

Applications Open For Summer 2011 YC Funding Cycle - pg
http://ycombinator.com/apply.html

======
pg
We added two new questions this year: Why did you pick this project to work
on? and How will you get users? In retrospect it's surprising we didn't
already ask these. (When reading applications we found we were trying to
reconstruct answers to them from the answers people gave to other questions.)

We also stopped describing the video as optional. In practice it wasn't.

~~~
Alex3917
"How will you get users?"

Some unsolicited advice for this question:

For startups that rely on 'going viral': The benefit that users get from
telling their friends is...

For businesses that need to get 2+ separate-facing user bases: The game theory
aligns and makes it rational for both X and Y to participate because...

For startups doing B2B sales: The reason the X will look like a hero to his
boss for making this purchase is...

If I were the one reading these I would also add "What's the one thing that
needs to happen for this business to become a huge success?" Not only is this
(IMHO) necessary to ballpark how likely the business is to succeed, but it's
also extremely good at spotlighting both good and sloppy thinking.

~~~
patio11
Unsolicited advice: In our market the user adoption process looks like...
We're going to hack it. Here's how: ...

------
bkrausz
Random question: what would you guys like to hear/know about applying (or YC
in general) that's not already out there? I've been considering writing a blog
post about GazeHawk's YC experience, but there are so many good ones already,
and I don't want to just add redundancy. Anything unanswered from a startup
perspective you'd like to know?

~~~
samdk
This is not so much for me, but if you have anything you didn't like about it,
I think a lot of people would really like to hear about it. The most negative
blog post I've seen on HN was something to the effect of "it wasn't the right
fit for me", and it's really hard to judge something critically without
getting both positive and negative opinions. From what I've seen of you guys
it looks like it was a very positive experience for you though, so I'm not
sure this is really applicable.

For myself, I'd say write it if you can think of any related tidbits/stories
to tell. Those are always interesting.

~~~
SwellJoe
The fact that negative experiences are hard to find is probably a good sign.

I can't think of much negative that pg didn't cover in his reply, though I
think the size of the batches has grown too large, and is a less effective
process because of it. I was surprised to find at the last dinner I attended
that there were still groups at the very end of the 3 month period that didn't
know each other personally. That blew my mind, as I was on a first-name basis
with everyone in our batch by the third or fourth dinner, and the interaction
with the other founders was the most valuable part of the YC experience for
me.

------
jamroom
Does YC usually only accept new (i.e. early stage startup) companies? We've
been online for almost 8 years now, and we have a new product we're really
excited about. We already have demo code for the new product, not to mention
an existing product that we've been selling since we started. So for us, the
mentoring and feedback from other founders and YC would be invaluable, much
more so then any investment (we're already self funded).

Just curious if there is anyone that has gone through YC with an established
company, and how that worked out for you.

Thanks!

~~~
hugh3
If you have a company which has been established for eight years, do you
really want to give up six percent of it just to get a bit of advice?

~~~
jonathanjaeger
Eight years seems like a bit much, but if they're shifting focus or going
through a new phase, I think they could benefit more than just with "a bit of
advice."

~~~
jamroom
Yes - we're developing a new product in a related area (that we can target to
our existing customers), but it's really an entirely new direction for us, and
really could easily be the start of a "new" company.

~~~
SwellJoe
Then start a new company.

Eight years without going anywhere worth speaking of is time to call it quits,
if what you want is a startup. Don't let old mistakes hold you back. I
shutdown a seven year old business after its most profitable year in existence
in order to start Virtualmin, because I made a rational assessment of where
things were going and could see very clearly that the previous business would
never be the business I wanted it to be, and because it had such a long, slow-
climb, history, raising money for it or bringing in new partners would have
been a challenge that new startups don't face. Unproven is better than "proven
to grow slowly" for investors and entrepreneurs.

------
qasar
even if you're not interested in YC, i recommend going through the questions
yourself.

they are a great way to methodically think about your team and ideas (like
"What do you understand about your business that other companies in it just
don't get?")

------
mcgyver
My co-founder and I are looking to apply but it looks like I might have a baby
due during the 3-months-in-SV stage and hence need to be close to base
(Australia). Looks like I'll be hanging out for the following round. Good luck
to everyone applying!

~~~
weel
Congratulations!

------
jeremydavid
Already? Wow... it feels like just yesterday applications were open for Winter

------
elvirs
Can international candidates apply? if the answer is yes (and if we are
selected) will YCombinator help us with obtaining J1 (or any other
applicable)? or at least provide a document as an employer? thanks

~~~
gregschlom
There's an answer to this question somewhere in YC's FAQ, and the answer is
yes and no. They do accept international candidates, but you'll have to figure
out all the visa issues by yourself. They are not employers and won't provide
any documents. But since what they require is that you stay in SV for the 3
months cycle, this shouldn't be a problem with a regular tourist visa. (Things
can get complicated afterwards, though, if you want to stay longer)

~~~
DanielRibeiro
This page from BackType (YC S08) guys pretty much cover visas:
<http://christophergolda.com/immigration-for-startups>

------
SwaroopH
Is it acceptable if a co-founder cannot move to Bay Area for the summer?

EDIT: As someone pointed out on IM, it's acceptable but we're expected to
mention it in #9.

~~~
JofArnold
If you get accepted, do whatever you possibly can to get everyone out there.

~~~
SwaroopH
I totally agree but one of the co-founders is finishing his course & will be
busy with finals until July.

~~~
JofArnold
That's really tricky. I've been in exactly that situation; several years ago
we started our first startup whilst cofounder was still doing his finals. So
having experienced that plus currently experiencing YC, I think your
hesitation is justified, lol. :D

------
flipside
Is it better to apply early while I look for cofounders or wait till I find
them and then apply?

------
davidwparker
Looking forward to applying for the first time. Any advice for a first timer?

~~~
pg
<http://ycombinator.com/howtoapply.html>

------
kingsidharth
This got me all thinking about how far we (the team) have come since we
applied in Winter (and got rejected).

Does that count? How far you have progressed in mindset and development of the
product? I wish there was a field for that in the application. I'd be
interesting to see that progress, IMO.

------
Swizec
Wondering if we should apply even though we got rejected for the winter cycle
...

~~~
pg
We often fund people on their second or third try. Dropbox was Drew Houston's
second try. I believe PagerDuty holds the record; that company was their
fourth.

~~~
teej
For PagerDuty, what changed between their first and fourth try?

~~~
mrtron
I believe the team was the same for every application - a smart group of guys.

~~~
agmiklas
PagerDuty co-founder here...

The group actually changed a bit from one application to the next. The ideas
were completely different for the first and second applications. Applications
three and lucky number four were for PagerDuty.

~~~
JoshTriplett
Sounds like between the second and third applications you found the right
idea. What changed between the third and fourth, both of which had the same
idea but one of which worked?

Not that anything necessarily _had_ to change; YC has said before that because
of where they have to draw the line, they almost certainly reject some good
startups.

------
edanm
There are 8 RFS's, but the dropdown for choosing which RFS you're responding
to only has 7 options.

------
qixxiq
Consider updating the "Do we have to be US citizens?" question in FAQ to
include that teams would have to fly up for the interview in addition to the
three months (if that is still the decision).

------
maxklein
I'm going to apply again, no point quitting now!

------
Facens
When I fill the 'video' field, then pressing 'update', the page gives an
error: 324 (net::ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE)

Let me know when it's fixed...

~~~
Facens
It goes now, after some changes to the other fields. I don't know where the
problem actually was.

------
avk
Good luck to everyone who's applying!

------
ammmir
this is just the motivational kick i needed to get back to finishing my
prototype, thanks pg!

------
Zeuf
Not ready yet to apply. Looking to apply next year! But, good luck and success
for all.

------
nhangen
Excellent, I can't wait.

------
bourdine
PG, if we make a product worth more than 1B, we can be included in the current
winter session as an exception?

~~~
benologist
If you make a product worth > $1B you'll be an exception for just about
everything.

~~~
bourdine
Hopefully, PG feels the same way. If I had his email, I could tell him all
about and we would decide how best to proceed in this exceptional case.

~~~
jackowayed
If you were capable of building a $1B product, you'd also be capable of
finding (and/or guessing) his email.

~~~
bourdine
I do not agree with you. My question is relevant to that topic, here on HN,
personally I simply delete letters from strangers would not have to waste
time. A PG address is, but I just do not write for people who do not expect a
letter from me.

~~~
jackowayed
A much better policy would be not to write people that don't _want_ the letter
from you, and pg would definitely want to hear from any billion dollar company
that wants him as an investor

Anyway, I've now ingested my USDA daily recommended amount of trolling, so I
won't be responding any deeper in this thread

