
Y Combinator Day, Pt. 1 - mattjaynes
http://mattmaroon.com/?p=183
======
russ
You must have heard from YC by now? What's the verdict? I can't take the
suspense!

~~~
jsjenkins168
We unfortunately did not get funded. Ironically, we suspect it was at least in
part due to more of a strategic "political" reason than an insufficient idea.
Our startup would have directly competed with a prominent current YC funded
company which for obvious reasons is undesirable for YC, despite the fact we
believe our approach is superior from a technical standpoint. The argument was
that this current company is already "well established" and might already have
momentum to expand into the area we proposed. They certainly aren't doing it
yet though, and we build fast and never give up. I'm sure Larry and Surgey
were told the same thing from investors about Altavista. History shows being
"well established" doesnt mean squat. I wont get into any more specifics
though, as we are still pursuing the idea and would like to keep it under
wraps.

Paul, Jessica, and Trevor are really cool people though. As were the other
teams present. We saw some good ideas and smart people. Without a doubt the
next batch of startups will be very impressive. I wish all of those teams who
were offered funding the best of luck!

~~~
gyro_robo
> _The argument was that this current company is already "well established"
> and might already have momentum to expand into the area we proposed._

Makes you wonder why they dragged you out there then!

~~~
BrandonM
I would guess that they liked the applicants (based on the applications) and
wanted to see if they had any other ideas that they would be interested in
pursuing.

~~~
gyro_robo
Except that for this round pg said you don't need an idea in order to apply.
That implies that they'll help decide on an idea if they like the founders, so
an idea conflict should be resolvable by switching to something else pg et al.
have in mind.

~~~
blader
Let me just say this: "the idea doesn't matter" is a statement that we found
to be highly, highly unreliable. Don't expect to get funded without a solid
idea that is different. I'll elaborate on this later, but trust me on this
one.

------
jsjenkins168
Thanks for the valuable info. Our interview is in less than 2 hours.. Talk
about being nervous hah. Good luck on getting funded.

------
Leonidas
Good luck to you. I'm nervous for your guys! The Y team seems to be people you
can talk to, I guess that's why they're so attractive to entrepreneurs.

Either way, very exciting

------
gyro_robo
Condolences to anyone who got an interview and _then_ was turned down. That
bites more than not getting an interview.

~~~
brent
On the contrary. We got an interview and rejected last fall. It was a great
experience to meet the four of them. I think we brought a great idea, a plan,
and little diversity in our team (I was the only geek in our garage). We were
swiftly rejected for reasons I'm not entirely sure , but thats why they have
the money and I don't! At the least, Boston made for a great weekend getaway.

------
mattmaroon
Thanks for all of the well-wishes. Pt. 2 was posted this morning.

------
Sam_Odio
Good luck, let us know what the decision was!

------
JohnN
good luck!

