I got rejected twice. However, I have a different idea for a startup. Non web startup, not based on coding. Based on the fact that I never even got a reason why I was rejected, I thought I'd apply differently this time. Saved my application in a file and then posted it here:
Tried to make them think. I believe they're in a loop of... self-indulgence, really. Since I think they do their best to stay the $#@! away from taking risks with any "unorthodox" ideas.
I skimmed the first paragraph of your application...
Listen, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I wouldn't have invited you to an interview either (regardless of the BS jargon in the application). Here's why.
1. You are a single founder.
Doing a startup alone is sooooo hard. The only way they would consider having a solo founder is if you're a programmer. (see #2)
2. You're are not a programmer.
It's hard to explain. Being a programmer changes the way you think of ideas. You know what is possible, what is plausible and where that intersection between the two is. Your ideas may be fantastic, but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't plausible. It's not your fault. You just need to learn how to code if you want to understand what I'm talking about. On top of that, a startup CEO typically plays 'engineer' for at least a year or two before moving up to a lofty management position (but YC looks for hackers - the kind of guys who never stop checking in code at their companies).
3. Your attitude sucks.
You got rejected from YC. Shit happens. It's irresponsible and immature to blame YC because they didn't decide to fund you. Entrepreneurs don't sit and complain when rejection happens - they work harder to ensure it won't happen again.
This is not meant to be a mean post against you. You can continue doing your thing your way, but I will almost guarantee that you will not succeed in running your startup.
I sincerely hope that you did get the point - that was a "kamikaze" application not meant to get me in, but meant to get them out of their self righteous loop!
You appear to not have read the whole thing. Okay, you didn't have to, of course.
But you completely proved my point: that's what they also do. This is why I tried my best to get their attention woken up at least for this one application. Maybe they'll start waking up before reading other applications in the future, as well!
I believe they never got the point that this is not a programming-centered idea. Not a software startup at all. I want to make hardware, to put it shortly.
Not meaning to brag, but I applied for another incubator as well, and got to the last stage. I was dumped there, but they did say I came across as technically strong and with relevant and solid experience.
Among their tests was a programming test. I sent two e-mails explaining how I'm not a coder but how I'm not supposed to be one. And they passed me to the next stage.
Again, I think you proved the point I was trying to make with Y Combinator flawlessly. Not as an offence to you, though.
And yes, I understand that you weren't trying to bash me but to help me instead. Thanks for that.
I get that it was a "kamikaze" application. The fact of the matter is that YC looks for hackers, which you are not. It doesn't mean you're lesser. It just means that you shouldn't be surprised when you get rejected from YC.
I don't understand why/what you're protesting. If you want them to look beyond software startups, that would be very foolish of them as their area of expertise is software.
Well, I don't live in The Valley. Not in the US, actually. I thought it would be reasonable to assume that people calling themselves investors would look at anything.
Right now it looks like that guy from Mountain View was right: if the iPhone's popular, everyone's doing something related to the iPhone. Which is fine, as it's their choice.
But it seems that if you utter the word Blackberry, you get fined or arrested for disturbing public order. And if you even think of Nokia, Gov. A. Schwarzenegger himself will punch you in the throat.
Okay, I didn't know that. I will remember it next time I have to deal with such people. Good to know.
What I think is obviously missing? Simple, Y Combinator's main page displaying a huge banner that says "we don't care about anything non-software, go away." It would have warned me right from the start. They never explicitly say it, they just heavily hint at it (e.g. they ask for your github ID, which you don't need unless you do some sort of coding) and I'm here to say quit hinting and just admit it out loud.
But I believe that's also typical - what we hint at, it's actually an axiom. What we recommend, it's actually required. I believe that's not right. Simple as that. No hard feelings.
You're taking what Silicon Valley media reports and slapping it onto the face of YC. YC's most successful startups are not "iPhone Apps". DropBox, Heroku, CloudKick, Justin.TV, etc. These are real guys tackling real problems. Your sarcastic remarks belittle their accomplishments, which is immature at best.
"Though we fund all types of startups, we're especially interested in web/mobile applications. We've been thinking about that problem longer than anyone else, and by now can visualize much of the space of possibilities."
This means that they are more comfortable investing in an area where they're the experts. If you're going to blindly apply to a VC without reading their "About" page, that is you being irresponsible, not a problem with the VC.
My point exactly - again! "They are more comfortable in that area" means "they don't actually invest outside that area." I feel I could have saved some time if I knew this before I applied for the first time.
But yeah, I get it, you can't conceive them ever being wrong, for some reason. I have nothing against that, it's an opinion and it's as personal as a haircut.
No, it doesn't mean "they don't actually invest outside that area", it means that you have to have a kick ass team and product for them to even consider taking you. You don't have a team, which is what probably killed your application from the start.
Again, this is all posted on their website. Digging around on the internet would reveal even more information. You should have done this in the first place before applying to a VC.
Yeah, but that whole single founder thing is so messed up. They don't really send you the message that they rarely take single founders on board. You have to find horror stories on the net. One of them is about a guy who had two other co-founders or so, but those couldn't just move for three months. They had families and lives. So the guy moves to SF and they tell him "we really hate single founders."
So, if the other co-founders are not there, it's like they don't exist at all. I do have a guy, an engineer who would do a lot of the required work, but moving him to the US is an idea from another planet.
He is part of the team. There's no doubt about that. He just doesn't want to be a legal co-owner. He doesn't want that responsibility. He's also much older than me and has a different perspective.
But Y Combinator, suffering from ADHD, won't have the patience to consider all that. That was kinda my whole point. I'm still not sure you got it.
Wow, we reached the limit of the sausage string. I have to reply to my own comment :)
I still believe I can do it "alone," i.e. with just that other guy. I'm just gonna go get the needed money elsewhere and forget about Y Combinator. That blog post or whatever you want to call it, is my opinion on them.
http://thypope.posterous.com/my-latest-y-combinator-applicat...
Tried to make them think. I believe they're in a loop of... self-indulgence, really. Since I think they do their best to stay the $#@! away from taking risks with any "unorthodox" ideas.