

Why I haven’t applied for YC - sathishmanohar
http://sathishmanohar.com/why-i-havent-applied-for-yc/

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brackin
Just build cool stuff, not products you feel will appeal to investors or
customers. As both groups are unpredictable but at the same time you shouldn't
have to try to pander to what they're looking for. You need to have an
interest in what the product is and be flexible to pivot.

If you're building something for someone else you aren't very agile and can
very easily become stuck as a company.

If you don't get into YC giving up is the worst thing to do, you should apply
to YC for the experience not just for YC.

Otherwise will you just stop doing the startup after YC? These are questions
people will have in their minds.

Good luck, interesting piece and some very valid and great points in there.

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sathishmanohar
Thanks for the kind words :)

Problem with building cool stuff for me is, I'm the idea guy, I usually get
lot of ideas in different fields, I figured that is a problem, more than a
asset. I found a way around this, I archive all ideas, and wait. Some ideas
seem stupid after sometime or after some discussion, example:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3116788>. I only choose to work on ideas
that appeals to me even after 6 months. Actually, I'm building both products
for me, 1. Project management tool ( sure! not basecamp copycat ) and 2. News
Website with an interesting twist. I desperately need both and I hope the
world will come to love it.

Edit: that is not to say, I don't build cool stuff. I built an astrology site
that updates itself ;) <http://rasi-palan.com> (Its ugly, but it works ;)
built in a day)

My first YC application was a mistake, I was in a mindset like, "What will I
build if I get money?". My current mindset is "What will I build, regardless
of money".

Since my first product will be SaaS Application, it will survive by itself.
I'm still worried about the second product, since its a consumer application
like youtube, twitter, I thought I might go broke running it. Now, I think if
a consumer product gets that amount of traction, then It may very well attract
investors.

Anyway, We'll get our MVP online first. We'll see from there. :)

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localhost3000
Title was very confusing...'wait, he _has_ applied and was rejected? what?' -
felt like a headline trap. Should have been, 'why I didn't apply to this round
of YC'

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Alexbtlv
You'll find answer at the bottom of article.... I guess.

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brain5ide
Well yeah, it's a smart decision to have a product before applying. However,
the question now is "Why don't you have a product yet?". You had several
months to do that after the primal rejection, and yet you still don't have it.
You just shifted the deadline forward. I'm currently doing the same and
beating myself for laziness.

~~~
sathishmanohar
Earlier this year I only knew PHP, not ruby or rails. Then I stumbled upon
Rails, It seemed clearly superior, I stopped everything in favor of Rails.
Because, Rails development seemed a lot faster than PHP development (for me).
I think it is a good decision as well, Since development with RoR can be much
faster, We'll actually be ahead in product sometime in the future, even if we
had started with PHP earlier. Hope that makes sense. Note: I built prototypes
using Rails in hours, which might have taken days in PHP.

~~~
brain5ide
Understandable, but not acceptable ;)

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Sato
I agree that's the way to go. Building something under limited resource is a
must for an entrepreneurs.

The real advantage over Idea & Budget is the same as agile over waterfall. We
can expand our own narrow worlds only by moving ahead.

And I think the learning through such executions is the "insight" that YC
mentions.

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Alexbtlv
I fully agree with idea to build your product as long as possible without 3rd
party's help. As for me, I don't think that's the bad idea to apply for this
YC round. Why not to try? Valley is briliant place for startup to be, for
meeting with awesome people.... why not?

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patrickod
It's not applying without a working product that would put people off, rather
that the founders aren't agile enough to produce new ideas fast. Flexibility
is key here.

------
Hitchhiker
Every no gets you closer to a yes. That's one rule of all new ventures.
Persistence is key.

