saying is YC would do well to consider funding people with good ideas as much as the ideas themselves. That's a good point. YC does claim to look at people first and then ideas, and really the idea is just evidence that you can have good ideas. But I guess they are also looking for pattern recognition, as in, can you spot the pattern that YC is looking for. That seems to be (in my opinion) smart teams who can tackle a small chunk of a big problem before and during YC, and sell investors the dream of the whole chunk after YC. Think couch surfing app now, disrupting the hotel industry later. Cloud based USB stick now, revolutionize the cloud storage industry later.

danieltillett 11y ago

Is this a joke that I am not getting? Is linking to google supposed to be a suggestion that there are a very large number of reasons for rejection?

logicallee 11y ago
the person didn't bother to collect them, but I think you're supposed to click through one at a time and read the reasons.
BinaryIdiot 11y ago
I thought OP was simply sharing a unique way of searching Google for all YC rejections. I've done plenty of complex searching and I've wondered what the reasons were that various companies get rejected; for whatever reason I never thought to try a tight search like this.
Tideflat 11y ago
I think it is just a clever way of linking to a collection of related articles.
- mynegation 11y ago
  Apparently too clever for its own good. Mobile Safari just shows clean Google search page, no search results. I guess this is what happened to the GP poster.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    The submitted url is: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=y+combinator+interview+%22I%27m+sorry+to+say%22++%22decided+not+to+fund%22 https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=y+combinator+interview+... If I paste this into Safari on iOS it redirects to a blank Google page in my country: https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=yqk0VcmaLaa07QbeqoH4CQ https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=yqk0VcmaLaa07QbeqoH4C...
    - 11y ago

sparkzilla 11y ago

I don't know why YC needed an interview to tell Sniply that "we can’t see it becoming the huge type of company that investors like to fund." Surely that should have been weeded out in the initial selection. Their story highlights a lack of transparency in the YC selection process. Those who are rejected at the application stage get no reasons at all. Then they hear stories like this and wonder if there is any method to the selection process at all. If YC has internal tools to assess all the applications (as they claim) then what is the harm in publishing those criteria, and publishing the results publicly. For example, let's say Sniply got 5/10 for market size, but had 10/10 for member ability (and that ability was weighted evenly) then we could see how it was selected, and we could see why it was selected over other applicants. Then all applicants could see where they stand. As it stands it seems to be a real crapshoot, which gives false hope to companies like Sniply, while denying others the chance to be selected.

robertandy 11y ago
And that spot could have gone to someone with a bigger/better idea but sadder application, huh? Makes sense.
JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Don't be confused about the process. It isn't there to be fair to anyone, or to weed out efficiently, or to give feedback. Its there to maximize the chance that some big winners get funded. The final metric is, do they find and fund big winners? The answer is yes, clearly. Any other criticism is moot.
- sparkzilla 11y ago
  If that was the case they would have eliminated Sniply at the first round. Also, judging from the last batch I don't see many Unicorns.
  - jordanthoms 11y ago
    There won't be many unicorns. They'll be one or maybe two, and it won't be obvious for a few years which companies they are.

robertandy 11y ago

There can be umpteen number of reasons for rejection. As long as the process is opaque, people can only speculate. Time to move on, focus on what's critical for you to succeed.

andrewchambers 11y ago

Just because a business is too small for investors like YC, doesn't mean it will not be profitable if the team stays small and delivers to it's niche.

rnc 11y ago

I remember that some years ago while reading "Hacker and Painters" I got the naive impression(I was 18) that I could just go to grad school and then become rich by just building a technically superior product, without having business experience. How wrong I was.

ChrisNorstrom 11y ago

YC is not going to be completely transparent in their selection process because doing so would make it easier to manipulate the interview process. Jessica Livingston already mentioned in an interivew that they've revealed too much. Now founders are going in lying about working together for years on projects and being life-long friends. Entrepreneur: "Hey YC, what do I have to tell you in order for me to get in? You know, so I can practice it and avoid being weeded out by your process. So I can tell you all the things you want to hear during the interview. I promise I won't lie during my interview."

e2e4 11y ago

Thanks for the post; very helpful. You might consider sharing the link via your own product; this way people will see how it works ...

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

apandhi 11y ago

We applied (and interviewed!) for YC last season. We didn't get in, but they were dead on about the issues with our business. Since then, we've addressed the issue and are continuing to move forward. Remember, not getting into YC isn't the end - and YC does make mistakes. Just remember to hear their reasons out and really consider what they have to say. They're all brilliant people and have an uncanny ability to unravel your business in less than 10 minutes. Build, fail, listen, learn, keep building, keep listening, keep learning, keep moving.

reality_czech 11y ago

Most common Y Combinator rejection reasons: 1. Facebook is already the best "Facebook for X". 2. The founders are old enough to know better. 3. Co-founder looks like an extra from "Wayne's World" 4. The co-founder is the founder's left hand inside a sock puppet. 5. Someone mentioned "Java" and it killed the mood. 6. The founders somehow discovered that the VCs are reptillians, as are most world leaders