

Ask HN: What are my chances of getting accepted to YC? - alexchu

I was just introduced to this wonderful site a couple weeks ago. I gotta say this is such an amazing resource and thanks to everyone for sharing their insights.<p>I'm a designer working in the entertainment industry, but I've always been an entrepreneur at heart since I was a kid. Like most entrepreneurs, I'm really good at what I do, but I've always felt confined working for someone else on someone else's projects.<p>A couple years ago. I stumbled across an idea that I just couldn't resist passing on. With very little knowledge in hacking, I knew I couldn't do it myself and had to hire some help. Long story short, I took a good 2 months studying the structure and the knowledge I need to communicate with hackers and designers. After that, I went on to an outsourcing site and hired a phenomenal team to build my product together. It was a great experience, learning all aspects of the trade from doing the actual design to managing a small team of developers remotely. After months of development, we're almost ready to push the product out to closed beta, and I'm very excited with the work that I've done so far.<p>So I guess my question is, does YC accept founders with no programming / business background? What if I have a working prototype and a good profit model to prove that I can put a project together from start to finish?<p>I know eventually I will have to find a technical co-founder or hire a local hacker but that's really out of the question until i can secure more funding.
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cperciva
Every 6 months, there's a flurry of posts to HN from people who were surprised
that they were not accepted into YC. A few months later, as YC companies
announce themselves, there's a flurry of stories about how people were
surprised that they were accepted.

Moral of the story? It's really hard to predict which startups will be
accepted. You might as well apply; from what you've said there's certainly
nothing which definitively rules you out.

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pg
_I know eventually I will have to find a technical co-founder or hire a local
hacker but that's really out of the question until I can secure more funding._

Why do you think it's out of the question?

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alexchu
oh, i mean it's out of the question to hire someone local because of the
bootstrapping situation now. I've been funding development out of my own
pocket until this point. I'm starting to look for a co-founder now.

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rrhoover
As others have stated, it's not absolutely mandatory to have a technical co-
founder but it will certainly increase your odds of being accepted and
successfully executing your project.

It sounds like you're making the assumption that a technical co-founder
requires capital. In most cases, founders split equity and money doesn't enter
the equation until you're funded. Have you attended local meetups (some
communities have "co-founders wanted" gatherings) or gone to networking events
to search for a founder?

Also take a look at this similar question that was asked on Quora:
[http://www.quora.com/How-important-is-it-to-have-a-
technical...](http://www.quora.com/How-important-is-it-to-have-a-technical-
cofounder-in-order-to-get-funding-from-a-VC-or-an-incubator-seed-program)

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brk
It's free to apply, so you should. Just filling out the app will force you to
think about some things you may not have already.

Get a technical co-founder lined up, this increases your odds of acceptance
(and overall success) significantly.

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dstein
Applying is free and can't hurt. But if you get rejected just remember that YC
seems to use a kind of mold to decide if a company fits with their program. YC
typically does not invest in pure technology or software companies (the kinds
of companies that could be the next Google/Microsoft), generally preferring
web-based apps that can be launched in 3 months or less. You can see the list
of companies that YC has funded in the past at <http://yclist.com>. From that
you can gleam whether you fit the mold.

~~~
YuriNiyazov
Is this even true?

Clustrix, Heroku, Cloudant, RethinkDB, dotcloud...

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Jsarokin
What do you have to lose? Nothing.

I guess this could be analogous to applying for college. Everyone wants to
know what their chances of getting in are, etc. The best thing to do is just
apply and let things fall into place.

You never know, getting into Y Combinator could be the best thing that ever
happened to you, but on the other hand, not getting in could lead you on a
path that turns you into a billionaire. You never know.

I'm applying for this next round as well.

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alexchu
thanks for the advice guys. Good thing my site is already designed around a
lot of the questions asked on the app. I'm working on a project that i believe
will bring e-learning to the next level. If anyone's interested in working
together please feel free to contact me:)

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coryl
Mathematically, you have a 3 - 4.5% chance or less, based purely on numbers.

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Mz
Even if you don't apply, I encourage you to start filling out the application
as a mental exercise. Starting to fill it out may also give you a better feel
for whether or not you really want to apply.

