

YC Application Checklist (apps due in 1 week) - kapilkale
http://www.giftrocket.com/blog/yc-application-checklist

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doc_larry
Interesting article and I wanted to comment on the bit on outsourcing. Our
project needed an extra hand and that's where we turned to oDesk and some good
old word of mouth. Very quickly we found some coders but we stayed only with
one group. The relationship moved from outsourcing to co-founderness with
Tomas after a few months. He's Slovakian and studies in Poland and needed a
way to get some income during his last year at university.

We've been working together for more than a year, and he's used this project
to write his thesis and make some money. It raises an interesting point, as
finding founders is sometime a question of good luck and great people.
Regardless of where you look, its all a question of feeling, mutual trust and
being open minded.

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fbuilesv
One interesting point I hadn't seen before is the following recommendation:

 _Have someone in YC vouch for you_

Is this common? How's it transmitted to YC, through the application or do they
specifically write PG and crew to let them know about it?

We are in a position where we can get a recommendation from two alumni but we
felt it was not a correct thing to do when we submitted our app. Anyone else
has experience with this?

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benologist
Considering how competitive it is if you have friends willing to vouch for you
then do it, with so many applicants it's very easy for you to slip through the
cracks whether you should or not.

Beyond YC don't be afraid to leverage your contacts in general, it'll help you
succeed.

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wuster
There wasn't an obvious field to put in this information. What would be the
most appropriate spot in the application for this?

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benologist
Get them to do it themselves in person / by email / whatever.

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bradgessler
This is accurate. I would add two things:

1\. Make sure your video can be watched easily on a Mac browser without
plugins. Bonus if it works on Windows and Linux. I've seen a few people that
use .wmv files, which end up crashing browsers. YouTube private video links
are a great way to make sure thats not a problem.

2\. Same idea with the video: if you link to a document, make sure its a PDF.

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byoung2
I wonder when we'll start seeing startups created specifically to help people
apply to programs like YC. Similar to prep classes for the SAT, these could
help you fill out your apps, fine-tune your answers to the essay questions,
coach you on interviews, and even polish your videos. Maybe advanced courses
could teach you how to launch and market your MVP before applying to YC.

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fleitz
YC's application process is genuinely about the factors that lead to success,
with that in mind, why not just teach people to be successful and cut out the
application bs?

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byoung2
_why not just teach people to be successful and cut out the application bs?_

I think you'll have a hard time coaching someone to be successful. I think a
service like this would take people who already have the qualities of
successful startup founders, but maybe lack the ability to express that
through an application, video, interview, and demo. More "makeup on a model"
than "lipstick on a pig"

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fleitz
It's pretty easy to coach someone to be successful the big problem is whether
or not they really want to be successful. Most people have a list of excuses a
mile long as to why they aren't successful. People have little desire to be
successful for the most part they strive towards mediocrity. Being able to
express yourself clearly and concisely is essential for success.

Even in myself I recognize a bunch of traits that are holding me back, and
every week I evaluate how I'm progressing on those issues.

I'm not trying to be a sophist, however, the impression you leave on people is
who you are. For the most part the makeup is the model. By the time you've
coached someone enough to get them into YC they will be perfectly positioned
to be successful.

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saygt
"For a given company, the partners just need to identify that there is some
slight promise that makes an interview worthwhile."

This sounds very forgiving and makes me wonder how many out of those estimated
4000 get the interview.

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mbreese
I think it would be great to read a couple of the ones that _didn't_ get
interviews. It's helpful to also learn from those that get rejected.

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shykes
Whether or not you're accepted, dotCloud is offering every applicant one year
of free hosting for their app. In exchange we only ask that you don't give up.

Email hn@dotcloud.com and we'll hook you up!

Good luck everyone.

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lukes
That sounds great, I just emailed.

It looks like you have a free plan anyway, is this different?

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shykes
Yes, it's different - we're offering a pro plan which is usually $99/month

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garydevenay
Excellent info, I am largely surprised that we managed to hit every point that
you have mentioned. Looking forward to seeing this batch (and hoping we're
involved)

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spontaneus
Thanks for the advice! kapilkale do you remember how many hours (roughly) you
put in to your application?

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kapilkale
20 hours, maybe more.

We hadn't been working on our idea for long, so we had to think about the
answers to many of the questions in addition to writing them down.

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wuster
Thanks for the post!

My group has been collaborating for weeks on our application. I think we must
be on our 5th draft by now. At a certain point, I do feel like it's
unproductive to keep second guessing how our answers will be parsed - we're
just doing our best to listen to the great advice out here on HN, lay out the
facts about ourselves, and hopefully make a good impression. Hopefully YC will
like what we have to say!

BTW - my group of 3 is quitting Google, Facebook, and Microsoft to pursue our
idea, and we will definitely do it with or without YC. It'd just be super nice
to get that level of support.

~~~
saygt
sounds like a hard-hitting group. Good luck!

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tlogan
How many applicants were invited for an interview in the last batch?

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dgunn
as per usual, great post.

