
If you're applying this cycle: How to Apply to Y Combinator - pg
http://ycombinator.com/howtoapply.html?s2011
======
ssp
Joel Spolsky recently said[1] that if your whole attitude is "this thing can
make me rich" as opposed to "this thing needs to exist", then maybe you don't
have the passion required to run a startup.

Is that something you select for (or against)?

[1] <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2298470>

~~~
pg
No. We started our own startup to get rich.

------
pg
Also, if anyone has any questions about applying that aren't answered on our
site, feel free to ask them here.

~~~
bloodcarter
I have only one question: how to get an invitation to the interview if you are
single founder (like Dropbox)? Looks like "single founder problem" is a flaw
in YC's business model, because your biggest hits (Dropbox, Greplin) all came
from initially single founders.

Well, I know that the odds aren't good for single founders...But the problem
here in Russia (where I'am from) is that it's virtually impossible to find an
entrepreneurial-minded hacker who's ready to put efforts and passion into a
such risky thing as startup. We don't have such startups culture you have in
US. It's very tempting for smart ppl here to just get a day job with a nice
salary and relax. Or they already have girlfriend/family and thus will not
move anywhere.

But I'm pretty sure I'll find a co-founder when I'm in the Bay area. But looks
like it's chicken-and-egg problem. Actually I think the problem with single
founders is exaggerated a bit. If it's all about people then great ppl
eventually will find a great co-founder if you give'em a chance.

~~~
pg
Actually Greplin had 2 founders initially. And though Drew was a single
founder when he applied, he had found a cofounder by the time the YC cycle
started.

The trouble with the plan of finding a cofounder when you get to the Bay Area
is that you'll then have a cofounder you've only just met. Empirically that
doesn't work well. Cofounders should have known one another for a while.

You must have friends of friends who'd start a startup with you.

~~~
bloodcarter
Actually I had 2 co-founders. The trouble was that we eventually run out of
money and they quit. I stayed. But I was forced to start a construction
company in order to make some money and I grew it from $0 to 500k in sales.
But damn it! I'm a programmer! I want to write a software. I really think that
if you're seeking for exceptional people than you should give a chance for
exceptional single founders too under some conditions, of course.

~~~
pg
We do accept exceptional single founders. We've funded several of them. If
you're so determined that you started a successful construction company, you
could be one.

~~~
bloodcarter
Yes, it's successful and I also managed to negotiate a partnership with IKEA.
A unique experience! I did all that just to be able one day to return to my
startup. We've been featured on ReadWriteWeb and 400+ ppl have subscribed for
our beta, but this achievement was not helpful when my co-founders decided to
quit...Looking back I can say that although I learned a lot running
construction business, that was a mistake. And I want to fix it now. I would
be happy if YC will review my application having in mind who is the person
behind it.

~~~
pclark
You _ran_ a construction company and grew it to $500k in revenue? Dude, I hope
you literally spelt that out repeatedly in your YC application. :)

~~~
bloodcarter
Yes, I hacked supply chain and wrote several pieces of software, and now our
profit margin is around 40% of total project estimate. While it's still below
the market for the customers.

------
kingsidharth
Finished reading it yesterday when I was filling-up the form. It was really
helpful. YC's form is worth filling for every start-up even if they are not
applying. It brings so much clarity for your own self.

------
kerben
Shortly after submitting our application, my co-founder (technical half)
informed me he could no longer devote the time necessary to the startup for
various personal reasons. This caught me completely off guard and I was pretty
bummed. Determined not to let this phase me, I called another friend the next
day who had been really interested in the idea and asked him if he would want
to be my co-founder. He agreed and now he's on board.

I have since removed my original co-founder from the application and I plan to
update the application with my new co-founders information. I wanted to know
if there was a particular way I should handle such an update to the
application? I guess I am also curious to know how this might affect our
application, and whether this has occurred before? Thanks for any help in
advance.

~~~
pg
Just edit and resubmit.

------
dabent
It says, "All six YC partners read applications. We each do it separately, to
avoid groupthink."

This makes me curious about the process.

I assume this means that an application is at least initially seen by only one
partner. I see the advantage in parallel processing, but what if one person
rejects something the other five would have gone for?

What puts founders on the "let's interview" pile? Is it the choice of one
reviewer, or are promising applications then reviewed by the remaining five
(or maybe just pg) to see if there's an agreement?

~~~
pg
The applications near the top get read by everyone. We meet in person (or in
Rtm's case by Skype) to come up with the final list we're inviting to
interviews.

In the past it was hard for anyone to unilaterally reject an application.
Nearly all were seen by at least two of us. That will probably no longer be
the case with this batch though, because we expect a lot of applications.

------
voxmatt
I've thought about applying to YC a couple times now, but our founders (myself
and another) are not coders. I can do the usual rudimentary (CSS, HTML,
PHP...), and we've done all the UI and business planning, but we do work with
others to code the actual site. I assume that there's not really a place at YC
for us? I'm incredibly passionate about being a hacker entrepreneur, but
without being a brilliant coder, it seems YC is not an option.

Just curious.

~~~
pg
You don't have to be a great programmer, just good enough to build what you
need to.

------
acconrad
I'm really curious as to why you state "I'm not convinced yet that this will
be the next Google, but at least I'm starting to engage with it." and then
later say "One good trick for describing a project concisely is to explain it
as a variant of something the audience already knows."

These seem like conflicting statements: on the one hand you're looking for a
groundbreaking, original idea. On the other you seem to advise comparisons to
existing products, which immediately appears to dilute the value of the
product and pigeonholes the mission of the team.

Could you comment on the balance you are looking for between these two? Would
you rather someone describe their business as "Like [big website] for [target
market]" or distinguish themselves for its inherent value?

~~~
pg
You can describe something novel by reference to something that already
exists.

------
kiubo
I have been feeling a bit uneasy about the scope of our idea for some time
now. Today I feel much better because we have managed to whittle it down to
one core product that is easy to understand and sell. Everything is clearer
now. However, now I'm unsure what to do with all the other stuff that we still
plan on doing but just further down the road. Do I just leave it all out?

To make my point clearer... Originally we were saying we wanted to do X. To do
X you need Y and Z but especially Y. After re-scoping we are now saying we
will put all our focus on Y (which is a product in itself), see how things
play out, then see about everything else.

~~~
pg
Tell us what you're going to do first, then talk about how you plan to expand
the idea.

~~~
kiubo
Thank you.

------
Jsarokin
Another single founder question.

What if the startup (single founder) is already passed the building stage and
is now looking to scale.

Would it make more sense to start hiring a team instead of finding a co-
founder?

In this specific scenario (obviously an exception), would the single founder
issue still be that much of a problem, or is it diluted down now that they
company is established somewhat.

~~~
pg
It's unlikely you have passed the building stage. They're still working on
Google.

~~~
Jsarokin
Maybe saying passed the building stage was the wrong use of words.

What I meant to ask was at a certain point in a single founder startup would
it be more beneficial to start hiring people rather than looking for a co-
founder?

Or should a co-founder be brought on no matter where the company is at, but at
a lower equity stake then if they were there from the beginning?

------
3pt14159
Read to the end, the Dropbox application was superb.

------
geuis
Does getting the interview, but being rejected, in a previous cycle hurt an
applicants chances subsequent times?

~~~
rms
Empirically it almost definitely helps your chances

------
mariust
When shell we expect a reply to our submission if we submitted our project one
month ago, I know that the session is still opened, but the early projects
aren't responded until the submission period is over? Thanks

~~~
pg
April 7. <http://ycombinator.com/apply.html>

~~~
mariust
Hi pg, thanks for the answer. The problem is that the time frame from 7th
April to 23 rd April is quite little for outside US residence. The ones that
need a visa to get to the US could not make it on time not because of them but
because of the process to get the visa for US. thanks

~~~
malandrew
I exchanged emails with Kirsty Nathoo, YCombinator's CFO, and she said that YC
is willing to write a formal invitation on official YC letterhead. In my
previous experience, that is usually enough to get a work visa in that amount
of time, especially if you also have a round-trip ticket already booked (make
sure the ticket is refundable.)

------
martythemaniak
Out of curiosity, what were last round's stats like? Number of applications,
number of interviews and number of funded groups.

------
cloudkj
Have there been applicants that were accepted but ended up turning it down for
whatever reason (job, move, visa, etc)? Have any of these reapplied and
participated in the subsequent go?

~~~
pg
Yes, there have been a couple groups that deferred to a later batch for
personal reasons. There have also been a few who simply turned us down, e.g.
because because the founders had a falling out, or their employers, when they
heard they were leaving, made them an offer that enticed them to stay.

------
prpon
I have a question regarding 1 minute video presentation required in the
application. Is it required that both the founders be on the video
presentation? I read in one of the comments by either Harj or PG that 'we look
for chemistry between the founders in videos'.

~~~
geuis
This is recommended.

------
ffumarola
Do you check the demo URL for all of the companies you offer interviews to?

"We look at online demos only for the most promising applications, so don't
skimp on the application because you're relying on a good demo."

That leads me to believe so, but thought I'd ask!

~~~
pg
I think so.

------
sbisker
I see a ?s2011 at the end of that URL. Has this document changed at all from
when you originally wrote it two years ago?

~~~
pg
I'd guess the only change was to change the reference from 4 partners to 6.

Footnote 2 sounds a little stale.

------
mbrightman
Are you 100% focused on tech startups, or will you look at a good idea even if
it's not in the software/tech realm?

~~~
pg
We'll consider anything, but most startups tend to involve technology.

------
amaranand
Thanks for putting this together. It was super helpful.

Another question that kind of sticks out as a wild card is:

Please tell us something surprising or amusing that one of you has discovered.
(The answer need not be related to your project.)

Unfortunately, you don't really talk about it in the how-to. Is this not that
important of a question for you? Is it just an opportunity to get a sense of
the applicants personality? In general what are you trying to evaluate with
this question?

~~~
pg
That's to learn what the personalities of the founders are like. Few things
are so revealing as what amuses people.

------
flipside
If the cofounders have only known each other for about 1 month, what can we do
to reassure YC we'll work well together?

Would evidence of some random (yet to be done) side project help? Good
chemistry in the video? Anecdotal evidence that we've built up trust and a
good relationship? Good legal framework?

We are still actively building a larger team of course but these things take
time. This is the only part of the application that worries me. =)

~~~
pinko
If the cofounders have only known each other for about 1 month, how do you
/know/ you'll work well together? You can't reassure someone of something that
isn't yet clear...

~~~
flipside
Cofounders that have known each other longer split up all the time, mostly
because their relationship was never tested in that way.

We are actively working on building a relationship that can survive the
startup process and if not, we're trying to find that out sooner rather than
later. I guess we'll just have to do our best to explain that in the
application/video.

------
bdesimone
If you choose not to fund us, not that I'm a pessimist, will you provide any
feedback?

~~~
pg
If you make it to interviews and we don't fund you, we do.

We don't if we don't invite you to interviews. This explains why:
<http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html>

------
sim0n
Our application's video is 1 minute 23 seconds long, is this acceptable or is
the 1 minute limit strongly enforced? We did our video in one take so that it
was as natural as possible and we didn't really pay attention to the time
limit until we were done talking. Thanks!

~~~
pg
It's loosely enforced in the sense that we don't feel obliged to watch past
the 1 minute point.

------
kiubo
I have a small doubt about one of the questions.

"Please tell us about the time you, ONE FOUNDER NAME, most successfully hacked
some (non-computer) system to your advantage."

We are three founders. Do you want just one founder to answer or is this a
mistake(probably mine)?

~~~
pg
We just want to hear about the time you did. We assume the person filing the
application is the leader, and only the leader needs to have this aptitude.

------
rbreve
Do startups from other countries have less advantage over american ones?

~~~
pg
Perhaps a very slight one-- a few percent-- because we know visa problems add
to the drag on a startup. But we've funded a lot of startups from other
countries, including some of the most successful ones. In practice, how good
the founders seem dominates every other factor.

------
Wolf_Larsen
If you were interested in funding a single applicant, but only if they had a
co-founder, would you reach out and tell them that or would you just toss the
application in the reject pile?

~~~
pg
We wouldn't want someone to get a cofounder just for our sake. We want them to
want to themselves. And if they wanted to and could, they already would have.
So there wouldn't be any point in telling anyone to go get one.

When we fund single founders, we usually suggest they try to find cofounders
if they can. But we can't force them to, and not all do.

~~~
Wolf_Larsen
Based on the similar questions popping up it seems that my situation is common
: plenty of talented people are ready to commit as soon as funding is certain.

Thank you for responding.

~~~
patio11
It absolutely makes sense for a lot of business relationships to be based on
"You remove as many sources of risk as possible and in return I commit to use
my skills on your behalf." The name for that business relationship is
"employment."

------
bowmande
Are there any YC companies that aren't based on the West Coast?

~~~
pg
Yes, they're all over. There's one in Germany.

------
moblivu
Thanks for the reference, like "How to start a startup" it's always good to
have more information!

If one of the founders is under aged, is there any kind of additional step to
take?

~~~
pg
Depends how underaged. There's one founder in this batch who's 17. We're ok
with it as long as the founder's parents are. I don't think we'd accept anyone
much younger than that.

------
saucerful
Is there any sort of NDA attached to the application? How can I be sure that
if I'm rejected and then one of the accepted teams tosses their idea, you
won't just hand them mine to work on?

(I'm aware that there are differing theories out there on the merit of
shrouding a startup idea in secrecy, and my own personal opinion on the matter
is that it totally depends on the idea. But the question still holds.)

~~~
eggbrain
I am not trying to speak for pg, so only take this as an advice of an
entrepreneur:

Incubators like ycombinator have seen thousands of start-up ideas over the
years. Most likely some of them overlapped, and there has probably been a good
amount of duplication (deal of the day site--only for food!). If there was an
NDA for every single one of these, any successful company that might have
duplicated an idea unintentionally (ie, they came to the same idea themselves)
might get in trouble later down the road when another entrepreneur says "hey,
that was my idea, they must have stolen it!"

EDIT: seems like me and iqster had the same basic comment :)

~~~
ffumarola
With a better UI than OpenTable! ;)

------
6ren
> If you go around saying you're going to start the next Google, [...] most
> people are threatened by ambition: you seem to be trying to put yourself
> above them...

I've noticed a lot of push-back from people. It's very discouraging,
especially when phrased as well-meaning and matter-of-fact.

------
johnyqi
For interview, are we coming to you or it can be done over skype?

~~~
pg
It has to be done in person, but we reimburse you for the flight.

~~~
rabble
Do you require the whole team come in for the interview? Flights are
expensive, $6500 just for an interview?

~~~
malandrew
I believe that their is a limit for how much they will reimburse, $600 if I
remember correctly. The total cost of the flights would be about $6000 for
myself and my two co-founders as well.

If would be nice if there was more time between knowing you've been invited
for an interview (April 7th) and traveling for the interview (April 23-28th).
Since that's less than a month's notice, it means that airfare will be at it's
highest.

------
Stevenup7002
If someone were accepted into YC, and circumstances arose which meant that the
founders couldn't remain in the bay area for the entire three months, how
would that be handled?

------
runjake
What I got from this: "It's more about the person than the specific pitch.
Maintaining a good, thoughtful presence on HN helps tremendously.

~~~
pg
The first half is certainly true, but don't overestimate the importance of HN.
If you want to spend time on stuff that will impress us, it's better to spend
it building things than commenting on HN.

Also, I'd say "people" rather than "person," because we care not just about
the founders but about the strength of their relationship.

~~~
malandrew
What if you have a much stronger presence on a site like Quora or
StackOverflow, is that considered as well?

It seems like all three (those two and HN) are communities where the type of
people you like to fund would spend a lot of time.

------
neeleshs
We applied about 15 days ago. It doesn't look like our video on posterous has
been viewed yet. Does it mean anything at all?

~~~
bcrawford
On a semi-related note: apparently simply refreshing your browser increases
the view count. I had gotten excited for a minute!

------
rokhayakebe
Since I do not leave particularly super-smart comments as patio11, jacquesm or
edw519 do, just remember this username.

