Interesting article and I wanted to comment on the bit on outsourcing.
Our project needed an extra hand and that's where we turned to oDesk and some good old word of mouth.
Very quickly we found some coders but we stayed only with one group.
The relationship moved from outsourcing to co-founderness with Tomas after a few months.
He's Slovakian and studies in Poland and needed a way to get some income during his last year at university.
We've been working together for more than a year, and he's used this project to write his thesis and make some money.
It raises an interesting point, as finding founders is sometime a question of good luck and great people.
Regardless of where you look, its all a question of feeling, mutual trust and being open minded.
One interesting point I hadn't seen before is the following recommendation:
Have someone in YC vouch for you
Is this common? How's it transmitted to YC, through the application or do they specifically write PG and crew to let them know about it?
We are in a position where we can get a recommendation from two alumni but we felt it was not a correct thing to do when we submitted our app. Anyone else has experience with this?
Considering how competitive it is if you have friends willing to vouch for you then do it, with so many applicants it's very easy for you to slip through the cracks whether you should or not.
Beyond YC don't be afraid to leverage your contacts in general, it'll help you succeed.
1. Make sure your video can be watched easily on a Mac browser without plugins. Bonus if it works on Windows and Linux. I've seen a few people that use .wmv files, which end up crashing browsers. YouTube private video links are a great way to make sure thats not a problem.
2. Same idea with the video: if you link to a document, make sure its a PDF.
I wonder when we'll start seeing startups created specifically to help people apply to programs like YC. Similar to prep classes for the SAT, these could help you fill out your apps, fine-tune your answers to the essay questions, coach you on interviews, and even polish your videos. Maybe advanced courses could teach you how to launch and market your MVP before applying to YC.
Sounds like a good idea. How about this - a "microincubator". For a 0.1% "advisor" stake in your company, I will advise you on how to get into YC. If you don't get into YC, you get your equity back. To apply just email me a rough draft of your YC application ;-)
For a 0.01% advisor stake in your company, I will advise you on how to get into hn-user lacker's microincubator. If you don't get into hn-user lacker's microincubator, you get your equity back. ...
YC's application process is genuinely about the factors that lead to success, with that in mind, why not just teach people to be successful and cut out the application bs?
why not just teach people to be successful and cut out the application bs?
I think you'll have a hard time coaching someone to be successful. I think a service like this would take people who already have the qualities of successful startup founders, but maybe lack the ability to express that through an application, video, interview, and demo. More "makeup on a model" than "lipstick on a pig"
It's pretty easy to coach someone to be successful the big problem is whether or not they really want to be successful. Most people have a list of excuses a mile long as to why they aren't successful. People have little desire to be successful for the most part they strive towards mediocrity. Being able to express yourself clearly and concisely is essential for success.
Even in myself I recognize a bunch of traits that are holding me back, and every week I evaluate how I'm progressing on those issues.
I'm not trying to be a sophist, however, the impression you leave on people is who you are. For the most part the makeup is the model. By the time you've coached someone enough to get them into YC they will be perfectly positioned to be successful.
The application asks the questions that you must be able to answer to be successful. What are you building? Who is your competition? It's like a streamlined business plan. Even if you weren't applying to YC this application would be an effective way to pick apart a startup idea.
Whether or not you're accepted, dotCloud is offering every applicant one year of free hosting for their app. In exchange we only ask that you don't give up.
Excellent info, I am largely surprised that we managed to hit every point that you have mentioned. Looking forward to seeing this batch (and hoping we're involved)
My group has been collaborating for weeks on our application. I think we must be on our 5th draft by now. At a certain point, I do feel like it's unproductive to keep second guessing how our answers will be parsed - we're just doing our best to listen to the great advice out here on HN, lay out the facts about ourselves, and hopefully make a good impression. Hopefully YC will like what we have to say!
BTW - my group of 3 is quitting Google, Facebook, and Microsoft to pursue our idea, and we will definitely do it with or without YC. It'd just be super nice to get that level of support.
We've been working together for more than a year, and he's used this project to write his thesis and make some money. It raises an interesting point, as finding founders is sometime a question of good luck and great people. Regardless of where you look, its all a question of feeling, mutual trust and being open minded.