Applications for YC S2015 Are Open

http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/#S2015

by philip1209 • 11 years ago

154 70 11 years ago

ycombinator.com

Killswitch3• 11 years ago

I'd love to apply to YC, but I cannot under any circumstances move to the bay area. :(

tptacek• 11 years ago

Technically, you only need to be there from June-August.

That said: speaking as a cofounder of a brand new company, and despite being corrosively skeptical of YC in the past, if it weren't for the SFBA prereq, we'd apply. You're right, it's annoying!

Killswitch3• 11 years ago

I currently live in Chicago, moved here for my job, but my girlfriend back home ended up getting pregnant, so now I got a daughter on the way and I'm moving back home next month, and since she's got a child from a previous relationship, she has agreements with the father to not move any farther than an hour away. Because I could never ask her to move, nor do I want to be that far away from my newborn (bad enough I can't be there through the pregnancy), I refuse to move anywhere else, not even for a job. I've just got higher priorities in my life.

_sentient• 11 years ago

YC isn't just about credentials. A significant part of the value is concentrated in the Tuesday dinners and in-person office hours. Even if YC did accept remote companies, the value of the program would be greatly diminished if you didn't move to the bay.

And that's to say nothing of investors, over 70% of whom are concentrated in the valley.

Plus, there's also probably some signal value here for YC. If you're not sufficiently committed to be willing to move somewhere else for 3-4 months, you may not be that serious about your startup. It's not the strongest signal, but its impact is probably non-trivial.

logicallee• 11 years ago

why? out of the things people would do for $10 million, hopping on a plane after paying $600 for it seems high on the list. . .

Killswitch3• 11 years ago

See my response to tptacek

tootie• 11 years ago

Some of us have families. Although it is summer break. Also, I don't have a company or an idea.

miguelrochefort• 11 years ago

Looks like my "universal communication UI" project will once again be rejected.

loceng• 11 years ago

Any prototype at all?

super-serial• 11 years ago

I'm making "the future of storytelling"... but it won't be ready until summer.

I'll get traction/users first before getting rejected again.

revorad2• 11 years ago

Anything "universal" will probably be rejected. Have you considered making a tiny hyperlocal version first?

zpatel• 11 years ago

If I have an alpha/beta version of a product, should i be working to launch it to build traction or rather apply for YC ?

Also, I have a day job which pays well and i need the job but my passion is to build innovative/useful solutions. I wonder how i could be full time at YC or is it ok to be working part time?. I have also heard that investors would not even look at your proposal if they know you're working part time on it.

perryh2• 11 years ago

You should probably leave your job.

Jihoon• 11 years ago

I don't think it will hurt to apply regardless :) it will help you hash out some of your thoughts as well, if you are serious about doing a startup. Good luck!

gojomo2• 11 years ago

Free idea:

"Our startup wants to change the world by reselling the free $500K in Azure services [1] to outsiders for half-off, then liquidating itself. This may not be a 'traditional YC play', or 'scalable', or even 'honest', but we'll give YC half the loot (approximately $100K) and don't even require the traditional investment/convertible note. Just tell Microsoft we're a YC company! Oh, and let us know whether you like the name 'Azurbatrage' or 'Arbitrazure' better. Stretch goal: resell all the unused Azure capacity of our classmate companies – 50X the profit opportunity."

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9023582

jameshk4• 11 years ago

Ha.

AlwaysBCoding• 11 years ago

Better idea, make a script that can spin up Azure instances and mine Bitcoins on them. Then build a web app on top of it that will liquidate Azure credits to cash as a service. When someone dumps their credentials into your site you spin up $500,000 of computing power on Azure to mine Bitcoins from and then liquidate the Bitcoins you mine into cash and take like 15% off the top.

I'm not sure what the conversion rate of Azure computing dollar to mined Bitcoin would be, but this would work to some extent with $500,000 wouldn't it? What YC company wouldn't want a Azure -> cash liquidation web app.

gojomo2• 11 years ago

"At Arbitrazure, we are of course open to any idea for converting free Azure credit to cold hard cash. But our research indicates that without special mining chips, Bitcoin mining is not competitive, and $500K of Azure per month (15,000 'A1' VMs) would take 8-16 years ($48-$96 million) to earn one Bitcoin ($225). That's why we remain committed to resale, rather than direct exploitation."

zaguios3• 11 years ago

As a solo founder, is it worth the time to apply if I don't already have a finished product and significant traction?

P.S. I know many people would suggest to find a cofounder, but that hasn't worked well for me. In my area there aren't many experienced programmers with an entrepreneurial spirit. The few people I have tried to start something with usually fall through due to not being able to keep up. I'd rather stop wasting my time with the hunt and start just building something by myself.

jameshk4• 11 years ago

I'd think so. Most companies that apply have neither a finished product or traction, and the application might just help you clear things up in your head.

zaguios3• 11 years ago

Filling out the application probably won't hurt, but I'm more curious if there is any chance of actually getting in. I'm not a stanford grad or an ex-googler so I would assume that combined with the fact that I'm solo founder would make my chances more or less 0. The only way I could see actually getting into YC at this point with my situation is to have an already successful company.

alain94040• 11 years ago

Yes, start building something yourself and stop looking for a co-founder for the wrong reasons. http://foundrs.com/find-a-cofounder :

"Solo founders usually fail because they are bad at convincing anyone of anything. Artificially adding a co-founder will not change that critical personality trait: are you charismatic enough to lead?"

WillNotDownvote2• 11 years ago

While having a co-founder might indicate you have trouble convincing people of things, or that you have no desire to do so, it's also the case that having a co-founder is no indication at all that you do have the ability to persuade.

I'd be willing to bet more co-founders than not are the people who happened to be close by and were the path of least resistance for each of them to move forward. Entirely possible there was no convincing, leadership, nor charisma involved.

tzm• 11 years ago

Yes, it's worth the time and effort. I was a solo founder and was invited for an interview. Regardless of outcome, the process is a healthy step forward.

sjtgraham• 11 years ago

I think YC would expect you to be a bit more earnest in your efforts to find a cofounder, e.g. move somewhere with higher concentration of talent and ambition. Solo founders are seen as risky to fund by YC, so what could you do to mitigate that risk? Finish something, and show traction.

paul4• 11 years ago

Drew Houston applied as a single founder with no product or traction, so yes :)

zaguios3• 11 years ago

Several years ago when there were less applications and he got turned down initially...

haky_nash4• 11 years ago

Apply and show them how you will make things work out no matter what. Also, the idea shouldn't be a 'barbershop' idea like PG says. It should have a large TAM. I think that is all that really matters.

chacham15• 11 years ago

My favorite way of looking at it is via the advice given here[1]: you need to be outstanding in at least one of the following: the idea, team, or traction. As a solo founder with no traction, it is therefore reasonable to conclude that you would have to have a remarkable idea.

[1] http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/20/how-to-write-a-winning-y-c...

jonathancordeau• 11 years ago

The process of applying is valuable in and of itself. It will force you to clearly communicate your idea and what potential it truly has. You'll likely refine your idea alone through the application process. Don't plan for the downside, rather, "act as if" and churn out the best possible application.

tawnymarie• 11 years ago

My response to you would be "Why not?" "What do you have to lose?" "You never know until you try". The fact that they have accepted solo founders should be a reason in of itself to apply because there's a chance and I don't know about you but as a solo founder myself that chance is completely worth it. Even without acceptance there is so much to be learned from this process. Just filling out the application itself gets you thinking about aspects of your idea and/or startup that you didn't really consider or think of before.

Richallen1• 11 years ago

I agree. in the early stage you have nothing to loose. You need to try everything that has the possibility to help your business! Also with every thing like Ycomb and others each time you put your product forward you are refining your pitch.

zeeshanm• 11 years ago

Just apply, spend 30 mins, and get done with it. And then get back to whatever you were doing. Don't stress over application or forming an ideal team. This will just happen over time as a by-product.

mpr3• 11 years ago

I wonder if pre-launch Slack would have got in to YC.

2arrs2ells• 11 years ago

I bet they would have. Impressive team with big ambitions.

randall• 11 years ago

Not to mention Grove / Convore was in a few years before Slack.

peteretep2• 11 years ago

An idea I would be interested in submitting requires rather a lot of explanation on what makes it sexy; let's call it 1,000 words.

I realize it probably needs to be a little snappier than that, but the fundamental idea sounds a little tired and not particularly new without some explanation.

There's an opportunity to split this out in the "Idea" section, but really several strands need to be tied together in a specific order. Will it look weird to stick 1,000 words in the "What is your company going to make?" field, rather than something short and pithy like "AirBNB for Bees"?

mkramlich• 11 years ago

or just go make that thing

paying customers are the best, most direct validation. and if you keep the cash flow right you may never need investment. most good advice has already been distilled in free web pages and cheap books. build, sell, repeat, scale.

michaelbuckbee• 11 years ago

One potential way to make a snappy one liner (and you do need a snappy one liner) is to describe it in terms of who it helps instead of what exactly it does, even if it is just "A new approach to stopping the pain felt by the X Billion dollar a year industry of Y".

peteretep2• 11 years ago

That's a really good idea, actually, and I can see how to apply that. Thanks.

revorad2• 11 years ago

Forget YC for a moment and think about how you will describe it to your users. If you need 1,000 words to get each user, then it's probably not going to work.

It sounds like you're building a new version of something that already exists, so maybe just say what's new about it in as few words as possible.

curiously• 11 years ago

So...here's my question to everyone applying:

What is the single motivation or incentive for you to get in? Does YC offer something that you are unable to find or obtain on your own?

arjunnarayan• 11 years ago

How do you guys deal with conflicts of interest? For instance, suppose hypothetically someone is building a startup who's goal is to eat the company who's CEO is in your list of YC partners... How's that going to work?

shin_lao• 11 years ago

Don't know about YC, but most funds don't invest in competing companies, and sometimes the strategy can even be broader: "don't invest twice in the same area".

For example if you already have an investment in email application, you will opt-out from similar investments in the future.

haky_nash4• 11 years ago

From the FAQ:

Will you fund multiple startups working on the same idea?

Yes. If you fund as many companies as we do it's unavoidable you'll end up with some overlap. Even if you tried not to accept competing companies, you'd still get overlap because startups' ideas morph so much. The way we deal with it is that when two startups are working on related stuff, we don't talk to one about what the other's doing.

In practice it has not turned out to be a problem, because most big markets have room for several slightly different solutions, and it's unlikely that two startups would do precisely the same thing.

aptwebapps2• 11 years ago

That's a start but the GP wasn't asking about competing entrants in the same batch but about a theoretical entrant that would compete with an established YC partner.

pskittle• 11 years ago

i'm constantly amazed by how quickly yc moves. thanks for working towards a better future and inspiring some along the way.

haky_nash4• 11 years ago

Just asking. Does YC value the IITs(Indian Institute of Technology) as much as they value Harv, Stan, etc. Lots of other people do value it quite a lot. How does YC see them?

tonysuper• 11 years ago

Well. Now I'm completely terrified.

I've been working on a project for about 8 months, with about 3 months on-going after a decision to re-write and reign in focus, with YC as a major end goal the entire time. Now that it's actually time to apply I'm extremely nervous—especially since I'm an 18-year-old kid who hasn't even finished high school yet (1 semester left) and I'm competing with people twice my age and with several hundred times more experience. We're quite close to a major beta release so that should help the process along.

Is there anything somebody in my (and my co-founders) circumstances should seek to convey in order to increase our chances of getting accepted? I've read quite a few articles on the best application type, but none of them had a "What to do when you're completely unproven and also extremely young" section.

jameshk4• 11 years ago

I'm in a similar position as you, still in high school. I've applied before and did not need to convey anything special to be taken seriously.

Would love to talk sometime. Email is in my HN profile.

dlu• 11 years ago

I'm not twice as old as you, but I've been feeling old for a while now, so I'll give this a shot. I'm going to start by pretty much channeling Paul Graham.

If you're close to a major beta release, make sure that happens on time and as smoothly as possible. Then, as Paul Graham says, know your users. Talk to them, email them, Skype them late at night and into the wee hours of the morning. That's where expertise matters the most and where you're on equal ground with everyone else. I don't know anything about your users yet either. Well, I might know a tiny bit by accident because I worked on something similar. So go learn more than me.

To quote PG: "This class can teach you about startups, but that is not what you need to know. What you need to know to succeed in a startup is not expertise in startups, what you need is expertise in your own users.

Mark Zuckerberg did not succeed at Facebook because he was an expert in startups, he succeeded despite being a complete noob at startups; I mean Facebook was first incorporated as a Florida LLC. Even you guys know better than that. He succeeded despite being a complete noob at startups because he understood his users very well."

Beyond that, I would say expect there to be what feels like near-death business/startup experiences.

If you run into trouble, great! That means you're doing something right. It isn't like school where if you prep enough, everything should be smooth sailing. You're not going to be able to ever prep enough and everything should feel chaotic. If it all goes really well, it is possible that you're super oblivious.

It is ok if things aren't going that well. Treat all the lows like team bonding. If you're lucky this won't be the last or worst of it all and nothing kills a startup like a cofounder who is only in it for the good times.

Applications for YC S2015 Are Open

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