

YC: What No Means - niels
http://www.foundersatwork.com/1/post/2007/10/what-no-means.html

======
catfish
Years ago when Garage.com was starting up, I applied and was rejected. No big
deal as I was expecting it, but it did get me a signed rejection letter from
the big "Guy" himself.

As a beta tester it was a very nice gesture, to receive that letter with the
comment "Prove us wrong!" hand written as a P.S. to the form letter. That
letter hangs in a frame and every day I use it to remind myself that the only
person that needs to believe in me, is me.

Today, many years later, I thank my lucky stars for that rejection. I went it
alone, no co-founders, no frigging investor BS, and did not take a dime from
anyone.

This year the 17 employees of MY privately held company drove our sales to 61
million dollars in online transactions.

The satisfaction that comes with proving investors wrong can't be bought, only
earned.

Those that can, DO. Those that can't, find an investor.

~~~
nanijoe
"Those that can, DO. Those that can't, find an investor."

..You mean those that can't such as Google and Youtube?

~~~
nostrademons
They DID too. It's just that an investor eventually came around and noticed
they were DOING, then gave them money so they could do it better.

------
Alex3917
"OK, you may not have the same structure, advice, networks and extra cash that
Y Combinator provides, but maybe that shouldn't stop you."

Everyone always talks about the mentoring and the connections from Y
Combinator, but no one ever mentions the story. I think YC itself has a
compelling story, one that's authentic but also fun to talk about. If you get
funded it's the kind of thing that makes for 'sparkling' conversation at
cocktail parties, as a way of talking about the program but also indirectly
talking about yourself. Which is probably why YC is quickly becoming a
household brand. Even my mom read the article in Newsweek.

~~~
alaskamiller
I think whatever YCombinator does to help startups is covered under NDA.

~~~
palish
Why do you think so?

~~~
alaskamiller
For one, Demo Day is definitely NDA-ed. Other stuff, the business and
marketing help that JL provides or the technical help that PG provides, those
would also be considered under NDA, unless it's generic enough that sharing
such information wouldn't hurt the startups.

YCombinator's interest is in the exit of the companies it funds. It's from
that money that they can continue to do this year after year. Giving away
everything in the farm doesn't help them do that. As much as everyone makes
sharing and collaborating such a big deal, here in Silicon Valley people are
actually pretty mum about their plans. Put it another way: if someone insists
on talking to you about startups and whatnots around here, it's cause you're
getting pitched.

~~~
pg
We don't have any NDAs. We ask people in the audience at Demo Day not to write
about the startups that haven't launched yet. I believe that is the only thing
we ever ask anyone not to talk about.

Some of the startups may have their individual secrets. We try to keep them if
they do. But they decide that.

