

Ask PG: Given that there will be more interviews, will there be more spots? - marcamillion

More interviews makes me more nervous that there is more competition.<p>Or is the competition the same as last batch, because a proportional amount of spots have been opened up?
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pg
I would guess it's going to be closer to the latter. Which alarms me, because
we'd been hoping we'd be able to pause at around the same size for a cycle,
after growing so much last cycle.

But so far when we've grown things have always turned out ok, modulo the usual
minor breakage.

Anyone know where we can buy one of those vats they use to cook food on navy
ships? We use the largest size home slow cookers you can get, and already we
have 8 of them, which is starting to get awkward.

~~~
iamelgringo
Groen makes them. You can order them direct:

[http://www.groenkettle.com/commercial_kettles_self_contained...](http://www.groenkettle.com/commercial_kettles_self_contained.html)

or from Atlanta Fixture company:

[http://www.atlantafixture.com/ItemSummary.aspx?CategoryGuid=...](http://www.atlantafixture.com/ItemSummary.aspx?CategoryGuid=827e9009-9c99-45e5-82f4-841a333b8251&PageNumber=1&ManufacturerGuid=3c2997b7-52f6-41cd-b745-35255d9183cf&SortMethod=Relevance&ContractOnly=N&gclid=CLDzu_LOgaUCFQqAgwodNhxpOQ)

There's also Cleavland kettles:

[http://www.webstaurantstore.com/third2857/products/steam-
ket...](http://www.webstaurantstore.com/third2857/products/steam-kettles-
braising-pans.html)

or, have an Amazon Prime account?

[http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-
alias%3Dap...](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-
alias%3Daps&field-keywords=steam+jacket+kettle&x=0&y=0)

~~~
pg
Thanks! Those things look serious. I wonder how you clean them.

~~~
iamelgringo
Generic instructions:

[http://www.mafoodsafetyeducation.info/fs_work/feast/steam_ja...](http://www.mafoodsafetyeducation.info/fs_work/feast/steam_jacketed_kettle.html)

Instructions for a very large steam jacket kettle:

[http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:wfghJgxxPiQJ:n...](http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:wfghJgxxPiQJ:nhs.ky.gov/nslsbp/Level1CD/PowerPoint/SupportFiles/steam.pdf+steam+jacket+kettle+maintenance&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiW5pfbxK-
kib0BiuSENfBRsD3fgyddQTDmJPPoHa80FI4w7cEpWiXmUnve4u6jCHqrpj2n1AKeb3T4JZWc8akTdfozY6dHyP3e4V7XWjUpe5KV7y6eqt297qGxfTTesEhdF9Wv&sig=AHIEtbRiKuOVCuJ4B33G5q-nahFHU_H05g)

Brochure comparing Groen models:

[http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Yr_W2uXNIJkJ:w...](http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Yr_W2uXNIJkJ:www.f-ews.com/portal/MyInfo/DownloadDoc.aspx%3FDocsID%3D0920101025709+cleaning+steam+jacketed+kettles&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgDd8yTB5G-JrlaldGpW-q0zQ0lHipodGpX5A2VEzKrk1CREeH7e8gLt5GMnVODEDHo64xXpU-
sjqrmPQrhGCl60Oj49kbXla_xjpKxyW4S0ejRhh7TqXjmP5Hjjf3MzXZHvgVg&sig=AHIEtbS2vu6xjSKnH2og46O03P1ZnzlhHw)

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cperciva
PG used to say "if you're not accepted, it doesn't mean that you're not good,
it just means that we have a limited number of spots", but recently he has
tended towards saying "YC will take as many good teams as we find". I'm not
sure if this is a change in YC's philosophy about accepting teams or just that
PG is less concerned about not hurting the feelings of people who aren't
accepted.

(PG: I apologize if I'm completely off here, but the above is my impression of
what you've been saying, at least -- if I've misunderstood what you've been
saying I hope you'll correct me!)

In any case, the answer is the same: First, make sure that the YC team knows
that they'd be idiots to not accept you; and second, if you're not accepted,
go ahead with your startup anyway, and make sure that the entire world knows
that the YC team were idiots for not accepting you.

~~~
pg
You may be conflating two types of acceptance. We have a limited (though now
larger) number of interview slots, so there it's the case that we can't
interview everyone we want to. E.g. there are groups I voted to interview, but
that we won't be interviewing, because not enough other YC partners did. But
there's no such limit on the number of startups we can accept out of
interviews.

~~~
rogerjin
Hey Paul, when I submitted my app I submitted as a single person. After the
deadline I added two critical co-founders to help execute the technical side.
Since then, I've been concerned that the app would have been considerably
strengthened had I included the other co-founders in the app. Would like to
hear your thoughts on this

~~~
jackowayed
He probably can't help you, especially this late. The best course of action
probably would have been to email him as soon as the cofounders were official.

It would make sense for them to allow you to reapply as a late applicant (with
all the disadvantages of being a late applicant) because you've had such a
significant change since applying. That would set a dangerous precedent
though: "I added one more feature to my demo! It's a significant change, so I
can reapply!"

But that wouldn't be a huge deal since they only skim the late apps anyway.
And for reapplying, the first question could be "What has changed since your
on time application?" They could then very quickly reject people without a
good reason to reapply.

------
robryan
In line with the idea that if your struggling to keep up with workload then
your not charging enough, perhaps here the total value of the program has
become a lot higher than the equity being taken, hence the number of great
applications.

Wonder if there would be merit in taking some more equity as a way to try and
cap the size of future batches.

~~~
vietor
My impression is that a change of that nature would select against the
applicants with strong alternative routes to funding. Either because they are
already well connected and experienced, already have traction, or already have
some other advantages.

So while it would reduce the number of applicants, it would also reduce the
overall quality of applicants. Given that the problem with too many applicants
is sifting through them to find the good ones, eliminating the good ones
outright would be worse than merely having a higher chance of overlooking
them.

