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YC: Requests for Startups

(www.ycombinator.com)
514 points sarimkx | 2 comments | 14 Feb 24 16:31 UTC | HN request time: 0.57s | source
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shrimpx ◴[14 Feb 24 21:24 UTC] No.39375623[source]▶
To those who think this list will help them get into YC, or lament "why didn't I get into YC when my idea was squarely on this list":

The YC application is a sales pitch, and you're not selling your idea, you're primarily selling your charisma and capacity to spin vision and sell. Second, you're selling your chemistry with your cofounders and stability of your relationship. Third, you're selling your capacity to build, at least some usable prototype, but this a low bar.

At no point are you actually selling the concrete idea, unless you're doing something extremely specific that seems valuable and you're one of the few who can build it. For the rest, the idea is a rhetorical vehicle to sell the other things.

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leetrout ◴[14 Feb 24 21:27 UTC] No.39375671[source]▶
Spot on. Add in an ivy league or similar pedigree as social proof for a better chance.
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ultrasaurus ◴[15 Feb 24 00:46 UTC] No.39377705[source]▶
Having met a bunch of YC companies now, I wouldn't say the Ivies are exactly under-represented but it always seems like there's more Stanford than UPenn and more UWaterloo than Cornell. If school means anything it's the quality of their CS programs.

Don't let your school hold you back from applying :)

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1. asymmetric ◴[15 Feb 24 09:19 UTC] No.39380633[source]▶
Is UPenn particularly good? It’s the first time I hear about it in these discussions. Stanford on the other hand, I always hear about (isn’t that where Page and Brin were at?)
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2. Centigonal ◴[16 Feb 24 03:49 UTC] No.39392978[source]▶
I think GP is saying that YC founders tend to be more techy, entrepreneurial types than Wharton MBA types. I'm not sure though, there's a lot left to the imagination.