
Applications open for the summer 2014 YC batch - pg
http://ycombinator.com/apply.html?s2014
======
wildermuthn
"How far along are you? Do you have a beta yet? If not, when will you? Are you
launched? If so, how many users do you have? Do you have revenue? If so, how
much? If you're launched, what is your monthly growth rate (in users or
revenue or both)?"

The above question popped out at me this year.

I don't know a lot about the groups that YC accepts, except what I read in the
occasional press-release or HN post. But I have noticed a pattern: it seems
that many (and perhaps most?) of the YC companies I've read about recently had
already launched and found success prior to YC, sometimes years prior.

This pattern might only indicate that I'm reading about those kinds of YC
startups, and that completely new companies that launched post-YC don't get as
much of my attention.

Nonetheless, I've found this pattern to be at odds with what I thought YC was
about — pre-launch investment and mentoring of brand new companies.

It makes sense to invest in people and companies that have already found
success. Even if such companies pivot to something completely new, they have a
track record and a user base to work from.

Has YC made an informal pivot itself, to funding companies that have already
launched and found traction rather than in great teams of founders that
probably aren't even incorporated yet?

~~~
akbar501
There's a well known and clearly visible trend that more institutional (i.e.
not friends and family) investment is moving later stage for "normal" software
businesses.

The reasons are well known: the cost of developing software (at least the
initial prototype) have dropped far enough that a great many people can afford
to build a prototype themselves.

Further, the cost of market validation has also dropped enough such that a
great many companies can achieve __some __market validation without outside
capital.

Put together, it's a reasonable expectation that a dedicated entrepreneur will
put in both the minimal time and money to both build a prototype and prove
that real customers exist who view the solution as valuable.

However, the cost of building a big business is still high. Specifically,
ramping up development, hosting, marketing (team and spend), sales, etc. still
costs enough money that outside capital helps.

This last point is key and answers the question of "why would I raise capital
if I did all of the work of building a prototype and getting my initial
customers?".

Lastly, the ultimate goal is to succeed. There are a number of different paths
to success, but one of the worst failures is not outright failure of a
company.

If you think about the possible outcomes of a business, there are basically 3:

1\. Complete failure...business shuts down

2\. Moderate success...$2 million, $5 million up to maybe $25 million

3\. Success... $25 million plus with the ultimate goal of doing 9 or 10
figures a year

#1 sucks. Maybe more without venture capital as its your money you lost, but
it's good in no way.

#3 is great whether or not you get venture financing. Depending on your
financing, you'll walk away with $5 million or more personally.

#2 can either be a wonderful success, or the worst failure (worse than #1). #2
is great if you bootstrapped. If you bootstrapped, you'll walk away with $5
million or more in your pocket. If you grow to $10M+ in revenue, then you're
financially free.

However, #2 sucks if you raised significant capital. Most likely, you hate the
company because you'll walk away will nothing even though the company has had
some success. Investors will hate the company because the investment is
sucking up time, focus and will never be a winner.

In this light, waiting to raise capital until a company is a little bit more
mature is a boon for entrepreneurs. If you have a #1 then kill it and move
onto the next opportunity. If you have a #3, then go raise (or don't).

But, if you have a #2 then you know you can get rich by bootstrapping, which
will prevent you from making the mistake of raising capital for a non-venture
fundable business.

~~~
pg
_There 's a well known and clearly visible trend that more institutional (i.e.
not friends and family) investment is moving later stage for "normal" software
businesses._

Actually the trend in the venture business is actually the opposite. The
biggest change in the last few years has been the increase in pre-series A
investments, both by "super-angels" (which are structurally mini VC funds) and
existing VC firms.

~~~
akbar501
Hi pg, thanks for the reply.

I may have done a poor job of wording as I used the word stage which has a
specific meaning. What I meant was the first investment (seed) has moved from
idea stage to prototype.

With the clarification, do you think it is accurate?

~~~
pg
I haven't noticed any change. We've always hoped people would at least make
some sort of prototype. That's how one explores ideas, or at least ideas about
software.

------
SandersAK
There's a longer blog post about this coming, but @zmitri and I applied to YC
a total of six times before we got in.

Along the way we learned a lot about why YC is important, what it does for you
(and what it doesn't) and why the application process is one of the best ways
to think through creating your startup.

We've been really lucky to have great alumni help advise us and give us
feedback on our applications (yes, all of six of them, thanks Jason
Freedman!).

So hit me up if you want me to look over anything, it's the least I can do:
hello@sandersak.com

EDIT - I may be slow on the reply until after demo day ;)

~~~
pearjuice
Six times? Really? At some point it becomes pathetic, you know. Though
portrayed as, yc isn't some sort of holy grail you have to touch before death.
But six times, man, that must have been three years at least? Props for not
giving up. Still pathetic though.

~~~
zmitri
Pathetic is the perfect way to describe me.

Especially when you factor in that as an immigrant I had to leave America 3
times, once because I was diagnosed with cancer, and haven't legally been able
to take salary from my own company in 2 years.

~~~
kartman
zmitri, i upvoted but sometimes words are needed - keep up the good work!

------
pshin45
Is it just me, or is the "Request for Startups"[1] page in serious need of
updating?

For example, are "Things Built on Twitter"[2] and "iPad Applications"[3] still
a valid way to build a $XX billion company in today's world?

[1] [http://ycombinator.com/rfs.html](http://ycombinator.com/rfs.html)

[2] [http://ycombinator.com/rfs3.html](http://ycombinator.com/rfs3.html)

[3] [http://ycombinator.com/rfs6.html](http://ycombinator.com/rfs6.html)

~~~
pg
We should probably retire RFS 3.

~~~
netcan
Have the Requests for Startups produced many good applications/startups? Any
insights on identifying problems for startups to work on?

------
guynamedloren
Here's my application for the last batch:

[https://www.penflip.com/loren/yc-
application](https://www.penflip.com/loren/yc-application)

Wasn't accepted, but it might help anyway.

If anyone's curious, no, I didn't lose all hope and give up when YC rejected
me. Third time being rejected, and it hurts less every time :) Still going
strong on this idea, refuse to quit.

------
danielrhodes
When I applied for YC, the application itself was very valuable because it
asked focused and aspirational questions which forced me to think about what I
was trying to create and why it was important to other people. I also went
into the process telling myself that while it would be great to get in, it was
not the end of the world if it didn't work out.

Remember that the success of your product/company ultimately comes down to you
and the market you are in and not necessarily the money that is invested or
the often nebulous social status that might come with getting into such
programs. What matters is creating something which is of service to and
valuable to other people.

------
fudged71
When we interviewed for the current cohort, we were asked to show up early for
the interview, so I travelled to Mountain View each of the 6 interview days to
talk to other startups. As a canuck in the valley for the first time, it was
an eye-opening experience.

It's really interesting to hear what everyone is working on, and it's a rare
look at the YC investment thesis. Also interesting to see what these companies
have gone on to achieve, YC or not. I was most inspired by the stories of
everyone who had travelled from foreign countries to pitch.

~~~
pg
We don't recommend applicants do this. Though we don't say anything when it
happens, we do notice, and it makes us slightly less likely to accept such
groups.

~~~
fudged71
I appreciate the info, sorry. I asked permission on the first day and tried my
best to be polite and respectful to others.

~~~
pg
If you asked permission then it was fine. But some groups do it without
asking, and if everyone came every day, we'd be out of space.

------
benatkin
Is this the "next batch" that sama will be presiding over? Or is the batch
after this one? [http://blog.ycombinator.com/sam-altman-for-
president](http://blog.ycombinator.com/sam-altman-for-president)

~~~
ggreenbe
I would _guess_ this batch (Summer 2014). They said next batch and it was
announced prior to the opening of the summer batch.

"become president of Y Combinator starting next batch"

------
toeknee123
Just a few tips: [http://blog.perfectaudience.com/2013/04/26/want-to-ace-
your-...](http://blog.perfectaudience.com/2013/04/26/want-to-ace-your-
ycombinator-interview-be-relentlessly-empathetic/)

------
jzig
Is YC still doing 'no idea' applications?

~~~
pg
No, we stopped taking those several batches ago.

~~~
gregpilling
Does this mean that the concept proved unsuccessful?

~~~
pg
Yeah. There weren't many no-idea applications and on the whole they weren't
good. One batch I forgot to enable them, and we just let them stay dead.

~~~
wittytom
should i apply ? am from Nigeria .. Thanks

~~~
pg
Sure. We have founders from I believe 22 different countries in the current
batch.

~~~
wittytom
Please , also our technical co-founders re from pakistan and belarus
respectively .. So am thinking how can we go about the video thing. Should we
merge the video together?

Thanks

------
OoTheNigerian
Have any African countries ever applied or been accepted to YC?

Will people that plan to move back home or have home (non American) markets as
their primary markets be considered?

It would be interesting to see how Sama's batch differs from PG's

~~~
pg
No African countries have applied or been accepted, but we've accepted several
people from them. IIRC none were making things for specifically African
markets though.

We're certainly willing to fund companies building stuff for their home
country and that will return to it after YC. GoCardless is probably the most
prominent.

~~~
jey
This raises an interesting question: should a country applying to YC use the
regular application form or the nonprofit one?

------
infoseckid
On April 15, we'll invite the groups that seem most promising to meet us in
Mountain View between April 24 and 28 ----

\-- This is too less time for companies based outside of the US to arrange
cheap tickets, visas etc.

------
fedor91
Practical question: Are we supposed to submit only one form per group or
multiple? Because the introductory explanation talks about a group submission,
but on the form itself there are fields that are explicitly personal: e.g.
"Please tell us about the time you, fedor91, most successfully hacked..."

Addendum: If there are any noob mistakes you want to point out, I'd very much
appreciate it because it's the first time we're applying.

------
Bootvis
Excited to almost apply again!

------
TheMakeA
pg, it seems like switching from non-profit to for-profit doesn't work.

~~~
enduser
Just like the real world

------
foobarqux
What is the policy on applications for businesses that compete with existing
YC companies?

Do you accept them? Do you have conflict of interest or confidentiality
policies?

Do you ever have conversations with existing YC companies along the lines of
"We had an application recently for product X, you should do that."?

~~~
pg
The YC FAQ answers the first three:
[http://ycombinator.com/faq.html](http://ycombinator.com/faq.html)

As for the fourth, of course not.

~~~
jdrobins2000
Since YC alumni are now doing the preliminary application reviews, is there a
process to avoid an unintentional conflict of interest (ie, an alumnus viewing
a potential competitor's application)? Perhaps prescreening by YC staff and
assignment to specific alumni for review?

Please forgive me if the question seems redundant. I am reluctant to even ask
as YC has a reputation of integrity. However, the mantra that "ideas are
worthless" causes concern that perhaps precautions might not be taken to avoid
such a scenario (because by implication, it would seem this could be viewed as
a non-event). My apologies if I have misunderstood the views of YC on the
matter.

~~~
pg
We tell the alumni explicitly that they're obliged not to disclose what they
see in applications, and that if they see an application that competes with
them they should click on the "skip" button provided for this purpose. We
can't watch over their shoulder as they do it, but we're careful about which
alumni we pick as reviewers, and there has never been any problem so far.

~~~
jdrobins2000
That seems reasonable. Thank you for the explanation.

------
sanswork
This will be my first time applying. Both very excited and very nervous.

~~~
namenotrequired
Good luck!

------
akshxy
Will YC consider an application from a team of two founders and the first
employee holding stocks? The third guy is a programmer and a good friend.

~~~
pg
Sure.

------
thomson
Echoing other YC people: More than happy to help with reading over
applications and giving feedback! thomson@cantab.net

------
nl
How many non-profits does YC hope to fund in this cycle? Is Watsi the only
public example?

~~~
kevin
Zidisha and Immunity Project have both launched publicly from this current
W2014 batch. There are more.

Also, we don't set quotas at YC. If we think your non-profit would be a good
fit for YC, we'll accept you.

------
younata
Come on, hat trick of rejections!

------
k-mcgrady
How much does it hurt your application if you apply as a sole founder?

~~~
danielnordh
I got an interview as a sole founder in the S13 batch so it's not impossible.
Have a working product, or progress, to show you can make stuff happen despite
being on your own probably helps.

