Considering Applying to Y Combinator?

http://www.tonywright.com/2010/considering-y-combinator-or-any-seed-funding/

by webwright • 16 years ago

83 24 16 years ago

jmtame2• 16 years ago

The “demo” will be less like Steve Jobs and more like Guantanamo Bay

webwright3• 16 years ago

Heh-- I hope that didn't offend. I remember being pretty shellshocked during the interview process and, from what I've heard, I think we had it easier than most folks did. Coming in expecting to fill the time with an uninterrupted demo probably isn't the best bet. :-)

mmt• 16 years ago

That's actually rather reassuring, since I really hate giving demos/presentations and am much better with interaction and questions.

Also, since my primary interests lie in infrastructure and performance, if a demo takes 10 minutes, then I've already failed.

pg3• 16 years ago

That was alarming. We try to make the interview as low stress as possible, believe it or not. But unfortunately we end up having a lot of questions and only 10 minutes to ask them.

dood• 16 years ago

I find the 10 minute limit quite odd. I assume you've thought it through, but it seems to me that the cost of spending a little more time interviewing would likely pay for itself many times over in better decision making. Especially after watching your Mixergy interview, where you emphasize how poor you consider yourselves at choosing who to invest in.

ryanhuff• 16 years ago

Do you think that this is because, up to the point of the YC interview, most founders haven't left the safety zone of "friendly feedback", and therefore haven't encountered a serious vetting of their business idea?

icey• 16 years ago

No matter how friendly you try to make it, there will always be people who are nervous in interviews. It's amplified by the fact you're asking questions they probably haven't thought about before. There's not much you can really do to stop the feeling of dread that some people are bound to feel.

jmtame2• 16 years ago

i had fun with our interview. i think the author is referring to the interview as being more of a dialogue and less of a monologue (steve jobs just talks at you).

webwright3• 16 years ago

Heh-- well, I figured it would be better to over-prepare them for stress. We just did a YC panel at a local startup group in Seattle (with a bunch of YC founders) and to a man they all agreed that the interview was a meat grinder. Of course, much of that isn't your fault-- there's a lot of preparation and a lot riding on that 7-10 minutes :-)

vyrotek• 16 years ago

I would expect nothing less and would still give up almost anything just for the chance to present our startup... If only the program was a bit more 'accessible' for those married with kids and a mortgage :)

100k2• 16 years ago

No kids, but I'm married with a mortgage and I did it. Several people in my batch had kids. You can make it work.

rriepe• 16 years ago

Founders at Work seems like a great book. I'll check that out.

Overall these tips are great. Thanks.

AlecM• 16 years ago

I'll vouch for it. Picked it up a few weeks ago and was sucked right in by these stories. Great mix of drama, comedy, and wisdom. Read a chapter or two over on Google Books: http://bit.ly/dAFbnw

freshfunk• 16 years ago

"It may seem like selling for millions to Google is a foregone conclusion given how brilliant you are, but it’s not. ...If you can trade a little bit of equity to nudge up your shot at success by a few percentage points, you should do so."

I love this point. Many people I've talked to dislike going the YC route because it's "so little money for the amount of equity they take" as if their idea (which has been a PT thing for over a year and there's still no MVP) is pre-destined to be the next $750MM hit and the sacrificing of 6-8% is a dumb idea.

It's what I like to call a false statistic or misleading math. If your startup never goes anywhere then it's pretty much worth $0 even if it's $750MM in your head. PG has a great article about how YC is not about the money (except in the analogous sense that one is funding a poor grad student).

webwright3• 16 years ago

Yaw, I find that to me one of the most common misconceptions (or maybe mis-judgements!) about YC. 6-7% feels like a lot. But when you do the math with 3 founders and a $50m exit, that's basically each of you walking away with somewhere between 10-15m and YC walking away with 3-3.5m. So the YC experience is shedding your personal take by $1m or so before taxes... But very well could make the difference in you succeeding or failing.

It could also make the difference in the price tag. The YC brand and the early boost you get from it almost certainly would up the price tag by $3m in that scenario.

(NB: it's a bit more complex than that if/when you take a Series A round, offer employee stock options, etc-- but bottom line is that the YC stock isn't going to make big difference. If you exit, you'll likely be freakin' rich)

100k2• 16 years ago

I've been writing down some notes for advice for applicants but Tony's article covers everything I would have said and then some. Great job!

If you're applying or thinking of applying, take what he says to heart.

Considering Applying to Y Combinator?

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