

The YC Interview and a Visit to 10 Downing Street - jamesmcaulay
http://blog.jamesmcaulay.co.uk/2014/05/the-yc-interview-and-a-visit-to-10-downing-street/

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namenotrequired
It surprises me that both the linked post by Guy Morita [1] and this one
describe that they not only got detailed feedback, but that in both cases the
problem was with the idea. I've always thought the idea was the least
important thing, as almost everyone changes their idea, and attributes of the
founders such as determination were much more important. Does YC simply limit
their feedback to the idea?

[1] [http://alchemist.svbtle.com/our-yc-
interviews](http://alchemist.svbtle.com/our-yc-interviews)

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mrkurt
I got rejected back in 2010 as a solo founder (my cofounder bailed a few days
before the interview), and feedback was all about the idea -- not my sudden
solo founder status. The idea is really all they have to critique based on the
app and interview. They consider founders heavily, but how do you give good
feedback on "you guys just didn't blow us away as a founding team"?

Here was my rejection for something close to what Beacon does now (this was
pre-startfund money):

> I'm sorry to say we decided not to fund you. There may well be something in
> the idea of commissioned stories, but it seemed to us that to get such a
> project rolling it would either have to be a spinoff of an existing site
> with lots of traffic or be quite highly capitalized (since otherwise there
> wouldn't be enough "donors" to cover costs). A YC size investment wouldn't
> be enough, and yet it would be hard to raise enough from post-YC investors,
> because they'd demand "traction."

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untog
_told me with a smile on his face that “we Americans love the whole Cambridge
thing over here.”, which is funny given that most of Britain seem to hate it._

Because it's foreign. I think UK attitudes to Cambridge and US attitudes to
Ivy League universities are roughly the same.

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rdl
Also, in the case of YC specifically, there have been some exceptionally good
founders (and partners) from (more Oxford than) Cambridge, I think.

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mathattack
Two things I notice...

1 - The boxing analogy came up again. I'm waiting to hear from a startup that
got in that views sessions with their investors as boxing. It just seems like
viewing your esteemed funders as combative opponents is the wrong worldview.

2 - It seems like the rejection letters now have specific feedback. Is this
new?

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rdl
The rejection letters at the interview stage have often included detailed
feedback. It's rejection in the earlier stage (not getting an interview, based
on your application) which doesn't get detailed feedback (usually; I've seen
some cases where it did, usually after questions in email).

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mathattack
Thanks! I appreciate the clarification. I recalled reading something which
explained why YC doesn't give feedback, and didn't realize it was for just the
first stage.

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ulisesrmzroche
Hey, so what's the app about again? Something about machine learning?

~~~
junto
I was also interested to know that too. Nothing on his website that I could
find (mobile version).

