
Example of a good YC application video: Directed Edge - pg
http://scott-oviwe.posterous.com/private/wIYDQvTIRI
======
pg
I encouraged Scott to let people see this, to show that it's better to just
sit down and start talking than to spend a lot of time trying to make
something carefully scripted.

~~~
thaumaturgy
Thanks!

Any chance you'd be willing to mention what it was you liked about their
video?

I think the video part might be one of the more challenging parts of the
application, partly because of the 1 minute time limit, and partly because
it's supposed to be unscripted and off-the-cuff but the applicants still need
to describe what they're doing, which takes some preparation.

~~~
zackattack
One of the great lessons I learned in college is that it is very difficult to
fake skill. Indeed, skilled people have better long-term memories for domain
information, encode domain-related information more efficiently. Similarly,
skilled people are able to better deal with distracting tasks while still
maintaining their train of thought in the domain-related area.

That being said, through the offhand way they impart information, it is clear
that they have a significant degree of skill in their domain. (Short lookup
times, unaffected by distraction). Moreover, their body language was not
urgent or desperate. I have a sneaking suspicion that getting VC is like
dating; the needy don't get fed.

So my advice to you: spend more time cultivating expertise in your field. This
has multiple benefits: 1) you're more likely to actually succeed, and may be
able to avoid having to take (YC) funding altogether; 2) you'll be able to
talk offhand more easily about your startup.

~~~
thaumaturgy
Good point, but our problem is mostly that the startup involves several
different applications and has to solve problems in a several different
spaces.

We've got pretty solid expertise in all of the necessary fields, it's just a
matter of getting the entire project described without forgetting anything
important.

~~~
OmarIsmail
I think that might indicate a fundamental issue with what you're doing with
your business.

One of the biggest rules in business, and even more importantly startups, is
FOCUS. While your technology/process may apply to many different areas and
industries, you realistically can't tackle and market to them all. Therefore
you need to focus the process/technology into one area/industry and there
should be an easy to understand compelling case on why it makes life better
and easier.

There's a reason why you're only given 1 minute.

------
hussong
Wow, haven't seen that one in a while, feels like years ago. We actually tried
a couple takes until we stopped caring and just wanted to get it done and have
the application sent.

------
apgwoz
The first 30 seconds reminded me of beavis and butthead. It turns around after
that for the better.

~~~
davidw
I was thinking more "I'm Bill S Preston Esquire" "and I'm Ted Theodore Logan"
"and we're DIRECTED EDGE!"

------
netsp
Which of these points was a selling point:

    
    
      -Building a recommendation engine. 
      -Started with general approach, now focused on e-commerce
      -Cheap/easy alternative to expensive/hard "enterprise" option. 
      (the easy integration part is 'the next step)
      -Amazon drives 25% ($5bn) of sales via recommendation.
       They want to bring this to the masses.
      -Identified: 75% of sites don't have a recommendations,
       50% have identified it as something to get.
      -Already capable of 100s of recommendations per second
    

I guess this doesn't work without the application to fill in the gaps. I felt
that the application was missing an explanation why this recommendation engine
is good or how it works.

------
arfrank
It was delightfully playful, yet very concise and informative, which is how I
imagined it would be based upon the writeup posted yesterday.

I wonder if this will be a catalyst for people to be more informal with their
videos, just speaking freely about what they are trying to do.

~~~
jeromec
I think it depends on who you are pitching to. The YC founders are from the
startup culture themselves so I think that by itself allows them to recognize
others that have something on the ball, no formality necessary. When you're
good you don't have to "act" smart; it will come across if you just be
yourself, and I think that video illustrates that.

------
johnnybgoode
Like apgwoz said, the first 30 seconds are not very good at all, but things
get better after that. But even then, the best things in the video would have
been in the written application, too. I'm not sure how useful this video
really was to YC other than as a basic filter, as in, "Hey, these people were
willing to make a video and talk about their product, and they say at least a
few things that make some sense. It's fine to bring them in for an interview."

------
app
Cranking up the volume on my MacBook I could barely make out every other word.
That and the crappy 8fps + terrible lighting was a big turn off. Putting in
the tiniest effort to production value goes a long way and shows you care a
lot about what you're talking about!

~~~
gruseom
What you're saying is no doubt true for a general audience, but that's not
what this is for. You may be forgetting that a lot of hackers haven't the
slightest idea about (or interest in) "production value", so it would be very
much the wrong thing to optimize for. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if
making a slick video backfired.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
I think all he's saying is "make sure you have good lighting and can be heard
clearly." Good production values doesn't have to mean high budget or slick.

~~~
gruseom
Yeah, but this video _succeeded_. Therefore, its "production values" were just
fine. How good the video is, qua video, is irrelevant. Talk about a bicycle
shed!

I'm beating this dead horse because I know that a lot of great hackers would
feel intimidated about having to make a video of themselves, and it would be a
pity if that dissuaded anyone from applying. Of course YC have already made
all this clear.

It's better, in fact, that the OP had low "production values" because it shows
that there isn't much of a barrier to entry here.

------
anApple
Interesting...

I can still remember that I talked to one of the founder guys of directed edge
at a party at the web 2.0 conference in Berlin last year, and he was like
"ooh, you are one of the few here having an interesting project".

His project wasn't uninteresting as well ;). Good luck!

------
nopassrecover
Heh sounded very rambly. I'm kinda happy that this is all it takes.

~~~
wensing
Rambly while still communicating:

    
    
       + the problem
       + market size
       + distribution 
       + salient features
    

I'll take this 2 minutes over most of the TC50 demos.

~~~
nopassrecover
Agreed it had substance. Rambling wasn't a criticism it's just an actual
demonstration of the fact that YC aren't measuring pitch ability but simply
enthusiasm + domain knowledge. Passionate, Smart and Gets Things Done seems to
be the key, and the fact that they are willing to release this "prototype
pitch" so early is probably a good sign for the kind of startup YC wants
(release early, innovate).

------
pkaler
That's hosted as a Posterous private post. One of the founders in the video
should probably claim that account now that the post isn't really private
anymore.

~~~
wheels
If there's a real reason to do that, I don't really understand it. I don't use
Posterous; we just sent the video there since that's what the application
asked for.

