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Ask HN: Has PG ever used an idea from your YC application?

10 points by resdirector ↗ HN
I was just watching PG's Office Hours: http://www.justin.tv/startupschool/b/298808297 and at around 28:40 he has an insight that is almost word for word from our 2009 application: make a tool that targets the busybody matchmakers to circumvent the chicken and the egg program with dating sites. Don't make a dating site, just make a tool for matchmakers.

I guess the lesson here is that if you have a good idea, 10^n people have also had the same idea, 10^(n-2) are working on it right now and 10^(n-3) have a decent shot of making it work.

I was wondering, though, out of interest, how many other people have had the same experience of being unsuccessful with their YC application only to find their idea being touted, or, more gallingly, another team being accepted into YC with the same idea?

9 comments

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sfdfadds
And then they say that ideas on their own are of little worth and it is all about execution... and then they say that anybody can execute and that you are replaceable... in the end, the show is run by those with money. The rest are chess pieces. They win or lose because they are playing the game, not you. You are the pawns, the knights, the rooks, the bishops, the king, the queen. You are not moving the pieces, though. I could be wrong, but I'm not.
damoncali
I will refrain from commenting on your specific situation, but if you do the math, it seems highly unlikely that YC has not accepted competitors of many, many rejects.

Execution matters. The idea matters. The people matter. The timing matters. Luck matters. It all matters. Don't take it personally.

resdirector
Agreed 100%.

Am interested to hear some other people's experiences, to see how often it happens etc. lessons learned etc.

(EDIT: and to be honest, there's about 1% of me that does take it personally, in that he loved the idea, but perhaps he wasn't sold that we were the ones to do it)

abbasmehdi
What gives you the idea that he loved the idea and/or something he'd fund?
dholowiski
If you watch the video, I think it's clear that he loved the idea, although he never really said if he'd fund it.
abbasmehdi
From the video it seems like he found a suitable pivot for them, that's about it, the rest are assumptions.
coryl
At a higher level, the same advice can be applied to any chicken and end problem. Job seekers and employers, renters and landlords, buyers and sellers etc.

Same problems offer same solutions.

joshu
I've had this exact idea pitched to me twice as well, and once but phrased around group outings.