

What is the best advice for a startup applying to Y Combinator? - krn
http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-advice-for-a-startup-applying-to-Y-Combinator/answer/Harjeet-Taggar

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davidw
Don't base your business on getting in. If it's a 'nice extra', I think that
you're probably more likely to get in, and also will be less concerned if you
don't.

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Wolf_Larsen
Yes. You have to be a world-eating monster to build something viable and you
can't be depending on help just because your brain connects YC with "success".

If we are more articulate about it, we will find some reason that its a 'nice
extra'. YC gives you: \- No distractions of trying to make a living for 3
months \- Ridiculous amounts of connections for funding \- An environment full
of smart, successful people who are professionals at giving feedback and being
critical

Now we know why YC helps so much, at the absolute minimum, and we can
reproduce it without YC if we don't get in. Thats the game.

~~~
stcredzero
_You have to be a world-eating monster to build something viable_

Ok, finally parsed this. This is a statement about determination. Now who's
going make the Katamari theme stop playing in my head?

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Wolf_Larsen
My advice, as someone applying, is to spend a lot of time reading and filling
out the application. Iterate on it a lot. Print it out and hand it out to your
families, or better, your professors. "Do you know what we are going to make
from this?".

Assure that any demo links you have are direct and catered to YC looking at
them. "Hi YC, this is our demo! Its as simple as possible but if it crashes or
something here is a mockup : <http://dating-site-for-knife-
lovers.co.us/mockup.png>.

Make sure your answer to "Describe some time you hacked a non-computer
system..." is good. Think about that a lot on your off time (I think its the
hardest and intriguing question I've ever been asked, and I think about it all
of the time).

DO NOT BE A USED CAR SALESMEN on the application. Be a scientist.

Anyway: <http://ycombinator.com/howtoapply.html>

~~~
pg
It's surprising how often people answer the question about having hacked some
non-computer system by saying that they never have. This just can't be true.
Our 2 year old already has 1001 tricks for getting what he wants.

~~~
tomjen3
But to say that you have hacked some non computer system, wouldn't it require
you to have invented the hack?

Because as smart as your two year old is, he probably didn't invent the
technics.

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zck
It's probably enough to have independently invented the techniques -- it's not
like pg is going to stand up at the interview and yell that there was
unpublished prior art in a Swahili book from 1902 explaining the same
technique you came up with on your own.

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stcredzero

        - Are they good people? This is harder to be 
          specific/definite about and probably applies more to
          the interview stage but a common trait amongst YC 
          founders is that they're always described as good 
          people
    

How should one go about being _good people?_ I ask not because I have no clue,
but because I'm curious about what others have to say. (Other than being less
abrasive when someone on the Internet is wrong.)

~~~
pg
I think what Harj means is not so much that you should become good as that if
you are a good person, you shouldn't feel like you need to hide it because
e.g. you think it would seem unprofessional.

~~~
stcredzero
Sorry, but I can't figure out how to connect up the referents so that your
comment makes sense to me.

I have no idea why someone would want to hide "being a good person" for any
interpretation of _good_ subscribed to by people who exist outside of fiction.

As for becoming good: I think most people are basically good, but some have
acquired pathological behaviors. And of course, it's not the business of
someone hiring, a startup, or an incubator to do anything about that, except
to exclude it. I think a lot of hackers are angry or at least have a chip on
their shoulders because their lives and/or their livelihood lacks _efficacy_.

~~~
staunch
Someone might think "I'd be fine with losing a little revenue per user if it
means users are happier with our product", but feel pressure to instead tell
investors "We're not going to do that because it would mean less revenue per
user".

Some people think it looks weak/naive/unprofessional to seem "good" in this
way.

I'm not sure that's what YC is talking about though.

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fedd
be young, kidless and have parents to sponsor your living expences :)

(or have steel stomach to live off of pizza)

~~~
jnovek
My co-founder and I are approaching 30, married and my co-founder has 2 kids.
We were in the W2010 YC group. Neither of us had anyone to "sponsor" our
living expenses. Yes, we were at a disadvantage compared to younger founders
when it came to cost of living, but now that StartFund is investing $150k into
every YC company, that disadvantage is erased.

By the way, we were not the oldest founders in our round.

Furthermore, in my opinion, we also had a huge advantage over some of the
younger guys -- applicable experience. Most of the younger guys had to stay
inside a realm that was familiar to geeks (social media, technology, etc.)
whereas we're able to attack a market that most young folks can't touch (old
media, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, etc).

At times it has been hard on our marriages, but at the end of the day our
spouses both see that we're living our dream and they're happy for us (plus,
it probably doesn't hurt that we have a chance of being wealthy some day).

~~~
ojbyrne
Approaching 30 is still young.

~~~
jnovek
It's old enough to have the problems that someone older than 30 might have,
for example: kids, a mortgage, health care, a retirement plan.

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Joakal
I would look at the intensive application and rules as it would explain what's
expected of you. But you should have something of what's expected of them too.

/IANAYC

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anonymous138
Don't apply. Real men make it on their own.

If you think 18k$ and a bunch of geeks running around is what your project
needs to be successful, maybe its time to rethink your strategy.

~~~
jnovek
Suit yourself, but Y-Combinator was a big help for us. I personally wouldn't
place my startup at a disadvantage just to prove that I'm a "real man".

