mattkrisiloff

13 ms·

91.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Sorry, we want all cofounders to work full-time for at least the duration of the program.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Nope, welcome to apply from anywhere.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Yes! We hope accepted teams will still apply to YC (the timeline for that will be a little bit later than the normal application period. If you aren't accepted to YCF, you're definitely welcome to apply to YC W16 with no penalty a
94.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
YC funds startups. Startups to us are companies designed to grow fast. Read this if you haven't: http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html It's OK to be working on something that's hard to imagine how it would gr
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
It's the same. Read this: http://www.paulgraham.com/founders.html
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
No catch. We believe it's incredibly important to keep growing the number of startups throughout the world -- they're the largest drivers of innovation and change.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
No bias, but it generally is harder to build a successful company as a solo founder (though totally possible! Dropbox, Zenefits, Instacart all started with solo founders). If you're applying alone, tell us how you plan to overcome the
98.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
We're requiring that you'll work on it full-time for 8 weeks, but we hope you'll commit to it longer; the most important founder trait to us is determination -- answering no to that question won't disqualify you, but we&
99.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
We want teams to make as much progress as possible based on wherever they're starting at (ie for an idea-stage team, it could be building a prototype and getting it into the hands of some users, for a prototype team, launching and gett
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
It sounds like you might be doing a company re-launch from the ground up? If that's the case, definitely apply for YCF. If you still have successful ancillary products and just want to develop your flagship product with YC's help,
101.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
YC has already funded a couple great teams from France. And we want people from all over the world to apply to YCF too. As long as you have a good enough internet connection for clear video chats, you don't have to move here either.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Yes! That's part of the reason we want to work with remote teams -- to get to work with people who can't make the move to the Bay Area. That said, if you wanted to apply to the normal YC W16 batch after YCF, you'd still be as
103.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
1) Around 20 -- we want to keep this test batch small. If successful, we'd grow future batches. 2) I think it would depend on your company and what you're trying to do. I can think of advantages to either way, and if accepted it&#
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
If you have good ideas, that's great, but it's not that important. We primarily want to see that you and your co-founders are a very determined, smart team working on an interesting idea. We expect a lot of ideas to keep evolving
105.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
YC's first batch, the Summer Founders Program, was just 6k per founder for 5-7% equity -- teams were expected to make that last for three months (as opposed to YCF's two), and were required to pick up and move on top of that. That
106.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
I'd still encourage you to apply -- there's nothing to lose, and definitely no penalty for applying again later if not accepted. Dropbox, Instacart, and Zenefits were all accepted as solo founders -- you can talk about your plans
107.
by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
It's important to us that the team itself can build the product it's trying to create. When you try to hire contractors to build out an idea, it's expensive, slows down iteration speed, and it's really hard to judge the
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
You can definitely apply while still having your job, but you must be willing to work on it full-time for at least the duration of the Fellowship program. We hope you'll commit to it longer than that too -- if your startup is promising
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
How much have you sold through Kickstarter? I'd say use your best judgement, and if you're not certain, still apply. If it's a lot, you may just want to apply to the W16 batch of YC (applications open in August).
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Sorry about that -- it's definitely safe to click through that first button. The actual application page's submit button, however, will submit your application! edit: we've changed it to link directly to the application form
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Unfortunately we're not going to be accepting non-profits for this first experiment. If it goes well though, we hope to fund some this way in the future.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
About 20 -- we want to keep it a small experiment for this test batch.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
It's a 12k equity-free grant, it lasts for 8 weeks, you can do it remotely, and it's primarily meant for idea and prototype-stage companies. No dinners and no formal Demo Day, but there will be kickoff and end events in Mountain V
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
We're treating it the same way -- solo founders are definitely encouraged to apply, but everything being equal, it's better to have co-founders.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
It's also designed for prototype and idea-stage teams in mind. Also, there won't be a traditional Demo Day at the end, but there will be an end event where teams will come to Mountain View to present to YC partners and alumni.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Yes, absolutely. Teams will be encouraged to apply, but it won't be a requirement.
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Hi! Matt here -- I'll be managing YC Fellowship. I'll be answering questions here throughout the day alongside Kat and Sam.
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YC Fellowship(blog.ycombinator.com)
998 points by mattkrisiloff 11y ago|378 comments
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Hey -- similar situation happened to me. People gave me some good advice on what to do, but still didn't work out. Want to talk about your situation? Shoot me an email --mattkrisiloff@gmail.com
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by mattkrisiloff 11y ago
Is there a difference with absentee ballots?

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