Glad to hear that. Yea, it's a bit of a gut shot - some pain, then anger, then acceptance, and then, as someone else said, back to work; The 7 minute YC rejection workout.
The network is freely available. You could email sama with an honest question as a startup founder and you'll probably get a reply. He genuinely loves helping people.
I don't know what "Your network is your net worth" means, but it sounds like a worldview in which the people you know matter more than what you can do. That's sometimes true, but none of the major startups started off by networking. It didn't matter who the Google founders knew. It didn't matter who Zuck knew. What mattered was what they were doing.
The only reason investors might be interested in you is if you're starting the next Google or Facebook, because their entire business model depends on it. But there's an optimistic way to phrase that: If you're starting the next Google or Facebook, then who you know doesn't really matter.
It's depends where are you. We are in Latin America (invited), we are so far away to have any chance to create a great network from here, and moving to SF (or any place in USA) first without a network is almost impossible and very expensive for us.
Interesting that there's no feedback. If there's a process of online application, review and automated email with a standard response then surely some simple stock answer fitting to the application wouldn't be much effort. I guess if a certain number are just rejected because of sheer volume then I can understand.
http://cubic.fm connects different music sources in a single player and helps users build a globally accessible online music library. Launched the public beta a week ago.
we want users to be able to
-Create an online music library, independent of the source providing the content.
-Build it further by collecting any track discovered anywhere on the web.
-Access and interact with other users' libraries, no matter which service they use or subscribe to.
Hey, I tried this out. There are some solid playlists in there.
A couple things I found confusing:
- I don't have flash installed in Safari (comes packaged in Chrome) and there was no explanation as to why music didn't play back when I was in Safari
- initially Rdio playback was limited to 30s samples even though I had my Rdio account linked. I think I fixed this by logging into Rdio in the same browser session, but not certain
Yep, within a week or so you will be able to connect your last.fm account. All your available data on last.fm will be imported into your library in cubic.fm. I'll let you know when it's done! Thanks!
I love music startups (doing one myself). Is it similar to what Bop.fm are trying to do, but more around having a entire library of music (like a cloud-based iTunes)?
Drop me an email (in my profile) if you're keen to chat.
The majority of companies in the music industry are aware of the problems driven by the fragmented setup. Some react by offering additional features for user retention. Others continue to drive the fragmentation further. New companies emerge, focusing on eliminating this setup. (bop.fm is one of them. check : tomahawk, wyhd and kollekt.fm)
This fragmentation though, is more the user’s problem than the industry’s.
We start by accepting that music consumption, discovery and sharing has to be fragmented. Our competitors misperceive this problem and conclude that ‘sharing’ is broken in music. Taking a step backward, we know that the core problem is that ‘music consumption’ is broken.
On-demand services, download services, discovery services, terrestrial radio.. They are all complementary products from and end user perspective.
This is why we accept that a user needs access to all these services and fulfil different consumption habits. This should not prevent a user to create a music library; accessible from anywhere and anyone. The users need an online Winamp!
Hi Comrades, we're a nonprofit using crowdfunding to empower women in science & tech. We won't be benefitting from YC this batch, but we're stopping at nothing to benefit HER https://www.instrumentl.com Wishing you all the best!
Building "Stackoverflow.com" for education to help out K-12 and college admission tests with Q&A platform that is student & teacher friendly. Any feedback will help.
I'm working on an "escrow"/invoicing site + app for remodeling and repair contractors. They have big cash flow problems and often require homeowners to pay up front (don't do that). Homeowners benefit through better customer service and less risk of a contractor stealing from them.
I applied solo, so I wasn't holding my breath.
Congratulations to the teams that got in. I'm excited to see what you build.
Working on http://datapath.io, which is an SDN solution for WANs. We open the internet routing system to DevOps and provide anycast routing to cloud users and remote transit provider bypass.
The infrastructure and initial apps for a decentralized communication platform to eventually compete with the internet. Starting with a modest messaging app. gounplugged.co
I'm working on Storytella[0] which is a writing app aimed at self-publishing authors. I'm trying to bring more developer-like tools to authors in a simple way, so there's an entity system (think, database) and entities can be inserted into body text using an IDE-style context menu.
Getting into YC is not the goal of a startup. The goal is to make something people want. YC certainly helps you achieve that goal, but it is by no means the only way!
Rejected. Sucks. The idea was very solid and the team was solid (between the 3 of us we have 2 artists, 2 computer science degrees, 2 computer engineering degrees, and an established viral content marketer). The only two issues were that
a) We are planning to build a hardware product and are at the mock-ups/renderings stage so we do not have a prototype, and
b) One of the team members hasn't physically met the other two (although we've worked on projects before and have a ~4 year friendship).
I had some correspondence with some of the partners about the second point-- PG told me it would be a problem, but Garry Tan said its not really a deal breaker. So I'll put it off to the lack of prototype which is what killed us.
Don't let it slow you down. Think about things practically. If you didn't get accepted now, that only means you won't receive money from them for now. You can still always get in touch and ask questions and hopefully get answers. The most important part of YC is that you have an intense drive to get work done without being distracted. You have a [petrifying] sense of accountability and a demo day to get ready for. If you can set these up for yourself, then it could be just as good. The only thing missing would be to get in touch with partners who'd otherwise have more time to speak with you and meet you in person. Email your questions. You may get answers and you may even build meaningful relationships eventually.
I think the mindset to have here is that YC is so popular and the number of YC partners are so small, that you have a very small chance to get in the first place.
I wouldn't burn too many candles hoping to get in or trying to figure out a reason why you did not. There is a benefit to applying in that it makes your commitment to your startup even stronger.
Focus on what is important and that is your business. I truly believe building something sustainable is better for YOU, than trying to make the next Dropbox, Facebook etc. But if you already gaining Facebook like traction I am sure YC will already have heard of you.
Worry about your startup and just focus on making it sustainable. Becoming popular with customers and maintaining that relationship. has more benefits for more people than getting into YC. Focus on what is important.
This is an interesting point on the timeline for YC in that their apps increased 40%!
PG says they now have 3 silos, like 3 mini YC's reviewing. But if you have 1400 alums reviewing apps, by definition you are going to have scoring that is biased against finding black swans, regardless of how many silos you create.
As you say, the problem is too many apps and not enough time for a smaller amount of alums to review the apps.
One answer might be going to a rolling application process to avoid the washout that happens with a wave 40% bigger than you anticipated. And/or opening other offices, which is most likely in the works.
Why do you think opening other offices is likely in the works? This is a genuine question. Sorry if it's obvious (I don't follow YC too closely), but what would you think has changed since their choice to stop doing YC batches in Cambridge? Just the sheer growth in size?
"PG says they now have 3 silos, like 3 mini YC's reviewing."
Can you point me to where PG said this?
"But if you have 1400 alums reviewing apps, by definition you are going to have scoring that is biased against finding black swans, regardless of how many silos you create."
Why do you think the scoring is biased against black swans?
I think it was in this video with Jcal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMqgiXLjvRs . Not sure at what point in the video, but PG definitely gives up lots of great success tips, so worth watching it all.
As far as the black swans, I could be wrong on this, but my understanding is that YC has maybe 10 partners all giving a grade on the apps coming in (apparently started this after they missed SendGrid). Im not sure if the 1400 alums initially flag or what, but even with the 10 partners grading, their odds of finding black swans get worse because black swans don't look like winners to most people - they are essentially counter intuitive, crazy ideas that don't appeal to the majority in the beginning (or maybe the founders are not Stanford drop outs or ex Googlers, which further sways the majority to give higher grade to what is more obvious. Thus pushing down more potential black swans below the interview cut off line.
So the more partners you have grading a particular startup, the more partners you have trying to cover their asses and not fuck up. So the safer choices will get more interviews - and safe choices don't usually result in black swans.
Not sure if I'm making sense here, but maybe the proof is in the pudding in that some of their biggest wins are Dropbox, Reddit, and Airbnb...all relatively early in YC batches when there were fewer partners making choices.
My team and I got rejected in 2010. We're still working together and we're generating mid 8 figure revenues now. So it's definitely not the end of the world and the silicon valley network is so vast these days that no one should let a YC rejection stop them from doing amazing things.
Regarding whether you should learn a programming language, which can depend on how large the company is you're building and how busy that keeps you, if you're still at point 0 with an idea and little progress, learning to program can really help.
It also makes finding a programming cofounder easier because fewer programmers probably want to work on the cheap with a piece of a company that may never work out, but they will be willing to work with a fellow programmer as a cofounder on ideas that interest them both.
I'm sure I could learn but I'll never be at a level to be really productive, so I find it better to use my time on doing customer development, product management (which I can do), sales and finding ways to make money to pay the rent and the contractors I hire to design and code. This model, while often considered 'bad' by the experts, works for me- so just running with it. In case you are curious we're live at http://www.oncontracting.com. A website that makes it easy to find onsite contract jobs at Fortune 1000 companies.
Me too. In my case YC deadline just happened to coincide my decision to startup. More than the financial backing my startup would've benefited more by being in YC ecosystem and my feet on the ground presence in signing up those early customers. Might try in next batch. Good luck!
One positive data point here. We got invited for an interview [1]!
It's at least the 4th time I've applied, 2nd time with this company, and the 1st time I've been invited for an interview.
Good luck to everyone, and as I always tell myself: YC is not the goal, making something people want is not the goal, making something good that people want is the goal.
congrats! it's a huge opportunity if you've really cracked the code on how to enter that market without the cooperation of the various mls's, which are highly incentivized to keep the current system in place (i did my mba thesis project on the real estate listings space).
Your site looks great. As an objective 3rd party with experience in the real estate sector, I think you are on to something great. (Which is obvious since you got in!)
I received an interview for Quill.org. The third time was the charm.
The only thing that really matters is your users. Other people, such as the judges who assess your app, the influential people whom you'd like to get their support - these are not necessarily your users, and they won't necessarily understand the problems you're solving.
Stay true to your users, and if they love what you are doing everything else will follow.
Here's a curious data point: we were invited for an interview last time, but we didn't get in. We had no paying customers yet. The feedback was that we should get 10 customers and apply again. So we did. But no interview this time :/
Hey, you have an interesting product. Curious why you priced it per vehicle. I am a potential user, but the per vehicle pricing makes it incredibly expensive for us to even consider it. What kind of customers do you have right now?
Real entrepreneurs might WANT to get into YC, but do not NEED to get into YC.
If you really "need" YC then I think you're doing it wrong. Usually the types of people who are devastated by their YC rejection (like me my first time) are the kind that have everything riding on YC. As if it's the only way to get anything built or started. It's a terrible mindset to have. Once I opened up my options and had a plan B, C, D, etc... my business improved, my startup ideas changed and got better, I built more things and got more experience.
121 comments
[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 204 ms ] threadI don't know what "Your network is your net worth" means, but it sounds like a worldview in which the people you know matter more than what you can do. That's sometimes true, but none of the major startups started off by networking. It didn't matter who the Google founders knew. It didn't matter who Zuck knew. What mattered was what they were doing.
The only reason investors might be interested in you is if you're starting the next Google or Facebook, because their entire business model depends on it. But there's an optimistic way to phrase that: If you're starting the next Google or Facebook, then who you know doesn't really matter.
we want users to be able to
-Create an online music library, independent of the source providing the content. -Build it further by collecting any track discovered anywhere on the web. -Access and interact with other users' libraries, no matter which service they use or subscribe to.
https://github.com/udj
Thanks!
A couple things I found confusing:
- I don't have flash installed in Safari (comes packaged in Chrome) and there was no explanation as to why music didn't play back when I was in Safari
- initially Rdio playback was limited to 30s samples even though I had my Rdio account linked. I think I fixed this by logging into Rdio in the same browser session, but not certain
Drop me an email (in my profile) if you're keen to chat.
The majority of companies in the music industry are aware of the problems driven by the fragmented setup. Some react by offering additional features for user retention. Others continue to drive the fragmentation further. New companies emerge, focusing on eliminating this setup. (bop.fm is one of them. check : tomahawk, wyhd and kollekt.fm)
This fragmentation though, is more the user’s problem than the industry’s. We start by accepting that music consumption, discovery and sharing has to be fragmented. Our competitors misperceive this problem and conclude that ‘sharing’ is broken in music. Taking a step backward, we know that the core problem is that ‘music consumption’ is broken.
On-demand services, download services, discovery services, terrestrial radio.. They are all complementary products from and end user perspective. This is why we accept that a user needs access to all these services and fulfil different consumption habits. This should not prevent a user to create a music library; accessible from anywhere and anyone. The users need an online Winamp!
Email is in your inbox! Thanks!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.cumulonimbu...
Our company is also focused on STEM ... and I'd really love to chat with you guys. daniel@stempaks.com
http://test.studyboard.com/studyboard/app/#/questions
https://github.com/christiansmith/anvil-connect
Anyone interested in trying this out or collaborating, please get in touch using the email in my profile!
We've just opened registrations to the public, and have a bunch of big OEMs embedding this in their next printers.
https://Kobra.io
Let me know what you think!
I applied solo, so I wasn't holding my breath.
Congratulations to the teams that got in. I'm excited to see what you build.
Anyways we will apply again in the next round, YC is very important for us to get the right advice and move in the right direction.
Good luck everyone and keep moving forward! :)
note: We are http://monkey.io
By the way if you ever get some quality material on your site for all the universities/colleges/boards/exams in India, you can make a fortune.
Didn't they know how important this idea is?
http://musicians-u.com
Decided to run an indiegogo
[0] https://storytel.la/
a) We are planning to build a hardware product and are at the mock-ups/renderings stage so we do not have a prototype, and b) One of the team members hasn't physically met the other two (although we've worked on projects before and have a ~4 year friendship).
I had some correspondence with some of the partners about the second point-- PG told me it would be a problem, but Garry Tan said its not really a deal breaker. So I'll put it off to the lack of prototype which is what killed us.
Determination matters most.
I wouldn't burn too many candles hoping to get in or trying to figure out a reason why you did not. There is a benefit to applying in that it makes your commitment to your startup even stronger.
Focus on what is important and that is your business. I truly believe building something sustainable is better for YOU, than trying to make the next Dropbox, Facebook etc. But if you already gaining Facebook like traction I am sure YC will already have heard of you.
Worry about your startup and just focus on making it sustainable. Becoming popular with customers and maintaining that relationship. has more benefits for more people than getting into YC. Focus on what is important.
PG says they now have 3 silos, like 3 mini YC's reviewing. But if you have 1400 alums reviewing apps, by definition you are going to have scoring that is biased against finding black swans, regardless of how many silos you create.
As you say, the problem is too many apps and not enough time for a smaller amount of alums to review the apps.
One answer might be going to a rolling application process to avoid the washout that happens with a wave 40% bigger than you anticipated. And/or opening other offices, which is most likely in the works.
Can you point me to where PG said this?
"But if you have 1400 alums reviewing apps, by definition you are going to have scoring that is biased against finding black swans, regardless of how many silos you create."
Why do you think the scoring is biased against black swans?
As far as the black swans, I could be wrong on this, but my understanding is that YC has maybe 10 partners all giving a grade on the apps coming in (apparently started this after they missed SendGrid). Im not sure if the 1400 alums initially flag or what, but even with the 10 partners grading, their odds of finding black swans get worse because black swans don't look like winners to most people - they are essentially counter intuitive, crazy ideas that don't appeal to the majority in the beginning (or maybe the founders are not Stanford drop outs or ex Googlers, which further sways the majority to give higher grade to what is more obvious. Thus pushing down more potential black swans below the interview cut off line.
So the more partners you have grading a particular startup, the more partners you have trying to cover their asses and not fuck up. So the safer choices will get more interviews - and safe choices don't usually result in black swans.
Not sure if I'm making sense here, but maybe the proof is in the pudding in that some of their biggest wins are Dropbox, Reddit, and Airbnb...all relatively early in YC batches when there were fewer partners making choices.
Might make some of us feel like all these years grinding on startups isn't for nothing and is just a simple matter of volume.
Good luck to everyone, and keep at it; we are.
Keep on truckin!
I rather have a business that has that type of growth than get into YC.
Coverage: http://pando.com/2014/06/19/touch-of-modern-raises-14m-to-pr...
It also makes finding a programming cofounder easier because fewer programmers probably want to work on the cheap with a piece of a company that may never work out, but they will be willing to work with a fellow programmer as a cofounder on ideas that interest them both.
Now my startup is gonna succeed...just a little more slowly.
http://doshh.com
We were creating a mobile payment system to be used in Myanmar.
What project you guys working on? For me, I will still continue with the project but without financial backing it will just be slower.
Can't see your email anywhere. Email me?
It's at least the 4th time I've applied, 2nd time with this company, and the 1st time I've been invited for an interview.
Good luck to everyone, and as I always tell myself: YC is not the goal, making something people want is not the goal, making something good that people want is the goal.
[1]: https://www.openlistings.co/
The only thing that really matters is your users. Other people, such as the judges who assess your app, the influential people whom you'd like to get their support - these are not necessarily your users, and they won't necessarily understand the problems you're solving.
Stay true to your users, and if they love what you are doing everything else will follow.
What is your use-case? We can talk alternative pricing models if you find it valuable -- email me at marc@routific.com
Real entrepreneurs might WANT to get into YC, but do not NEED to get into YC.
If you really "need" YC then I think you're doing it wrong. Usually the types of people who are devastated by their YC rejection (like me my first time) are the kind that have everything riding on YC. As if it's the only way to get anything built or started. It's a terrible mindset to have. Once I opened up my options and had a plan B, C, D, etc... my business improved, my startup ideas changed and got better, I built more things and got more experience.