Feedback please for YC rejects

2 points by neek 15y ago ↗ HN

I appreciate that YC get a lot of applicants and that personalised feedback might seem like a daunting task with the number of applications you get but, as you recognise for yourself in your rejection letter by asking us for it when we succeed with our companies, it's very important and highly desired.

Generic feedback is what everyone gives (conferences, job applications, accelerators etc) and is pretty disappointing for applicants as we put so much work up front. If the numbers of applications rumoured are right and you got about 1800, and each form takes on average 2 people-days to complete then as a community we put in 10 years effort just to apply. That's 10 years that for the majority of us could've been put to better use into our companies/ideas instead so it would be nice if we could just get a little back in return to help us be better next time round.

If you really want to differentiate yourself from the pack (and I think you probably do) then do something that no-one else does. Give feedback. For the sake of a few people days extra effort your end it would come back to you a hundred times over in other ways.

I'm sure you have a process for sorting the wheat from the chaff but here's what I would do if I were wearing your shoes:

   1. First pass have two buckets - MAYBEs and NOs. For all the NOs have someone writing down one sentence of why they're a no and include in their rejection letter (via a mail merge off a CSV)
   2. Second pass go through the MAYBEs. For all the NOs this time round answer two questions:
               1. What went well (with their application)?
               2. Even better if (their application had/said/was/included ...)?

Two/three bullet points for each question would be amazing for us and you'd probably find yourself repeating. You will also probably find it will help generate content for your general feedback document and guides.

Hope my feedback is seen as just that rather than criticism. I love you guys but feedback is an essential part of the learning process and one that I just can't help asking for whenever I see an opportunity!

gojomo 15y ago ↗

If you took 2 person-days to complete the YC application form, you may have agonized over it too much, or hadn't yet done other definitional/pitch work that you'd have had to do eventually anyway. So you can't really charge the whole two days against YC.

If you're really eager for a few bullet points of feedback, send a copy of your application materials to a few approachable people whose opinions you would respect. Or even post it publicly.

neek 15y ago ↗

There was no agonizing at all. It's a long form (and video) needing all founders discussion/input and the questions are tailored and formatted for YCs requirements.

Sending the application to other people or posting publicly isn't going to help understand why YC specifically rejected it either.

Do you think feedback is an unreasonable request?

gojomo 15y ago ↗

It's reasonable to want more feedback, but given YC's model and applicant volume, it's also reasonable for them to give most applicants a generic decline, as well.

I'd say your reward for the effort was the chance at acceptance, plus the benefits of the exercise – having necessary pitching discussions with your cofounders.

Why focus specifically on why the YC process passed on you? Lots of other people can give feedback that will reasonably approximate YC's – and perhaps more importantly, will let you know what other funders/mentors/customers would think.

The keen desire for a YC-specific-explanation is itself a potential reason they might avoid giving detailed feedback... even a few words might encourage some teams to obsess over YC's estimation (and perhaps keep trying to 'clarify'/'explain' their application) rather than moving forward on other opportunities. Sometimes, a simple 'no' is a favor, too.