Y Combinator Will Now Accept Late Applications

http://ycombinator.posterous.com/y-combinator-will-now-accept-late-application

by pg • 16 years ago

82 53 16 years ago

ycombinator.posterous.com

skennedy2• 16 years ago

Does this also mean that applications that do not get accepted under the initial deadline can re-apply with a new idea? If so, will the submission process be able to recognize this as "new" so it is given a fresh review by YC rather than viewing it as an "update" to an existing application?

pg7• 16 years ago

Hrm, I should have known you lot would think of unanticipated ways to use this option. That wasn't the original intention, and if everyone did that we'd be so swamped with repeat applications that we probably wouldn't be able to read them all. How about if I add a feature for people to update an application that was submitted by the deadline, and we'll make a pass through those too?

skennedy2• 16 years ago

Sounds like another time consuming commitment on top of your ever growing list of commitments. How far do you scale?

gprisament• 16 years ago

Does this mean that by pushing the deadline earlier they: - Didn't get enough applications? - Didn't get enough quality applications?

Or am I reading too much into this?

pg7• 16 years ago

No, the number of applications doesn't seem to have decreased. We decided to do this back in Jan when we moved the application deadline earlier, because there's now a 3 month gap between the application deadline and when the cycle starts, and we know from experience that when people start startups, they don't always know they're going to 3 months beforehand.

m0th87• 16 years ago

Why not just have more than two cycles per year? Is it because there's a lot of work that has to be done during off-seasons, or is it arbitrary?

jackowayed3• 16 years ago

Maybe a little, but I doubt it. Sounds like they've known this is a problem for awhile: someone decides to start a startup right after the deadline, hears about YC, wants to do it, but has to wait a long time (beginning of April- beginning of January is 9 months) to hit a cycle.

But by moving the deadline earlier, they made the problem that much worse, which got them thinking about the problem, which lead them to decide on this approach.

pmjordan2• 16 years ago

PG has said in the past that YC don't have an upper limit on the number of groups to fund. This isn't a zero-sum game: if having no deadline means they get more applicantions of which a steady percentage is fundable, then it's worth doing as long as they don't overstretch their resources.

skmurphy• 16 years ago

Sounds more like Y Combinator accepts early applications instead of trouble getting applicants.

cwilson• 16 years ago

It's also curious that the iPad application RFS was released 3 days ago and presented an extremely tight deadline on applying with that in mind. Now there is plenty of time to apply if you've got the iPad in mind for YComb.

DanielBMarkham• 16 years ago

Very interesting, Paul. Hope the experiment works.

Staging all the funding opps is a great idea, but as you point out, it sucks to have to wait six months. I hope this makes for a good compromise for everybody concerned.

pmjordan2• 16 years ago

This is a pretty interesting development. I'm wondering how YC will handle rejections now - when you know you want to interview someone, that's pretty straightforward. There are probably plenty of definite "no"s, too. Not having the hard deadline will surely tempt you into watching the progress of startups that you're undecided on for a while before making a decision, a bit like the "big" VC courting ritual. (though considering PG's past comments on the VC funding process, I'm assuming it won't be as frustrating for the applicants)

pg7• 16 years ago

We're not organized enough to watch the progress of so many applicants. If we're slow to respond it will probably just be old fashioned slackness.

johnrob• 16 years ago

I think what you've really done here is change the deadline from March 3rd to "right before the program starts". Sure, applying earlier is better than later, but that was already the case.

pg7• 16 years ago

I wouldn't want people to think that. Actually it is going to be much harder to get a late application accepted. We'll dutifully process all the regular applications in batch as usual, whereas we probably won't look that closely at late applications unless we see something exceptional.

fizx• 16 years ago

I assume that the bar will be (much?) higher for late applicants. I think this is a way to make sure that YC doesn't miss out on the next Facebook. When the bulk of returns are made on the outliers, this makes sense.

maxklein5• 16 years ago

Someone take this idea and apply: iPad Software that mums can use to do some elementary diagnoses on the various illnesses that their children can get, get to talk to other people about it and recommend doctors/medicines.

Or how about this: iPad software that contains the instruction manuals for like every electronic device ever (TVs etc).

Or the simplest, yet best of all: iPad software that, after you weigh yourself, you tap once on it to say how much you weigh. Over the course of the day, it tells you when to stop eating to reduce weight. After a meal, you tap what you just ate (chicken wings) and it adds to your calories.

If I were applying for YC I'd go for that 3rd one. Feel free to use these ideas, I'm not going to make them myself.

jasonlbaptiste3• 16 years ago

i like the second one the best. I'm pretty certain that most of the manuals are out there in PDF format already. Organizing / finding them all would be a bit of work, but it's doable.

maxklein5• 16 years ago

I'm sure mturk would take only a few days, even for 20.000 devices.

kirubakaran• 16 years ago

Why can't these be webapps? Are there any advantages in making these as native iPad apps?

maxklein5• 16 years ago

Because a website is inconvenient and user unfriendly compared to a native app on the iPhone or iPad.

cj• 16 years ago

Not everyone lives at their computer. It's more convienent to tap in what you eat at the kitchen table with the iPad rather than walk to a computer.

Timothee• 16 years ago

As far as the third one is concerned, there are many apps that do that already for the iPhone. E.g. Lose it! (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lose-it/id297368629?mt=8) which comes with a big database of food with nutritional info, preprocessed meal from brand names… It's well done, but it gets pretty cumbersome to enter what you ate.

SandB0x• 16 years ago

I want a smart alarm clock that knows that where I've got to be in the morning and wakes me up earlier if the roads are blocked or there are major delays on the train.

speek• 16 years ago

http://getzazu.com :-)

AaronGerry• 16 years ago

That sounds like a great app. I'd definitely use it!

rubyrescue• 16 years ago

Is there a correlation between number of follow-up questions and on-site interviews? Is there a time window (just before/just after the deadline) where more follow-up questions are typically asked?

edit - clarity

Roridge2• 16 years ago

Does the 13th of March still stand for all those who made the deadline?

pg7• 16 years ago

Yes.

Roridge2• 16 years ago

Cool, thanks PG... roll on next Saturday :)

JimBastard• 16 years ago

I really wanted to apply for this, but the project I'm working on doesn't really require any funding at this point. Also, I'm based in NYC.

JoshTriplett• 16 years ago

If you have an Internet-based business and don't have any particular emphasis on your location ("helps you navigate the local subway"), then "based in NYC" means very little; you could always relocate for at least a summer.

As for "doesn't really require any funding", the money represents the least important reason to work with Y Combinator. We didn't apply because we thought $17k would make the difference between our business succeeding or failing. We applied because we want the business guidance, connections, meetings, resources, investor days, and the opportunity to work on our project full-time distraction-free.

So, really, apply. :)

nitrogen• 16 years ago

I wish I would've seen that the application window was opened sooner, so I wouldn't be one of those last-minute applications. That's what I get for thinking the HN front page would keep me up to date on YC activities ;). I'll be subscribing to the YC blog RSS feed now...

Y Combinator Will Now Accept Late Applications

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