Using YouTube analytics to predict YC interviews

[smartperson]

Can we collaborate to predict YC interview invites before they're sent? I think we can.

As I sat in front of my computer last night, I had a funny thought: "Even if they hate me, YC must have watched my founder's video, right?" and logged into YouTube.

With a little bit of filtering I was able to home in on 4 video views that must have been YC staff, all on April 4. 2 in SF, 1 in CO, 1 in NY (partial). You can check it out here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4s9au7k9w2ghp6v/Screenshot%202015-04-11%2010.44.23.png

Part of me just likes the idea of hacking an admissions process. If part of you does too, it would be fun to get as much data as we can and see if YC video viewing patterns are related to invitation decisions.

[mi3law]

Do you have analytics on if anyone checked your demo?

Not a lot of people would have the analytics in place, but it would be interesting to further correlate results with YC demo testing patterns to get a more complete picture of the admissions funnel.

[byoung2 → mi3law]

We applied for W15, not this round, but our video was watched in full 4 times from SF, Mountain View, and NYC. Our demo was accessed 8 times from the same cities, and one message was sent through the demo account (it is a messaging platform). No interview granted. I think we have a strong team who has a history of shipping, we have known each other for a long time outside of work, but we were just at the prototype stage...my guess is that a little traction would go a long way.

[smartperson → byoung2]

Nope nope nope never mind, apparently I did not read your first 7 words.

[smartperson → byoung2]

byoung2, thanks for the information. What dates was your video watched on? April 4 or some other day?