Y Combinator W2011 application (my rejection email)
Another reason you shouldn't take this personally is that we know we make lots of mistakes. It's alarming how often the last group to make it over the threshold for interviews ends up being one that we fund. That means there are surely other good groups that fall just below the threshold and that we miss even interviewing.
http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html
We're trying to get better at this, but it's practically certain that groups we rejected will go on to create successful startups. If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email telling us about it; we want to learn from our mistakes.
Y Combinator team
-----------------------------------
My pitch was WikiTorrents.org, which is user-created lists of downloadable videos.
If you want to help me with some seed money, regardless of amount, maybe I can turn this whole thing into a positive. Email me at citizenkeys AT gmail DOT com .
Here is the WikiTorrents.org collection of YCombinator applicant videos: http://wikitorrents.org/wiki/ycombinator_applicants
61 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 120 ms ] threadIf you want to help me with some seed money, regardless of amount, maybe I can turn this whole thing into a positive. Email me at citizenkeys AT gmail DOT com .
Here is the WikiTorrents.org collection of YCombinator applicant videos: http://wikitorrents.org/wiki/ycombinator_applicants
I quit my job yesterday and I'm going to be working on my (3rd) startup full time.
It's liberating to become completely dependent on your own ability.
Bootstrapping: "a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help"
But I was getting miserable at work because all I wanted to do was work on my startup. I'm looking for other seed funding now since I can't afford to bootstrap. Let's see how this turns out. And let's hope my family doesn't starve.
I'm available to freelance as a UX/Mobile designer for anyone hiring in nyc! Money to tide us over as I work on my startup would be nice :)
I'm considering putting together a friends-and-family round for my startup now. The YC email was just one data point on the path.
:-)
It's amazing the clarity that comes from writing the answers to those questions down and making that video.
Good luck to everyone who hasn't been rejected yet! :)
www.ikonblvd.com
1) Do not make me watch a video to see what you're doing. Write some text -- you should be able to explain it in one sentence and then have some supporting text if you want/need to clarify things.
2) If you really only have 2 employees and one of you is the CEO and one of you is the President, You're Doing It Wrong. Ditch those titles and just go for "founder" at most.
A "Best of the Rest" that could happen near the same time as maybe Demo day. Just adhoc come online and display the application video and details, and then show what we have done in the same time we would have been in SV.
Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once. - Drew Houston, co-founder, Dropbox (@drewhouston)
http://startupquote.com/post/604060576
I wonder if changing the wording of the "not selected" email slightly would cause people to stop associating it with rejection?
We applied (and got rejected in the first round) from the U.C. Berkeley Business Plan competition first in spring of 2009, then again in the spring of 2010. We also got turned away from TechStars during Spring 2009. We also tried raising angel money in the summer of 2009 and couldn't get a single commitment.
It's not all fun and roses.
This kept us going for a while: http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html
I think we didn't get into TechStars because we were still wrapping up school. YC probably would have rejected us too.
My opinion is that YC is a catalyst to further your startup and not the end all to make things happen.
There is always next time, and then 2 more times after that. :-)
A few months later I asked another girl out.
Two snowstorms and a few years later, the third girl is now my wife.
Rejection isn't always bad.
Edit: Before I get uber-up/down-voted into oblivion and challenged because I am not 50, the accurate version of this statement should read "I married the first one, whom I started dating over half a life time ago". Still going strong though :)
"I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT PEOPLE LIKE ME AS A MEMBER". - Groucho Marx
Most startups choose (wisely) to keep the funding news secret until they can use it for press purposes.
Another factor is likely the one behind this video: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/derek_sivers_keep_your_goa...
We were really nervous about getting to the interview stage, despite the greatly increased odds of being accepted once you get there.
If I remember correctly, I didn't tell anybody, including my family -- the fear of telling them I was probably going to get in and then having to tell them I didn't was just too great.
:-)
"Defeat" by Khalil Gibran
Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude and my aloofness; You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs, And sweeter to my heart than all worldglory.
Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance, Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot And not to be trapped by withering laurels. And in you I have found aloneness And the joy of being shunned and scorned.
Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield, In your eyes I have read That to be enthroned is to be enslaved, And to be understood is to be levelled down, And to be grasped is but to reach one's fulness And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.
Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion, You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences, And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings, And urging of seas, And of mountains that burn in the night, And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.
Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage, You and I shall laugh together with the storm, And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us, And we shall stand in the sun with a will, And we shall be dangerous.
Anyways, I wasn't waiting for YC to do a startup anyways. If you wanna do a startup, you don't wait for YC - you do it.
Off I go.
Remember, your goal is to build a solid tech business, not appease YC or anyone else. Not to take away from the value YC and PG add, but there were tech companies before YC, and its just a stepping stone to your final target.
Ultimately, all that matters is (a) awesome product/technology (b) users/customers.
More likely, if the problem you're solving isn't important, talk to real customers or find a friend you trust who will.
You certainly don't see that humility everyday from institutions of any size. Other organizations should take note. A personal tone goes a long way.