Rejected from YC last night... got anchor client this morning

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=349029

by chinup • 18 years ago

93 45 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Like others, we were down about our YC rejection last night.

This morning, we got a commitment from an anchor client (we target small/medium businesses). It took 15 minutes to convince the owner of this multi-million dollar business to say: "I love it."

We built a demo for our customers and decided to send it to YC as well. In the past 3 weeks, the only one who has turned us down is YC. 6 for 6 (knock on wood!!) We have even turned down a business that is not a good fit for us. These are all paying customers, btw.

We may not be headed to YC but we are still building stuff people/companies want. Hope this inspires others to forge ahead.

transburgh• 18 years ago

Just because you got rejected doesn't mean you have a bad idea. PG/YC might have even liked your idea but did not think it was a good fit at this time.

Congrats on the new accounts btw!!

sctb• 18 years ago

It's of course possible that YC thought it was a promising idea; with the number of applications they received it sounds like many solid ideas had to be turned down.

satyajit2• 18 years ago

Congrats! In the time of Sequoia presentation, recession and YC rejection, we need to hear other success stories like yours to keep ourselves focused! PG/YC are Good, not God!

Anon84• 18 years ago

PG/YC are Good, not God!

Blasphemy!

bigthboy• 18 years ago

Recession and YC Rejection.... sounds like part of some hit new rap single for Wall Street.

It's been said a lot lately as a reminder, not only by people of this community but also by pg himself in the letters and in HN comments. Don't stop doing what you love because pg and co didn't have space for it out of the estimated (no official numbers) 700 applicants that applied at the same time. PG will tell you that they aren't exactly the best at necessarily "picking the winners" and neither are most other investors.

The important thing is to move forward. As the OP shows, you don't NEED YC to be a successful and thriving business, even in troubled times. YC is a stepping stone and sure shot at opening doors that most of us have to pry open ourselves. YC != Success... YC is the beginning, but it should not be the end.

markbao• 18 years ago

Garry from Posterous said it best last night on IRC:

You don't need a permission slip to start a startup :)

LogicHoleFlaw• 18 years ago

A pink slip might help though ;)

swombat• 18 years ago

I'm sure many people here will be able to obtain one of those if they try hard enough.

speby• 18 years ago

Well done on the new accounts. Are you far along with your product I assume? What is your product btw?

chinup2• 18 years ago

We're trying to get a private beta up in 2-3 weeks from now.

ericb• 18 years ago

PG et all are only human. There are tons of businesses that don't fit their mold or that they won't be able to divine the greatness of, in advance. Not to mention that the sheer size of the applicants pool guarantees they will turn down good ideas and good teams.

Looking over their past companies, it seems revenue-focused businesses are less favored in their mix than one might expect, so perhaps there is less of a leaning toward that criteria than one might expect in their evaluation. One question you don't see in their application is "do you have revenue or paying customers?"

I am sad for applicants who are able to, but don't, start something because they didn't get "validation" by way of a PG nod, but those are the people who, if I were PG, I would least want to fund.

So I guess what I'm saying is, don't take the lack of acceptance personally, like I did. :-)

skmurphy• 18 years ago

Of all the sources of funds for an early stage venture, revenue is the most compelling demonstration of traction. Too many entrepreneurs view fund raising as an accomplishment in an of itself. This is a great story!

charlesju• 18 years ago

Congratulations! Want to share with us what your startup is, or is it hush-hush still?

chinup2• 18 years ago

Still trying to be stealthy (hence the new HN account). What I can say is that we're building a portal for a really cool niche.

wensing4• 18 years ago

Stormpulse was politely turned down by YC in 2007. I'm sure getting accepted would have changed things in a good way, but I can't complain about the way things are going; a YC-no-thanks is not a fatal judgment.

markessien2• 18 years ago

That's quite a high compete rank you have there. Where do you get those nice maps from?

wensing4• 18 years ago

September was a month I won't forget for a while!

The SWF is something we wrote ourselves, but all of the sources/images/layers are public info. For example, you can download the base imagery from NASA here: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/

kahseng2• 18 years ago

Why don't you get your own email address @stormpulse.com instead of gmail?

wensing4• 18 years ago

We've thought about it, but it's never been a priority. I guess that's strange, eh?

wensing4• 18 years ago

I was also going to add that I would say for B2C relations this doesn't seem to matter a lot. In fact, I prefer it, as it makes us seem more single point-of-contact and personal (for some reason I have no confidence whenever I email a support@xyz.com, or even feedback@xyz.com). Presenting your customers with a Mom and Pop shack even when you're a Wal*Mart isn't a bad thing. It helps them feel bigger if you seem small.

As far as B2B, I haven't seen any negative responses there either, perhaps because we don't deal with many middle-management MBA-types. Most of the fans we've heard from are either low on the totem pole, helping us get in the door at their mother ship, or so high on the totem pole that @stormpulse.com might make them think of us as a large cockroach at best.

owkaye2• 18 years ago

I used to use my own domain email for more than a decade and now I use gmail exclusively. Why? First of all they have the best spam filtering system I've ever been exposed to. Second, they archive all my email and each account has a limit of more than 7 GB. Third, I can use my regular email client to receive my mail via pop3. Fourth, they allow me to send email via their smtp server. Fifth, it is simpler to use than my own domain email account.

Yes I know it is 'nice' to have your own domain-based email accounts, especially when trying to advertise your domain, but all the advantages of gmail encouraged me to switch and I've never been happier.

markessien2• 18 years ago

Most people don't realise exactly how easy it is to make money off the internet. I remember when I made my first piece of software, and 3 days later someone bought it. I thought to myself - what? The software sucked big time! Then the next day, someone else bought, and so on.

A year later, I put up my first > $500 software, not really expecting anything to happen. A week later, a sale came in, a few days later, the same.

There was no marketing plan, no competition analysis, no snazzy web designer or any of all that. Just put up the site, list it on download.com.

Software is an easy business. The hard part is in learning all that stuff so you can actually make the software (or know how to tell people what to do), afterwards it's pretty easy if you just release your stuff.

tomjen• 18 years ago

Well you are partly right, but you can get a lot further and get there faster if you do have a plan.

joubert• 18 years ago

hi markessien. i have heard similar stories from others and am keen to see what your software is about - do you have links?

jdavid2• 18 years ago

I have renewed hope in my startup SocialHelix we have had some new and interesting interest. Plus I know how I want to build the backend now. Graph services are tough.

superchink• 18 years ago

Was this downvoted for seeming spammy?

ph0rque• 18 years ago

I have to say, I love your idea for bring google-maps-like navigation to other, abstract concepts. You aren't thinking of releasing a jQuery plugin for doing that by any chance, are you :~)?

jdavid2• 18 years ago

where are you located?

currently our interface is all in flash, but we have thought about a browser only option that might work on the iPhone or android as a web page.

we have also talked about a potential plugin architecture to make it easy to develop apps on top of our interface. if you know of anyway for us to get a few months worth of funding for it, we would be open to a number of things for out project.

SwellJoe2• 18 years ago

It's probably worth remembering that the last time YC talked about the number of applicants (a couple of years ago), it was something like 800. They usually accept about 20, and given the way the model works it's probably not possible to handle more. Now, of course half of those are probably applying on a whim--just finished college, or whatever, figured "Hey, what the heck, let's try getting rich...or at least continuing the college lifestyle for a little longer."--but even if we can assume that 50% of applications are complete non-starters, that's an awful lot of potentially great companies that get the "no" from YC.

The tech industry lived without YC for decades. You can definitely start a company without YC approval, and it can be successful.

pg• 18 years ago

If we said 800 we must have been talking per year, not per cycle. The number has gone up since, but it's still not 800 per cycle.

SwellJoe2• 18 years ago

Sometimes I doze off a little when you're talking. This must be one of those occasions. Sorry.

siliconcalley• 18 years ago

6 for 6? Do you mean 6 for 7?

And congratulations - when one door closes another one opens.

satyajit2• 18 years ago

"No it doesn’t. Not unless the two doors are connected by relays or there are motion sensors involved " (Dr Sheldon Cooper, Big Bang Theory)

hugh• 18 years ago

It might just be an air pressure thing.

lanceweatherby• 18 years ago

Customers are more important then investors.

fishonmars2• 18 years ago

true.

tbrooks• 18 years ago

Despite being rejected for YC, pg and team couldn't have done it in a more graceful way.

I was appreciative of the way the email read.

fishonmars2• 18 years ago

I got turned too. We're competing with eBay and our site launches in 2 weeks.

owkaye2• 18 years ago

Sounds interesting, please keep me informed if you can, I'm at owkaye (at) gmail (dot) com, thanks!

mdasen• 18 years ago

Maybe you were rejected precisely because YC wouldn't help you. I mean, if you don't need YC's money or YC's network, then what good is YC for you? They're not a long-term investor that will carry you for years. They're a short-term, get you off and moving investor. It's a great thing (wouldn't be on here if I thought otherwise), but if you've been able to get 6 customers on board without YC, what would YC give you?

I'm not trying to play down the importance of YC, it's just that its importance is specific - startups where the founders need a little capital to get their idea off the ground and not starve as they're not in a traditional job.

Corrado• 18 years ago

We're still waiting for our "big break"; our product is great but no one seems to notice us. Outside funding is not really in the cards so YC is not really an option. But then again, we won't get turned down. :)

Wait a minute ... maybe getting turned down is the key! Hey, YC! Can you look at my stuff and turn me down right away, please?

Thanx! Richard

Rejected from YC last night... got anchor client this morning

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