
Ask PG/HN: Questions about applying to YC - serverdude
I have an idea I developed recently that I believe is fairly complicated. I would be able to implement only a prototype in the next few days before the deadline. I am in two minds - either I can apply to YC in this round with a prototype only and perhaps hurt my chances or I can apply in the next round with a reasonable "alpha" version of my idea and perhaps increase my chances.<p>What do you suggest?<p>Also, do you get people who "reapply" after getting rejected and if so, how many of them make it the second time?
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pg
A prototype is enough for us.

We often accept people who reapply. The best known is probably Drew Houston of
Dropbox. There were at least two in the most recent batch: FanVibe and
PagerDuty. For the PagerDuty guys it was the fourth time they'd applied.

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danilocampos
If YC selects based on people and not ideas, what changes between
applications? Does the submitter grow in some meaningful way, and that sticks
out?

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pg
There are multiple explanations. We care more about people than ideas, but we
don't care zero about ideas. Especially if a startup is passionately committed
to what seems a bad idea; we'll usually reject them no matter how good the
people are.

When people reapply it's often with different teams. I think all 3 cases I
mentioned did.

People do change somewhat between applications. Someone who's only 25 gets 4%
more experience each year.

And also, as we say in the email when we turn people down, we're often simply
wrong.

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SteveMorin
This is good to know, just like startups it's better to iterate early and
often

