Useful collection of resources!
However, high quality application will not work if the product sucks. So, I'd put some disclaimer for ppl who expect to read all of materials and get into YC ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Don't you want to put your collection on GitHub also? It will be simpler to get suggestions as Pull Requests, where everybody will see it. Here is my suggestion of application example by the company which is oriented on designers\developers, done by @helloiamvu:
https://medium.com/@helloiamvu/a...
👆 Other UX suggestion is to add labels with industries. For example, I would love to see only design\dev companies' applications, but I can't find out the right companies just by their names.
And it's good timing to share insight about applying to YC, as many folks who will be accepted at YC Startup School will try to apply farther.
Good luck!
@lisadziuba@helloiamvu Thanks a lot for your feedback! I will definitely add a bunch of these thoughts into the site. Let me know if you think of anything else. Putting industry labels is really important.
@lisadziuba@helloiamvu I added that post to our collection of sample applications. I also added a short description under the company names with a short description about what they do and their industry. Let me know if that helps!
@nevinjethmalani yes, that's better now. Small point, as I know, Avocode didn't get to YC
Report
Cool! and what a timing, I've applied today :)
One thing that is strange though. It is written that "They are only looking for ideas that can reach a valuation of at least $10B" but I saw a company called Pigeon that got in, and although the idea is cute it is certainly not a 1B idea...
@rotemthegolfer Michael Seibel had a recent AMA on HackerNews and answered this question:
Q: "Seeing some of the recent startups that have come out of YC and learning about what they're working on; I can't imagine how they'd scale to a billion dollar business. Question: Is this a signal that YC is now investing in companies that don't have such lucrative paths? If so, how does YC justify such a decision to their partners."
A: "To be honest - it was impossible early on to see how Justin.tv (a guy wearing a camera on his head 24/7) or Airbnb (airbed rental) could turn into billion dollar companies. Often times we invest in great teams and just see what they can do. Remember hindsight is 20-20."
@rotemthegolfer Sorry I didn't get back to you about this earlier. I was looking for a video where @sama spoke about this but I couldn't find it. YC is known to only invest in companies that have the potential to become multi-billion dollar businesses. A path to a billion dollar valuation should come out in both your application and interview. That being said, YC will first and foremost invest in founders who they love and as Michael Seibel said, "see what they can do."
Thanks @kwdinc for hunting us!
Almost every founder goes through a very similar process as they apply to yc. They research YC alumni, read sample applications by companies in the same space, and read about the application process as a whole. In order to do this, founders have to do a lot of searching on google. We did that as we applied to YC and created this website to help other founders save some time.
We created a database of YC resources written mainly by YC alumni. We would love to hear your thoughts and adapt the website to help everyone applying to YC.
Looks like the resources should be useful for many founders (though I believe it is still important to do your own very serious research before applying).
My question is about the second section on 'Investment strategy' - any links to official sources from YC?
@kwdinc@nevinjethmalani Hi Kevin and Nevin! My name is Lynn Hoang. I am founder and CEO of OpenTalk.FM (We are in Founder Track Program at YC Startup School). We summarized what we have learnt from the program so the founders who don't have time to watch every 1 hour video, will still be able to digest key points from each video in less than 5 minutes! Our e-book is trending on PH now http://bit.ly/2tg7nao so we would truly appreciate your support! Thanks a lot for your consideration :)
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
Apply to YC (Y Combinator)
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
Apply to YC (Y Combinator)
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
Slik
Apply to YC (Y Combinator)
Apply to YC (Y Combinator)
Product Hunt
Story Replay
A Summary Guide to YC Startup School