
Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle - pg
http://ycombinator.com/apply.html?s2012
======
nicholasjbs
I've said this before, and so have many others, but it's worth repeating:
Choosing to apply to YC was one of the best decisions of my life.

Some reasons I love YC:

\- My cofounder and I were in the Summer 2010 batch. We've changed our idea,
made mistakes, and failed repeatedly. Yet in all that time, pg and co have had
and continue to have our backs 100%.

\- One thing I've learned in life is that who you choose to surround yourself
with matters immensely. Doing YC means surrounding yourself with great people.

\- Every single YC partner is a genuinely lovely person. The other week we got
a heartwarming and encouraging email from Kate, YC's _architect_.

\- The YC network is unparalleled. In the past week, I've relied on it half a
dozen times.

\- I don't know how to put this, but YC has _taste_. Where others are
political or indirect or care about appearances or do things without thinking
about them, pg and co are the opposite: Direct, thoughtful, and _good_. YC is
good in much the same ways pg's essays are good, if that makes any sense.

I cannot recommend YC highly enough.

(Sorry if that was too effusive.)

------
abstractbill
If you want a little honest feedback on your application before you submit it,
feel free to contact me. I was the first engineering hire at justin.tv, I'm
the cto of ZeroCater now, and I love talking about startup ideas.

~~~
eddylu
There's a few YC companies hosting Grubwithus meals right now too if you're in
the Bay Area and want some first hand knowledge.

<http://www.grubwithus.com/ycombinator>

------
richardburton
Just over a year ago I drove my friend, Josh Buckley, from LA to SF for his YC
interview. Since then I have had the pleasure of watching how YC can help
transform a number of things:

1.) His product, www.minomonsters.com, has evolved from a nearly-finished
Facebook game into beautifully designed and highly engaging iPhone app.

2.) Josh is now an alien (with extraordinary ability) due to his O1 visa.

3.) He has grown the business from a one-man-band hiring freelancers into a
proper company with an office and staff.

4.) His network has expanded exponentially.

5.) He has found a truly great cofounder who makes him raise his game.

6.) He has ridden the emotional roller-coaster of fund-raising on his own and
that has transformed him into an even better businessman.

7.) The process has taught him the art of focussing on one huge, seemingly-
insurmountable goal. He has sacrificed a lot but gained even more.

8.) Despite his incredible work-ethic and dedication to his startup, one thing
hasn't changed. He is still a great friend and always makes time for those he
cares about.

I met Josh about 4 years ago. He was on a mission. YC was a fantastic catalyst
for that mission. He provided the spaceship, they have provided the rocket-
fuel.

------
michael_nielsen
Would YC ever fund a not-for-profit startup, as a form of philanthropy?

Part of the reason I ask is that for-profit and not-for-profit organizations
have different kinds of leverage, and for some activities not-for-profits have
big advantages. It's striking that some major success stories like Khan
Academy and Wikipedia are not-for-profit.

I imagine that having a YC-like model applied to not-for-profits might produce
some remarkable new startups, maybe even entirely new types of startup.

~~~
cing
I don't think a VC would fund a non-profit, even if they were a "Khan Academy"
or "Wikipedia", unless it was on a personal donation basis
(<http://www.paulgraham.com/darfur.html>). Then again, are always exceptions
(<http://www.acumenfund.org/>).

~~~
michael_nielsen
Any YC partners who wanted to do this could set up a parallel not-for-profit
or charity. That organization might benefit from some of the easily scalable
benefits of YC (say, providing access to the YC alumni network), but would be
independent. It wouldn't even necessarily need to be funded by YC partners -
there are foundations which might be interested in partnering with an
organization like YC to fund this kind of thing.

------
pclark
One of the things I have heard a lot of founders say when asked if they are
considering doing YC is that they are already "down the road" with their
company - as in, they have already launched, or have customers, or investor
attention.

I know dozens of startups that went through YC at this stage, and they will
all reiterate how beneficial YC was for them.

If you're running a startup I really cannot think of a singular reason as to
why you wouldn't apply. (the biggest testament to this is probably the YC
alumni doing YC _again_ with their new company.)

~~~
jarek
> If you're running a startup I really cannot think of a singular reason as to
> why you wouldn't apply.

Nitpicking: No interest in moving to the Bay Area would seem to be one.

~~~
pclark
I question what reasons someone would have to be unwilling to move to the Bay
Area for 3 months given the amount of founders that claim that YC was the
tipping point for their companies.

~~~
mindcrime
_I question what reasons someone would have to be unwilling to move to the Bay
Area for 3 months given the amount of founders that claim that YC was the
tipping point for their companies._

OK, just to give one example... my co-founder is married, and her husband is
in graduate school. So either he'd have to interrupt his education to come
with her, or he'd have to accept her running off to the opposite side of the
country for three months, chasing a dream that he might or might not be fully
sold on. We honestly haven't had the discussion yet, but my gut feeling is
that this would be a very hard sell. And YC make it clear that they expect all
(or at least a majority) of the co-founders to make the trip.

Also, we have a local incubator (Triangle Startup Factory) that is
(potentially) an option for us, which would not require any relocation at all.

Given that, it's not exactly a "no brainer" to apply to YC. I'm not saying we
won't do it (either now or in a future cycle) but it's not necessarily an easy
decision.

~~~
sneak
All of life is trade-offs.

Aside from that, though: Who can't live alone for 90 days? Seriously? When
Virgin America NYC/SFOs are sub-$200 roundtrip?

~~~
mmavnn
Aside from that, though: who values their start up more than their marriage?
Seriously?

Snark apart, some of us have a priority order that places family above work -
even good, interesting, start up work. I'd never choose to live apart from my
spouse for 90 days.

------
jasonshen
Going through YC was an incredible experience and even just going through the
application process really forced our team to answer a lot of important
questions for our business. If you want to do a startup and are in a position
to give it your all - it could only help your chances of success to apply.

~~~
Animus7
As a YC reject, I can only say the same. I'm convinced that just going in for
interviews to was the best thing that happened to us. Our original idea wasn't
going to work and making the trip to California opened our eyes.

So if you're wondering whether you should apply, the answer is yes. Even
(especially?) if you get rejected.

~~~
kprotocol
I cannot agree more on this; btw, do they tell you why you are rejected or its
just that, "We found the 30 companies we were looking for. So better luck next
time".

~~~
pg_bot
They write an extremely nice rejection letter, stating that even they make
mistakes, they turn away a lot of promising people, and that they are trying
to get better at this every funding cycle. (been rejected twice) However if
you are creating a startup just to get into ycombinator you should not be
doing a startup.

~~~
kprotocol
"if you are creating a startup just to get into ycombinator you should not be
doing a startup." If this was the case, then I would prefer taking my chances
with banks than pg.

~~~
chucknthem
Why is that? convincing banks to give you money will be much harder, at a high
interest rate, and you have to give the money back whether you're successful
or not.

~~~
erikpukinskis
If your company sells for any appreciable amount of money, the "interest" you
pay YC will be astronomically larger than any loan anyone would give you.

~~~
mdda
But the value of YourCompany today is (for any 'big idea') something like
P(small)*Size(idea).

The trick of accepting the dilution of YC is to make estimates of whether the
idea could 7% become larger/better. Or (more easy to understand) whether the
effect of YC on all the components of P(small) could accumulate to more than
7% of P(small).

If your probability of success increases as a function of your investors, for
instance, YC easily earns its 7% just due to pure signalling effect. If you're
looking to get better hires, then the YC seal-of-approval could easily elevate
you into the 'A-Class' of hires that everyone insists makes the difference. Of
course, there are a lot of other factors : but scoring a total of +7% on them
overall is all that should determine whether to choose a place with YC
(supposing that you've been accepted).

Just my 2c.

------
Mc_Big_G
My potential co-founder is currently here (S.F.) on an H1B visa and it will be
a year or two before he receives a green card. Does this rule him out as a co-
founder? We've been investigating the options but so far a definitive answer
has eluded us. I'm hoping someone here has dealt with this situation before
and can enlighten us.

~~~
ramanujam
H1B is tied to a single company and if your potential co-founder switches to
your newly formed company he has to get his H1B transfered. There are also
many implications with regards to the green card process as it is tied to the
sponsoring company. In short, talk to a lawyer before getting started!

------
kerryusry
There are lots of people with great ideas and products out there who are not
able to just up and quit jobs and move somewhere for months on end. It would
be nice to see an option for people like this. Not everyone is single college
student, what about established tech professionals with houses and mortgages,
or even a family.

~~~
Nogwater
I agree with this in concept, but that doesn't mean that YC must fill that
niche. Along those lines, it would be nice if there was a good system for
getting hired as an employee (not co-founder) of an early stage startup (and
not just in SF).

~~~
dmragone
Could not agree more with both the need for funding options for those without
the financial resources to be without income for long periods of time (hence
need to get funding to support living and development full-time), as well as
need for those willing to be early stage employees to meet those looking for
them. Bonus points if the latter focuses on solving issues of working remote.

------
alexhaefner
I'm curious to know the financial situations of those who apply to YC. You
don't have to give specifics, but has anyone gone through YC with a lot of
school debt? (>$20k, >$40k?) How did you manage this?

For those who haven't gone through YC but do have a lot of school debt or
otherwise, how do you think you'll manage?

~~~
webwright
Startups are a lot harder for people with debt/no savings/kids/mortgages/etc,
but there are plenty of cases where resourceful people found a way to make it
work.

When you have debt and a huge-but-not-immediately lucrative opportunity in
front of you, I imagine you'll manage like entrepreneurs have for centuries.
Sleep on couches, eat ramen, rack up some more debt (credit cards?), dodge or
persuade your creditors, etc... And hope that it works out.

~~~
jarek
I would advise to exhaust every possible better source of debt before turning
to credit cards. Compound interest on your average credit card rate is brutal,
and entrepreneurs going through high uncertainty shouldn't fall for the time-
bomb promotional offers.

------
plusbryan
I'm happy to offer feedback on your application as well. I was in the YC
summer 2006 batch, currently a cofounder of Sincerely. You can reach me at
bryan-at-sincerely

~~~
jaysonelliot
Thanks Bryan! I just sent you an email.

------
amirmc
_"How do we choose who to fund? ... We look for brains, motivation, and a
sense of design. ..."_

I'm aware little things change each time this is posted but it's the first
time I've seen design mentioned. Just curious, when was it added (or was it
always there and I just missed it?).

~~~
pg
It's been there for several years at least.

------
abbasmehdi
We're in the current cycle and I'm personally willing to help with
applications, but only those who are hyper motivated and are willing to help
themselves. Couldn't say enough good things about people behind YC. We feel
lucky to be a part of such a wonderful community. Our startup is health
focused and I feel that's the area I can help with the most.

------
benrpeters
I'm curious why YC likes 2-3 founders over 4-5. Do more people = more
potential for internal drama? Or are larger groups more resistant to changing
on the fly? I would think that 4-5 talented go-getters would be better than
2-3.

~~~
pg
Empirically big groups do noticeably worse. I'm not 100% sure why, but my
guess is that the problem is not with big groups per se, but what having a lot
of cofounders says about the founders. I think when a startup has a lot of
founders, it's often because the founders are afraid of starting a company,
and thus recruit everyone they know to be in it with them.

Another theory I've heard is that a startup does as well as its worst founder,
and the bigger the group, the more chance you have someone who's no good.

~~~
sterling312
This is the famous tragedy of the commons problem where where the increase of
members participating the in game (in an game theory sense), any individual is
more likely to become a freeloader and hence less likely to put the optimal
labor.

The fundamental problem comes from a form of information asymmetry where any
individual is not able to assess the amount of labor placed by other members.
If a project is run by 5 people and requires labor input of 5L, an optimal
allocation of be L from each person. However, because each person does not
know how much labor other people are placing into the project, they assume
that others might put more than L, or the total labor from others are 5L-x
where x<L. Hence the person in question only puts x amount of labor in the
project. Alas, if everybody thinks in the same way, we only have 5x, which is
far less than the required 5L. Unless all 5 people are together at all times,
there are bound to be information asymmetry, and it is just much easier to
manage with fewer people, in the case of 2-3.

------
Alex3917
The timeout on the application is now exceptionally fast. I can go maybe three
or four minutes at most before it doesn't let me save anymore.

~~~
pg
The application links are a special type that don't expire for day, so this
should not be happening. But I know of course that should not doesn't mean
does not. Is anyone else seeing expired links when saving their application? I
can't reproduce it myself.

------
plasma
Can someone elaborate on the idea changing after being accepted?

Do you go a month of working on your idea, only to realise you're at a dead
end - and be asked to think of something else?

Do you fall back to one of your second ideas?

Do mentors suggest working on something else?

I'm curious - cheers.

------
vyrotek
How does YCombinator feel about startups which have gone through a local
incubator and raised a seed round?

~~~
pg
We seem to get more and more who have. It hurts your chances slightly, but we
wouldn't turn down a company just for that.

There are a whole bunch of things in that category (being a single founder,
cofounders who won't quit their jobs, still being in school, etc). We wouldn't
reject an application for having just one of these qualities, but when an
application has several it starts to tip the balance to no.

~~~
jmathai
If our company is a potential competitor to another company YC already
accepted then does that have any measurable impact on being accepted?

We're The OpenPhoto Project (<http://theopenphotoproject.org>) and you've
accepted SnapJoy.

~~~
pg
No, that has no effect.

------
throwaway1979
Now that YC has gotten bigger (=more competitive), does an application without
a prototype still have a shot? I'm incredibly paranoid about getting exposed
to IP-related problems (working for a large corp and not in California). I
suspect a few other people are in the same situation.

The sad thing is that when I think about it, I wouldn't fund someone without a
prototype (if the roles were reversed). It is only when you build something do
you realize if the materialized idea has any wings. Quite the mess I'm in :(

~~~
pg
Yes, of course. We care more about the founders (both individually and their
relationship) than the idea.

Incidentally, YC hasn't gotten as much more competitive as you might think,
because we've grown as the number of applications has. We consistently end up
funding about 3% of applications. Not as a conscious strategy; it just always
works out to about that. Applying to YC has grown somewhat more competitive
though, because the top 3% keep getting better as we get better known.

~~~
spxdcz
Related to that, I have a question that's been bugging me:

If the application is assessed primarily on the founders, is it really worth
failed applicants applying again? Speaking as someone who has applied (and
failed, with cause!) twice relatively recently, and as an experienced 14 year
'veteran' of web technology, I can't say that my experience, skills or
business-savvy have drastically changed since the application from 6 months
ago.

As there's (understandably) no feedback for previous rejections (e.g. "Your
idea sucks" vs "Your founders suck"), it's difficult to tell whether it's a
waste of time to apply again. (Having said all that, we will of course be
applying again anyway!)

~~~
pg
Yes, we often fund groups' later applications. Dropbox was Drew Houston's
second application. I believe PagerDuty was those guys' fourth.

~~~
chargrilled
Were they rejected at the application or interview stage?

Have you had many groups accepted after being rejected at interview stage?

~~~
pg
We've funded people we previously rejected at both stages. I don't think we
interviewed Drew the first time. I believe we interviewed the PagerDuties 3
times out of the 4 they applied.

~~~
chargrilled
I was under the impression that for YC the the idea was less important than
the team.

How did the teams change between rejection and acceptance?

Was a different idea enough to consider them in a different light or is the
interview process just sufficiently noisy that they were false negatives
earlier?

------
dmragone
I'm curious about the RFS's: Is YC still looking for responses to all 9? Are
there any in particular you feel have been met, and any that have disappointed
in solutions?

~~~
drewonstuff
I wonder about this too. I just noticed that our idea fits RFS #2 pretty well.
I wonder if #2 is played out? It's certainly not as general as RFS #9, and I
assume many have given this one a shot. On the other hand, most of these RFSs
could probably stand relevant for years to come with multiple and varying
startups able to satisfy the request.

------
Iroiso
We are an international team and we can't get a Visa interview before the 29th
of June, will we be too late? How will this work?

------
itmag
I would like to apply but I feel stumped. I have a bunch of ideas and I'm a
very resourceful and personally developed person (heh) with a big network of
useful contacts / potential cofounders, but I don't know how to translate that
into a compelling pitch.

Someone should start a business that writes these applications for you. :p

------
zupa
PG: do you feel you burned your hands with those kind of startups not
transferred from RFS2008 to RFS2009? ( For others:
<http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html> , <http://ycombinator.com/rfs.html> )

If I may go specific, does the idea of a web OS make you go "OMG, forget it"?

------
dpn
Hey YCombers.. regarding RFS #9 it explicitly mentions SOPA and related topics
but only in the context of Hollywood and not music. Do you think a music play
that that addresses copyright issues would be of any interest?

We're applying anyway so it doesn't matter, I'm just wondering if we can say
we are responding to RFS #9 :)

------
alpb
I have several questions. I'm co-founding a global social network startup and
our team is of 4 Computer Science senior year students studying and living in
Turkey.

Do the startups located outside the US and has no chance to relocate for 8
months can be elected in YC? Is there a chance out there for us do you think?

~~~
kalkat
You have to be there when the program runs. That is a criteria. Otherwise,
location should not be a problem, I know of at least one startup here from
India with India based co-founders who was part of the program.

~~~
alpb
Probably we won't have that chance. Thanks anyway. YC still rocks.

------
RockyMcNuts
If anyone's in NY and wants to work on social news aggregation with a view
toward applying for summer, check out my profile and drop a line.

(possibly quickly before this desperate plea for cofounders gets rightfully
buried or I delete it out of sheer embarrassment LOL)

------
jaysonelliot
Does it matter how early you apply? We'd like to have a working product to
show before applying, and could have it before the deadline—but might it be
better to apply earlier while we're still in the concept & design stage?

------
littlegiantcap
Just applied. We all happened to be working together when we saw pg's tweet
about it being open for applications, which is why we were able to get it in
so quickly. Good luck to everyone applying.

------
callmeed
Exciting, can't wait to keep my rejection streak going :)

~~~
startupfounder
I am wondering what you have learned from each rejection, mind sharing?

~~~
d3x
I have been rejected 4 times and each time I learned things.

socialadmanager.com - 2x it was that my product lacked focus and the value it
created was as obvious as I thought it was.

spotted.at - 1x I learned that even if I had been funded I would have failed
because the product was simply not something that people would pay for.

i.crowdfunded.it - 1x I learned that I did not understand the customer /
market etc... enough to complete the YC App.

The biggest lesson is that I (a single founder) have tunnel vision. If I had a
co-founder it would have been easier to see all of these problems because I
would have had another perspective.

I am applying this cycle and even though I won't get in I don't see it as a
rejection. Instead I see it as a way to ask some of the smartest people around
if they would/would not use my product and if I am articulating my value prop
in a clear and concise manner.

The product I am applying with this cycle has paying users and is complete VS
previous years where I just had working prototypes so the thing I am really
looking forward to this time is hearing what they think of my product. I have
stopped caring if I get in or not.

~~~
nicholasjbs
You have an awesome attitude, and, in my limited experience, the one required
to eventually succeed. Keep at it, and I hope you find a cofounder someday!

------
sirwanqutbi
I wish I can make it !! But my product isn't finished yet! #cry

~~~
rgonzalez
Why do you think your product must be finished to apply? Apply early, show
progress.

------
rjurney
My team of 8 eminent scientists are going to caffeinate tomatoes. We
calculate, that among the YC classes alone, there is a $1 million market for
tomatoes and a $5 million market for caffeine. We're going to be crazy
profitable.

------
yurka
Has YC rejected applicants despite impressive early traction?

------
ninthfrank07
I'm extremely interesting in applying for this summer. The only problem is
that I'm still in Cegep (a two-year college for Quebec students before they go
to university - I'm 17) and so if ever I get chosen, I still have one more
year remaining to complete my program (International Baccalaureate in Pure &
Applied Science).

I don't think I would drop it, because I ultimately intend to go in computer
science at Stanford. Therefore, I would have to leave the Bay Area at the end
of August in order to move back in Quebec and stay there during the year and
come back in the summer when I'm finish my program.

I would still have time to work on my startup during the year, but at a much
lower pace (2-3 hours each night and 8-12 hours on weekends). The other guy on
my team (he's 17 too) is in a much less intensive program then me and he could
continue working almost full-time on the startup.

But I'm the only one writing code. My co-founder (who's currently studying in
Business Management) will be working on the marketing (posting on the blog,
making videos showcasing the app, posters in schools and other places, talking
with other companies so that they use our app, etc.) I also have a graphic
designer that will not be directly involve in the startup but that will do my
logo and help me design icons, textures, etc.

Without even knowing anything about my idea (I can tell you though that even
if I'm the only technical founder, it's not an overwhelmingly complex app and
I am confident that I could manage the coding alone. Our first goal is to get
as much users as possible so I think it's appropriate that my co-founder will
be more focusing on marketing the app), because really I don't want to be
chosen for my idea but rather for my team (I've got this interesting idea that
I want to work on, and I like it because I would actually use the app, and
actually, I’ve got a bunch of startup ideas (I’m the kind of guy that always
has tons of projects going on and new ideas in mind: I want to code apps, make
movies and crazy edits, learn new monologues by heart, run marathons, travel
around the world and learn new things!), but this particular one is not too
complex to implement, yet if it turns out that I choose to do a completely
different project, then so be it! Anyway, I don’t think the idea I apply with
matters that much (but it ought to be good obviously), because anybody could
apply to YC with a similar idea and develop a similar app. But would they
really be as much passionate as us about the app and as much caring about the
users, would they achieve to convince companies of using it, would they
convince people of using it? I know we would. My point is that I’m expecting
to be chosen a lot more because of my team than because of my idea. (If you're
interested to know what my app is though, email me (frabrunelle@gmail.com) or
skype with me (francisbrunelle)). Yet why do I want do be chosen? I want to
build useful products and it thrills me that with the internet millions of
people could be using them! But what thrills me even more is that if ever I do
YC, I would be hanging around with dozens of other developers that are in the
same situation as me. I want to discuss and debate about ideas with those
developer. It would be an insanely great and enjoyable experience. And that’s
exactly why I want to do YC: for the experience.), do you think I have any
chance of getting selected? Or should I wait for next summer, when I will have
finish my program? The thing though is that I will still continue to go to
school (Stanford, MIT, McGill or somewhere), so again I will have the same
problem as the one I have right now.

I truly enjoy school but the real reason I want to go in c.s. at Stanford is
to meet other c.s. students and start a startup with them. I'm also interested
in studying in theatre, so I'm really not dropping school soon. But I don't
want to wait after university to finally apply for YC, I feel ready now. The
reason I want to go through YC is to meet interesting people, discuss ideas
and because I'm sure it would be a tremendous experience. If I don't get
chosen, I will still develop my app over the summer, but I just think YC is an
outstanding opportunity and that I ought to at least submit an application. I
will continue submitting applications every summer until I'm chosen.

P.S. As a developer, I'm not that skilled, but I always manage to figure
things out by myself and find a way to do what I want. If I'm stuck, I don't
easily give up. Nevertheless, I'm more of an idea guy. I'm currently following
tutorials from <http://www.raywenderlich.com/store> since December in order to
get more familiar with the iOS 5 SDK. When I'll finish them, I'll look at the
Parse SDK (<http://parse.com>) and then at the Facebook iOS SDK
(<https://developers.facebook.com/>). I will then code an app similar to FML
but it will be called "You know you're in IB when...", IB being the program
I'm currently in. I will integrate the Parse SDK and the Facebook iOS SDK in
this app. It's a simple app that I want to do for testing purposes and also
because I know that my other classmates would actually use it and that
motivates me a lot. I will then start working on the real app that I want to
do for my startup. My goal is to have a working app with bare minimum features
for the end of May so that I have something to show if ever I move to the Bay
Area. I'm working toward this goal 2-3 hours everyday and 8-12 hours on
weekends.

~~~
nkassis
Well, I'd suggest you apply and see what happens, I mean would you not
consider dropping out of CEGEP for a while to see if your idea pans out? I
believe that you could still get into an American University without finishing
CEGEP(it's probably not the easiest way). Don't take my word for it bu they
usually have a few path to get in and they have mature student options, and
you do have a high school degree but with just a year less than US students.
You should still be able to get in with that. As for McGill (great place ;p, I
work there ;p) you can always finish CEGEP later and get in.

If you are convinced that you are ready to start a company I'd say apply now.
You loose nothing.

Good luck.

~~~
ninthfrank07
Thanks for your response!

The thing is, the program I'm currently in, International Baccalaureate, is a
program that I must absolutely complete in two years. The special thing about
this program is that we are the same group for every class (we started 40 now
we're 28). If I drop/fail a course, I'm out. And I then need to go in regular
science. If ever I were to be selected for YC, the choice would be quite hard,
because I really enjoy my program, I'm fond of the other students and I
appreciate the teachers a lot. And I also fear that I won't go back to school
if I enter the startup world.

At least, I'd like to finish my program and then maybe take a break from
school to focus on my startup. My program requires a lot of effort, it's
considerably more challenging than regular science, and I just don't see
myself dropping it when I'll be halfway through it, but still there's a lot of
chance I would - it's 50/50. I'm constantly debating in my head whether I
should drop or stay, but I guess I'll wait to see if I'm selected for YC to
make a final decision. Ultimately, I feel I would drop my program, because YC
is such an amazing opportunity and also because I have a very good co-founder
who is a long-time friend of mine. He would definitely succeed in convincing
me :P And as you said, I loose nothing if I just apply.

