
Recommend a Founder for YC - katm
https://blog.ycombinator.com/recommend-a-founder-for-yc/
======
dewitt
Does YC still require founders move to the Bay Area? That is a significant
burden for say, older founders with families.

I mention that because the pitch says:

"We know that great founders can come from anywhere — any city, school,
country or background"

But the application form says:

"If we invest in you, your group is expected to move to the Bay Area for
June–Aug 2017."

There's a bit of a disconnect, and I'm curious how it's reconciled.

~~~
joncalhoun
YC is only 3 months. Last I checked they still expect you to come to the bay
area, but only for those 3 months. After that you can do as you please.

I know this may be challenging in some situations, but I doubt YC could offer
the same value remotely. For starters, many of the talks given off the record
would never happen if they were being streamed and could easily be recorded.
You also would have less interaction with fellow batchmates, be less involved
in group office hours, and a myriad of other small details that come from
being present.

For remote to work (at YC or in the workplace) I believe it needs to be
fostered and prioritized, and YC as it is now was never built around making
remote work. If that is ever going to work I suspect an entire batch would
need to be remote and the entire experience redesigned for that batch, and
that doesn't appear to be a priority for YC.

~~~
dewitt
I'd be very interested in better understanding what it takes to make something
like YC work remotely. Indeed, if I ever left my own job to start a company
again, this is the space I'd like to explore most.

It feels to me that there's an incredible untapped potential of talent that
simply can not relocate or even come to an office on a regular basis (due to
disability, economic reasons, visa status, age, family obligations, etc).

If we can unlock that potential then there is so much more we can do as a
society.

If anyone at YC (or anyone else) is interested in talking, please reach out.

~~~
katm
I talk to a lot of international founders and one of the biggest obstacles
they face is fundraising. In some places, it's easy to raise seed, but hard
once you hit Series A territory. In other places, it's even hard raising seed.
The Bay Area has a huge population of angels. In the Bay Area, you're also
surrounded by a large population of startup founders who can help you. If
you're building a startup community internationally, you'd have to build both
a community of angels and a community of experienced founders. It's a
sacrifice for many founders to come to Silicon Valley for three months, but at
this point in history, I believe it still helps most companies immensely.

~~~
dewitt
I don't think anyone would argue against the advantage of being there in
person.

The question to me is this: can we make it better for people who can't be
there? (I.e., raise the foundation, not debate the ceiling.)

------
redtrackker
I've noticed a lot of effort over the past year to get more startups
interested in YC (deal flow). I'll say what I hear a lot of startup founders
saying now -- YC is just not the same anymore. It's lost its appeal and
exclusiveness factor. People are just turned off from it.

I hope some of the YC team reads this comment and takes heed.

~~~
zitterbewegung
Can you recommend somewhere else then?

~~~
dlo
An overlooked alternative is to:

1) Reduce your burn rate. 2) Save up enough money to live off of for a year.
3) Bootstrap your startup off your savings.

I am going to make a guess that many of the strongest startups will be
produced from this procedure.

Getting funding, from YC or elsewhere, has a way of changing your startup in a
way that makes it much less likely to succeed. They have said so in fact --
they want you to fail quickly.

~~~
quadcore
_They have said so in fact -- they want you to fail quickly._

That doesn't make you more likely to fail though. Quite the opposite on the
long run.

~~~
andrewprock
"That doesn't make you more likely to fail though"

Actually, it does. They want you to fail quickly so they can (in)validate your
initial business plan. But business plans for start ups that don't fail
quickly often evolve through one or more pivots.

For example, see slack and twitter.

~~~
dlo
Instagram also comes to mind.

------
jaypaulynice
I think a lot of early stage startups look up to YC acceptance as validation,
but when you apply at the early stage, you get rejected almost automatically.
Too much emphasis on number of users, revenue, etc. So a lot of potentially
great startups die before they even see the light of day.

Feedback to early stage startups could encourage more founders to apply and
keep going. Otherwise it's time consuming to put an application together.

I have a feeling that the next Facebook, Google, etc. will not be discovered
in any accelerator program.

~~~
wj
I would imagine that as investors YC would like to invest in the founders that
look at users and revenue as validation of their ideas rather than acceptance
into YC as validation. Not only does that show the startup is more viable but
shows the dedication of the founders.

I agree with you on feedback. I would LOVE specific reasons why I was not
accepted as it would give me very clear goals to shoot for. I also understand
that the time to provide that feedback would be crippling to their own
productivity.

(As an aside, I wonder if we are past the stage of another Facebook or Google.
In a macro sense it seems as if we might be at a bit of a pullback from
globalization and a result of that might be less new large global companies. I
wonder if the next global companies of that size come from India or Brazil but
for that to be the case the company would really need to come at the same time
of massive economic growth and reduced corruption.)

------
boodooer
YC is failing in the same way that so many once-great startups fail. They're
not innovating or reinventing themselves, at all.

And YC really does need to change with the times. Paul Graham was the big
reason people wanted so badly to get into YC and he's essentially gone now

It's now obvious to everyone that YC can't grant success to founders, it can
"only" grant opportunity.

So why not admit that YC needs good founders more than good founders need YC?
It's always been true but now it should be obvious to all.

So, drop all the fake eliteness, secret panels of "experts", and insider-club
mentality. Just straight up tell founders what the requirements are for YC
funding and then fund them!

For example say that all YC startups need:

1\. One competent programmer willing to dedicate years. 2\. At least one other
person willing to dedicate years. 3\. A _Launched_ and _usable_ prototype
software.

What else do you need to know, whether they went to the right school? Whether
they're attractive??? How good their spoken English is???

~~~
mwseibel
Honestly - it would make our jobs so much easier if there was a simple guide
on how to figure out what makes a good startup. The problem is that a
successful startup is the exception. It is hard to design a process to find
outliers.

Here are some links to guidance we provide:

[http://www.ycombinator.com/howtoapply/](http://www.ycombinator.com/howtoapply/)

[http://www.ycombinator.com/faq/](http://www.ycombinator.com/faq/)

[http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html)

Here are some questions I ask myself when reading applications:

Can they build their own MVP? Is there a massively unequal equity split? Do
the founders have pre-exisiting relationships? Do they have a non-
obvious/controversial insight on their space Is the problem being solved
significant (problem a lot of people have or people pay money for)? Am I
impressed with the progress they have made since starting? If they don't get
into YC - will the continue working on this company?

~~~
ikeboy
>If they don't get into YC - will the continue working on this company?

I applied last batch with ICanPriceIt.com, have a functional MVP but no
traction and didn't get an invite.

Since then I've spent more time working on my Amazon reselling business- I'm a
lot more passionate about the startup ideas I have, but not confident enough
to shut down my profitable business to work on those. In other words, I'll
very likely only work on this company if funded, or it might take a year or
two before I'm comfortable enough to self-fund.

My understanding is that that hurts my chances of getting into YC
significantly. Is that correct?

Is there any chance of YC funding a regular boring reselling company? There's
little chance of being worth $1 billion ever, but there are several ones in
the $100 million range (etailz sold a few months ago for $75 million,
pharmapacks is selling over $100 million a year). Should I try applying for
that business?

------
anindha
There should be more ways to get help if you are at a pre-YC stage. I'd
imagine there are a lot of startups that fail before they get to a YC stage.

Startup School is good but it's not ongoing. Most VC firms have been more
helpful than YC in the early stages personally.

For example, I've had VC firms write me a letter of recommendation for a visa
when that's not something YC would do.

I can see YC is trying to increase flow. Why not make it more organic?

~~~
technotony
YC does write letter of recommendations for visas once they get to know you
(ie once they've funded you). I'm sure individual partners do this as well for
founders they know personally and are outside YC, I doubt VC firms do that
without knowing you personally.

~~~
mwseibel
In fact I sign all of YC visa recommendation letters so just want to give a +1
on this comment :)

------
benologist
Best of luck getting much of the world to apply in the next couple months with
so much visa uncertainty for the next 4 years.

What is your plan for founders who get turned back at the airport if they
chose you? PHD-in-progress wasn't good enough reason to enter the US last week
and you want the _smart_ people to apply for something in months.

What happened to YC's remote etc stuff? That would have been helpful about
now.

~~~
mwseibel
as referenced in another comment:
[https://twitter.com/sama/status/821538708943880193](https://twitter.com/sama/status/821538708943880193)
reply

------
ddebernardy
I don't mean to flamebait or troll or anything, but lots of the
"misconceptions" seem grounded in data, based on the very data that you're
putting forward:

[https://blog.ycombinator.com/common-misconceptions-about-
app...](https://blog.ycombinator.com/common-misconceptions-about-applying-to-
yc/)

> Misconception: Only US companies get into YC.

> S16: 29% were from outside the US.

So it's mostly true.

> Misconception: I need to raise a seed round before I apply to YC.

> S16: False. 14.2% of accepted companies weren’t even incorporated when they
> applied.

So it's mostly true.

The list goes on and on. Not that it removes the merit of YC or anything, but,
hey, mind neutering the PR/marketing BS a bit to give the actual picture
without trying to paint lipstick all over the pig? ;-)

The way that FAQ or whatever it is reads atm is: "Our deal flow is not as big
as we'd like, so please send more applications in so we can show we've tons of
demand to those we raised funds from and ensure they'll invest again because
we get to be picky since we're _hugely_ popular!" Which is PR/marketing at the
end of the day, but just don't be misleading to would-be founders.

~~~
mwseibel
So the reason we did this is not because of deal flow. Over 7500 companies
apply to YC every batch and only 100-150 get in. The reason why we did this is
cause the number one reason why companies don't apply to YC is because they
don't think they can get in and the number one myth about getting into YC is
that you need an alum to recommend you. We thought that opening up the
recommendation system would allow any founder to ask anyone who believes in
their company to recommend them (even if they don't know a YC alum). Also, it
allows anyone working with a good founder to give them some additional
confidence when applying to YC.

~~~
ghufran_syed
"the number one reason why companies don't apply to YC is because they don't
think they can get in" \- and 98% of them are correct to think that in each
batch. It's certainly in YC's interest to encourage as many applications as
possible, as YC's option to say 'yes' or 'no' is always worth >= 0, but I
suspect that for many startups, it's not worth the distraction. So YC can have
lots of applicants, a very small admit %, and still be better off with even
more applicants.

"54.7% did not have a recommendation." (regarding accepted companies) -
founders who are applying are not interested in the "percentage of accepted
founders who had a recommendation", it's "what is my chance of acceptance with
a recommendation?" vs "what is my chance of acceptance without a
recommendation?" For example, if say, 50% of 150 'recommended' founders are
accepted, while 1% of 7350 'unrecommended' founders were accepted, you would
get similar numbers to those published.

------
dzink
Tossing in an idea: Why not use a rolling application process where founders
can update YC on any progress they are making with their startups and an
internal system ranks and reddit-scores the startups. YC can jump in and send
a note to a founder any time - like an internal advisory board. When
application times near, just send a note to the founders you find promising
based on your scoring system and they can provide additional info like a video
or join an interview if needed. This approach would give YC a lot more data
and be less distracting to founders. If you want to reduce volume, just ping
companies you know are not VC fundable and let them move on.

The deadline-based application process is distracting. While the application
is helpful, and should be kept, the founders are expected to waste time and
attention every 6 months wondering "but what if my next 3 out of 6 months are
committed to YC". Now requesting recommendations adds just one more
distraction. People who are committed to work on their project will likely
apply multiple times to an ever-decreasing odds process.

If you keep the application open year-round we can just direct information
your way whenever it happens and use it as our own benchmark. Just a thought.

------
saycheese
What exactly does this do? Clicked the links and it's not clear if YC is just
request the community send links to the YC Application page, of if something
else is going on.

~~~
Finbarr
It lets you sign up and provide a more detailed recommendation for an
individual or team that you think should apply to YC.

When you provide a recommendation, we reach out and encourage them to apply.
You can also track the status of all your recommendations and see how they
did.

~~~
packeted
Is this the best mechanism for YC backed founders to recommend other founders
who they already know are intending to apply to YC?

~~~
Finbarr
Yes.

------
saycheese
For those that do not click the links...

Applications for YC Summer 2017 are open now:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13600594](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13600594)

------
ishbits
Kinda related to some of the discussion. Is there anywhere within 2-3 hours of
the Bay Area where one could start a company yet have a normal house with a
normal yard for a family?

~~~
dragonwriter
Most of the populated areas within 2-3 hours of San Francisco (and an even
greater ratio of those within 2-3 hours of any part of the Bay Area) meet that
description.

------
devgutt
For a minute I thought it would be a service to match founders of fail startup
from previous batches with others entrepreneurs willing to apply. I would
definitely like that.

------
idlewords
For some reason, they just keep refilling this piñata.

------
pedalpete
I'd like YC to maybe do a blog-post or give some insight into what they are
doing here, what they are planning to accomplish, etc. Though that may spoil
the data they are trying to collect??

------
masudhossain
So does this mean that I should contact people in my network to go and
recommend me?

Is YC going to read all these recommendations or is it going to be only
forwarded to the person applying?

------
cjbenedikt
Don't get it. You're supposed to recommend a founder but end up on an
application page? I don't want to apply - only recommend!

~~~
Finbarr
Try this link:
[https://apply.ycombinator.com/organizations/new](https://apply.ycombinator.com/organizations/new)

------
koolba
> If you know someone working on a startup who we should encourage to apply
> for the Summer 2017 batch, recommend them here.

What the heck? This post reads like YC can't find enough founders (in quality
+ quantity) already.

If so, is it due to the changing landscape of startups themselves or the shift
in focus from startups to left leaning political ideology?

------
nojvek
I'm curious how much does it cost to rent for 3 months near YC campus for 3
months?

~~~
harigov
If you are looking for a 1-bed apartment, it will cost around $1600-2000. You
can find something for less if you are willing to live in a smaller place.

------
greens231
YC should have branches for europe and asia.

------
colin_fraizer
The RMS Titanic?

