

You shouldn't apply to YCombinator if... - dtran
http://blog.crowdbooster.com/you-shouldnt-apply-to-yc-if

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pg
Oddly enough, "Why did we fund you again?" is not an uncommon question at the
first office hours. Often when we fund a startup, it's because of something
they could do in the future. So at the first office hours when they describe
what they're currently doing, that doesn't always include what we liked about
the idea.

~~~
kalvin
Interesting. I'd heard of this happening and it made you sound strangely
clueless (and a bit of a jerk). Thanks for the explanation.

~~~
mlinsey
Definitely not clueless. Stateless. Big difference.

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jemka
You shouldn't apply to YC if... _you don’t have the heart and the team to go
through five product pivots in three months and back..._ (from article)

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velshin
HN readers: in case busy (shouldn't you be?), @jemka's comment will save you
the trouble of reading the rambling article.

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kevingao1
"Even if you feel unsure about your current idea, just apply. Ideas change,
awesome teams don't."

Don't think you can say it better than that. Nice article crowdboosters

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parfe
Was the Maritime Treason line a joke? I'm not sure I follow how the wiki
article applies to leaving a cruise early.

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dtran
No, sadly it wasn't. IANAL and neither was the customer service person at the
cruise line who cited the Jones Act to me, but to my understanding, it applies
because passengers technically count as cargo. Therefore passengers embarking
on a ship leaving the US cannot disembark and not return on the same vessel.

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Estragon
It would be really interesting to know the specific statute which implies
this.

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parfe
I was trying to find something and it seems to be the Passenger Vessel
Services Act which is now part of the Jones Act. I think the travel agent
understands the rules incorrectly though.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Vessel_Services_Act_o...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Vessel_Services_Act_of_1886)

~~~
Estragon
Thanks, that looks like it might be it.

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pbtran
you cannot take constructive criticism, cannot take risks, cannot sell ice to
Eskimos, do not have a sense of quirky nerd humor, and most importantly if you
do not like eating cereals for breakfast, lunch and dinner for weeks at a time
as money is getting tight in your startup budget.

~~~
rewind
Might want to rethink the "sell ice to Eskimos" part. That's the furthest
thing from what's expected from any startup.

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pdenya
Agreed, there's too much competition in the ice market already. Maybe try
colored ice! Or shaved, flavored ice!

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rewind
I think you saw humor where there was none. I'm saying selling stuff to people
that they don't need has never been what been important for a startup.

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DropkickM16
Selling stuff to people and convincing them they need it has always been
important for a startup.

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rewind
There is a difference between selling someone something that they need but
don't realize it yet vs. selling someone something that they don't need. The
term "sell ice to eskimos" means you're so good at selling that you can sell
someone something they don't need. You don't need that skill in a startup.
Sure, good at sales, and sure, good at communicating benefits, but you don't
need someone so good at sales that they can sell someone something they don't
need.

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ladon86
Obviously you guys were a good fit for YC, both in terms of culture and
ability.

What I wonder is, what percentage of applications are completely unsuitable
for YC?

What percentage of applications can basically be ruled out as competition?

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nanoanderson
I actually felt my heart pumping each time I read "## days until Demo Day".
That's how starting a business should feel. Money's running out, time is
running out, energy is running out. How are we going to make this work, today?

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kieftrav
Great post, David! I remember the beginning days and hearing the story as it
happened. Nice to read the whole story in one well-written article. Keep it
up!

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seanahrens
"Ricky and I met Mark at Startup School in October 2009 (I guess we have to
begrudgingly thank Berkeley for at least that much)"

Hehe. As a bear I say Grrr... =D

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rgrieselhuber
Great post guys and thanks very much for the mention.

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azymnis
awesome post guys... and yes the punchline is key: you have to have the
stomach to pivot if you are thinking of applying to YC

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c1sc0
I learned more from film & music at SXSW than from interactive

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idlewords
...you can just build it yourself

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xentronium
I think YC is more about connections and press and experience you can't get on
your own.

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d0m
if you know nobody inside yc..

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nicholasjbs
My cofounder and I applied and were accepted with exactly zero connections to
the Valley and effectively no YC connections (one friend of a friend was a YC
founder, but we didn't end up getting in touch until _after_ we'd gotten in).
I doubt that's the norm, but we're proof that it's possible.

If we'd been smarter/less naive, we'd have cold-emailed one of the dozens of
YC founders who publicly state they'll chat with people who are applying.

