We mistakenly marked about 50 applications as late

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2425577

by pg • 15 years ago

126 55 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Due to a bug in our (my) software, a bunch of on-time applications got marked as late when people edited and re-submitted them after the deadline. Fortunately we can tell which applications these were, and we're going to take a look at them all and respond in the next couple days. Sorry about that.

karanjassar• 15 years ago

Have the rest been notified? I did submit on time but haven't heard so far.

jl• 15 years ago

Yes, you should have been notified. Check your spam folder perhaps.

Punter3• 15 years ago

nothing so far

cneals• 15 years ago

Phew! I was sure there was a glitch in the system. Now it all makes sense.

bpeters• 15 years ago

Awesome! Was worried for a bit ;)

dreamux• 15 years ago

release early, release often?

pg5• 15 years ago

The whole problem is that this sw only gets used once every 6 months.

phlux• 15 years ago

So, assuming I got a rejection letter AND I updated after the deadline, I'm guessing my rejection still stands? ;)

marcomonteiro• 15 years ago

I had the same question after reading this.

luislp• 15 years ago

How we know that?

pg5• 15 years ago

Yes, sorry. This bug got fixed at a certain point, so not all the late edits marked the application as late.

rabble• 15 years ago

So if we edited late, and got a rejection letter, then we were reviewed and rejected. This is only for folks who did NOT get a rejection letter, right?

Punter3• 15 years ago

great news... these things happen

a couple of days sound good

mcdowall• 15 years ago

Thanks for the update, I did explain that to Kirsty in my mail. I know there are some folk over in the Convore chatroom in the same position, Convore's proved pretty useful today.

skrebbel• 15 years ago

Ok, well I'm rather new here, but if 50 applications were accidentally marked as late, does that mean there were like 100+ applications overall? That's a lot of new companies. Are all these already for real, or are the bulk of them in the "programmer with an idea" stage?

cperciva• 15 years ago

Last I heard, the YC crew doesn't announce numbers because they don't want to get into phallus-measuring competitions with other organizations; but based on numbers published in the past I'm guessing somewhere between 500 and 1000 applications.

pjmurray• 15 years ago

not really a shocking number considering the current state of the industry.

kalvin• 15 years ago

It's probably more. Based on public numbers/guesses (Harj: http://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-companies-that-get-a..., http://www.quora.com/How-many-people-teams-get-rejected-by-Y..., http://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-Y-Combinator-applica...) and some handwaving, last cycle was roughly 1000 applications, 10% got interviews, 4% (40 startups) got in. This cycle there's already ~145 slots taken, so I'd guesstimate 1500 applications (all else staying constant, etc) minimum. Maybe more like 2000.

VaedaStrike• 15 years ago

Were those on-time-marked-as-late applications sent the rejection e-mail by default?

pg5• 15 years ago

No. We haven't replied to them yet, because we mistakenly believed they were late and that we thus didn't have to reply on April 7.

goatforce5• 15 years ago

I'm totally going to pitch an application submission management system in the next round. I know of at least one potential customer.

icefox• 15 years ago

Make sure to talk to the customer(s) and find out what they really need and would pay for before building it ;)

Punter3• 15 years ago

you can still apply late!

piousbox2• 15 years ago

Already exists: http://angelsoft.net/

nfm• 15 years ago

Don't let a little competition get in the way!

trussi• 15 years ago

Tried that in this round. No love. :(

Actually, it was a pretty sweet demo of the product. It would totally make the YC application process so much smoother from YC's side and (most importantly) allow YC to provide feedback to rejects (that feature alone would be amazing!).

Unfortunately, it looks like YC will (at best) only be a customer, instead of them being an investor.

chacemuse• 15 years ago

Since we're already at a disadvantage of being the over-quota bunch, I say all 50 should be allowed to pitch in person if they pay for their own trips. ;)

kovar• 15 years ago

I happen to be in California this week for a client. I'd be happy to run up to Palo Alto .... :-)

invalidOrTaken• 15 years ago

This is none of my business, but I'm a little confused. I don't see why pg/yc has to apologize. When was the last time a vc acted like he was obligated to hear your elevator pitch, let alone read your huge application---and not only do that, but do it FAIRLY, without giving undue advantage to some other guy with a plan and an MVP (...or not)?

</none of my business>

jdavid• 15 years ago

I don't think pg is apologizing as a VC, but as a hacker/painter.

If the goal is to create something that people want. He has to be just as customer focused.

pg5• 15 years ago

We'd promised to reply by a certain time.

abbasmehdi3• 15 years ago

Also, it's nice to be nice, whether you need somebody or not.

georgemcbay• 15 years ago

I'm a little confused by the idea that just because you don't have to do something, you shouldn't do it. I do things all the time that I don't have to do because not doing them would make me kind of a dick. I don't want to be a dick and I doubt pg/yc does either.

abbasmehdi3• 15 years ago

Being at the stage we're at things move/happen quick. I looked at our app recently and it looked dated - since the app we've had some game-changing developments (signed on 2 major customers - we're B2B etc.). It'd be cool if your s/w could accommodate for things like that, and secondly I’m surprised you guys don’t do phone/skype screening/interviews. Might help reduce the risk on your investment. Just some thoughts. :-)

truthsayer• 15 years ago

I forgive you. Most of us are human.

EGreg• 15 years ago

Hey, pg ... does that include our application by any chance?

I realize you don't have to answer this, but I am just curious:

It seems on the surface that our company is much closer to what you say YC is looking for, than many companies you had in W10, S10, etc. Let me just illustrate a couple points:

1. You emphasize resilience: we got rejected by YC in the past and went ahead and raised funding, launched and already have 70k (and counting) users since 3 months ago. The vast majority of our reviews are 5 stars.

2. You care about companies with huge potential. We're building a next-generation, distributed social network which gives users control over their data, and helps their social lives in the real world instead of online.

3. You want to see founders who did extraordinary things: I went to college at 14, played in Carnegie hall when I was 7 years old. (http://magarshak.com/piano) My co founder can father a small child just by looking at a woman... (http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7203877/fundraising)

4. You care about a capable team that has been together for a long time: http://qbix.com/about . We have made websites such as this: http://blurts.com which is now worth over $5 mil.

etc.

So I am curious why YC didn't even want to interview us, but then again, your rejection letter doesn't leave many clues :)

baberuth• 15 years ago

"My co founder can father a small child just by looking at a woman"

Hilarious.

With great power comes great responsibility...

mcantor• 15 years ago

And great alimony?

mceachen• 15 years ago

The fathering comment is an in-joke with our batch: http://adgrok.com/?p=666

bvi• 15 years ago

Never heard of blurts, but that color palette totally gave me a Vonage vibe.

> My co founder can father a small child just by looking at a woman

Hilarious! I'm going to have to remember this.

katieben• 15 years ago

Hi pg - didn't get an interview, but thanks anyway for HN/YC and your essays. (: Consider me inspired!

zbruhnke• 15 years ago

PG ... Ive already got a stable of pretty solid investors and a house in Palo alto ... what do ya say I just give you the equity and you let me go through this cycle without giving me any cash? lol Im just looking for sound advice and a good sounding board

tiabasnk• 15 years ago

It's funny but I noticed this when I submitted my application. I had been frantically trying to polish it up and was suprised by the fact that I was still able to resubmit even after the deadline (at this time the page didn't state that it would be counted as a late submission). The late submission page came up about two and a half hours after the time of the deadline and after I had done about 10 resubmissions. lol!

leon_• 15 years ago

I guess this shows that marketing-people shouldn't write code.

saifa• 15 years ago

is that ok to edit application now and resubmit? i'm in the list of 50's

idiotb• 15 years ago

how do you know you are in the list?

tkasten• 15 years ago

PG - We still have not heard yes or no to our application for Responsely. We applied in January...but we also updated our application after the deadline to reflect our progress. So I am guessing this glitch effected our application.

Can you let me know the status?

Thank you,

Ted

We mistakenly marked about 50 applications as late

Related Stories