My question after reading this application is why do you need YC?
YC, at least as it was originally conceived, was designed to help young very bright hackers with no or very little business knowledge.
You guys are very far from this category. I guess YC is still useful for their network and the simple fact that being a YC startup will open a lot of doors for you. But the fact that you were accepted could mean that YC is slowly drifting away from its original mission.
YC is slowly drifting away from its original mission.
I think that they tend to fund people who they think will have the highest chance of success. You end up with priorities like:
1. Previous successes
2. Company with traction
3. Employee at Stripe/Google/Apple/etc
4. Smart MIT/Harvard/Stanford student
5. Misc. high magnitude achievements
I think what you're seeing might be a higher number of 1-3 applying to YC, not leaving much room for 4 and 5. The four and fives who do get accepted are extraordinarily impressive.
I agree with you because (afterall) they aren't a charity. They makes money by investing early in these start-ups, so they need to focus on bringing people through their program that have a higher chance of success.
Yes. And according to PG, age is neither a penalty nor a bonus. He writes: “I don’t actually know the numbers. We don’t keep track. But I know there haven’t been any with founders in their 50s, and only 2 or 3 with founders in their 40s or their teens. Most founders are in their 20s or 30s. Completely guessing, I’d say 15-20% have founders in their 30s.” (That was a year ago, so the numbers may have changed.)
Basically, the age distribution of YC companies is pretty close to the age distribution of applicants. More YC founders are 25 than 35, but more 25-year-olds apply than 35-year-olds.
(Paul has an essay[3] where he says the ideal range to start a startup is 22-38. As far as I know, that isn’t a rule, just a suggestion. YC has accepted plenty of people younger than 22, and at least a few over 38.)
YC, at least as it was originally conceived, was designed to help young very bright hackers with no or very little business knowledge.
You guys are very far from this category. I guess YC is still useful for their network and the simple fact that being a YC startup will open a lot of doors for you. But the fact that you were accepted could mean that YC is slowly drifting away from its original mission.