Life skill for you: putting a message into a bottle and then flinging it onto the Internet <i>could</i> get it read, but that isn't the way to bet.<p>Here's a hypothetical for you: how many people do you think have social permission to contact a YC partner and say "X is awesome and deserves a look." I'd ballpark that in the hundreds to low thousand range. Many of them are accessible on the Internets and less overwhelmed with suitors than the YC partners are. How about solving a meaningful problem for one of them and having the next application say "We built a $WHATEVER for $SOMEONE which increased their customer base by 10%, like they told you over email earlier."<p>P.S. This advice had wide application beyond YC and beyond "applications." Indeed, part of me thinks that applications (in general) are a backup filtering mechanism for people who haven't figured out a more effective way to get what they want yet.
Even if PG gave you such a task, how would that demonstrate anything relevant? You getting a task and a deadline is the <i>opposite</i> of being entrepreneurial; that's called having a job and a boss and showing that you are an adequate or better employee.<p>Being entrepreneurial involves you<p>1) generating ideas,<p>2) using your intuition to pick a good one,<p>3) testing it out to see if your intuition is correct (iterate if not), and<p>4) then execute <i>that</i> idea (and again, iterate as needed)<p>Or, in short: <i>discovering and exploiting an opportunity</i><p>Edit: minor.
I love the creativity, though I have to admit, I'm a little confused.<p>YC already does a great job of releasing great startup ideas (see links below in the off chance that you haven't read them already). And it seems like everyone I met who got in was accepted because of the awesome things they created. So if you're short on ideas, read the lists, and then get to work and have something to show for it by application time! Whether or not you get in will probably matter less and less once you're cranking away at a company you're really into.<p><a href="http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html" rel="nofollow">http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html</a><p><a href="http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html" rel="nofollow">http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html</a>
I don't think that YC is trying to identify teams that can create the maximum amount of value in 72 hours. They're looking for teams that will create the maximum amount of value over thousands of hours (or more).<p>It's not at all clear that the former correlates with the latter.
"You're actions speak so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."<p>One of my favorite quotes of all time, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. If you are really more than what comes across on paper, you should have things to show that extend beyond what is on paper. Claiming you are smart and can execute will get you nowhere. I'd venture to guess that everybody who applies believes that they have that in spades.<p>But the larger question I have, and continue to have, is why people continue to view entrepreneurship as an elite club to which you must be allowed entrance. No offense to Y-Combinator or any other startup incubator, as I'm sure the experience is fantastic. I just think anybody approaching this as some kind of bridge that you must cross to achieve success is misguided. Successful startups were born long before incubators and they were built by people who knew how to execute and had the wherewithal to do so. The very fact that you have to plead to make the case that you can execute shows in many ways that you can't. An incubator should be viewed as one avenue to ramp up traction and execution, not a permission slip to do so.
I saw a similar post on nuclearphynance.com a few years ago. A young unemployed developer offered to code forum members' models for free. He was swimming in interview invitations because people admired the tenacity.<p>The biggest difference between what he did and what you're doing is that he made it an open offer. If you chopped off "dear y combinator," and released the challenge to HN members in general I think your post would have attracted a much more positive response.<p>Also, I'm not sure if you guys have been paying attention but pg and paul have been vocal about YC painpoints recently. Search their comments. The one I've heard the most is "everyone is exhausted after demo day".
You speak desperation language.<p>This is like a woman that rejects you on a date and you take it too seriously: " I will do whatever you wish to test my love". It does not work that way because you are putting her in a high pedestal and yourself in a lower status.(And you could be sorry for making commitments to people you don't really know yet, "may you get what you wish for" is a curse on China).<p>Maybe it is not the point that you could do something in 72 hours, but what you could do in 720 or 1000 or 3000. Sometimes you need to do marathon instead of 50 meters. I believe PG wants people that won't abandon on the hard moments of a startup, people that will "find a way" over difficult circumstances.<p>You don't need Y Combinator to success.
Rather than naysay your efforts, I prefer to support. pg has opened up YC to people without ideas, so contrary to other comments here, I don't think you're violating the spirit of YC to request an interview without an idea. But your open-ended way of asking might give pg too much to think about. So that could be a reason why he hasn't got back to you yet.<p>One idea: pg wants to invest in more entrepreneurs who don't have ideas yet, and in some cases, perhaps even people without much history of success on paper. Applicants like yourselves need ideas to build. Create a system that makes it easy for YC's problems to be discovered by applicants, so applicants can use these problems as product ideas. Another tip: think beyond YC's problems to the problems of YC companies. The problems of YC companies are also YC's problems.<p>Another idea. I read that YC has trouble scaling their demo days each year. One article quoted a guy saying that the growing lunch line is actually one of Demo Day's bigger problems. Make YC Demo Day food service better for guests. Or instead, make it easier for YC to coordinate. I'm sure pg doesn't like thinking about it.
Question: Did you spend 72 hours straight doing everything you can to make your application reflect who you really are and what you have to offer?<p>Want to solve a pain point? why not start with your own. Clearly, getting noticed and recognized by YC Partners is a pain point for you and many others.<p>Almost 100 years ago Napolean Hill offered a solution. Spend a few weeks researching your target, and approach them with a real value proposition, an offer they can't refuse.<p>Or work on the problem of getting noticed by YC partners by hacking the application process, identifying all the entry points to reach them, create a platform for incubators to crowdsource out their problems and pain points to their applicants, or just find a way to become friends with their mothers.<p>If there is a will, there is a way goes both ways. If you really had a burning desire, you would have found a way, and if you haven't found a way, your will isn't up to the task.
> This is the second time we’ve applied to Y Combinator. Our dream has been, for a while, to get our startup off the ground<p>I don't mean to be crass, but<p>1) This seems to imply that doing Y Combinator entails success, which is backwards.<p>2) What has the startup been doing since when it was last rejected? Why try to showcase a random thing you can do in 72 hours instead of showcase how you can build your startup in the months in between YC sessions?
I will be surprised if YC even has any pain points that are well enough understood to be concisely communicated to an external source and can be solved in 72 hours. Usually the reason you have a pain point is either that you don't understand the underlying problem yet, or the solving it will take time. But I suppose that just means any pain points YC may be able to convey are things where these guys are expected to fail, which I guess is the whole spirit of the challenge.
Do it PG! Do it! I want to see a slam dunk! I want to see EPIC failure! I want to see if they're all talk or can walk the walk. This is like the reality tv episode of entrepreneurship. Just once, I want to watch and wait with baited breath as the challenge is issued, the gauntlet is thrown down, the problem put out and the solution successfully solved! Don't make it easy, make it tougher than any problem one of your own companies can solve. Make it so tough people will look around and wonder, can it be even done? Also, make them play dramatic music at their office constantly for all 72 hours.
Ambitious, risky, and likely to be ignored by YC, but I like the spirit :)<p>Would be fun to see them play this game with you though (I'm quite curious to see how you guys work things out if they challenge you to send an iPhone to Mars and back, for one example of many, many problems they could ask you to solve that you couldn't really take care of in 72 hours).
You know what works better?<p>Build something nice and polished (<i>anything</i>) and show them that.<p>Big claims work better when you're not coming empty handed.
I admire the hustle, but in this case, you are asking the people of YC to do extra work to come up with something for you to solve. I think they are very busy and unlikely to do that.
You guys should post about your startup here while you have some attention. Sounds interesting (I am assuming you are applying with the seed launcher idea?).<p>Without being an expert in startup financing I'd imagine there would be some fairly significant regulation challenges in the idea? Anyone successfully using the platform currently?<p>It is also interesting that your idea itself if it comes off might be solving a YC problem (How best to connect pitching startups with the right investors and generate the best valuations).
They should solve their hosting issues first. Google's cached version for those looking for a copy <a href="http://bit.ly/HM9HHg" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/HM9HHg</a>
I've got a problem for you to solve. This is not a complete sentence. Solve that. ;)<p><i>In the spirit of showing you that we can thrive at Y Combinator, and that we are more than who we are on paper.</i>
I think it's really funny that all the comments telling people they won't get noticed are actually boosting it to the top where they are very likely to get noticed.<p>Humanity ftw!
I have an idea. Within 72 hours you have to hack into the Y Combinator servers and mark your application as "invite to interview". Do that and you get an interview :)<p>Disclaimer: if you're not sure what :) means, please google it before proceeding with the above suggestion.<p>Anyway I'm just joking. Your post is a nice way to get noticed. Good luck with your application!
Yes, but relating to and understanding the problem that you are trying to solve is the difficult part. You may create a solution to the problem, but any programmer can do that. I always viewed YC as being difficult to get into because you had to do this part prior to applying. If PG does give these guys something to make, then maybe that'd be a good answer to the question on the application that asks what your greatest hack ever was - it'd be turning the tables on PG and getting him to give you something to solve! Clever. :)
If you an idea or expertise to do something like this I don't know why you need to wait for Y Combinator to pick you up before you get started.<p>Making something profitable from day 1 is difficult but profitable from day 30 is less so. Yes the profit may just about buy your team a round of coffee's but at least you got off your mark. Your ball is rolling.<p>Waiting for seed funding before building your product seems somewhat counter-intuitive to me.
He gave a couple at the pycon conference. Why don't you pretend they responded with killing email and come up with the better solution for task inbox...
Being able to ship a proof of concept (a precursor to an MVP) is a pretty core skill that will happen many times in that thousands of hours.<p>Other fun questions in the perpetual proof of concept game:<p>Will it work this way? Will it work that way?<p>I don't know. How long will it take? Can we quickly try it out somehow to see if it gets us what we need? Who can jump on this?
I would venture to say the application process worked like clock-work. YC is looking for people to mentor, educate, and smooth out the bumpy road ahead for, to discover modest people, who acknowledge their weaknesses and are willing to humble themselves and learn from everyone around them.
Just in case anyone is curious about what we're working on I thought I'd give a quick description. Seedlauncher.com is a crowdfunding for equity site that focuses on investing in small businesses within your own community. If anyone has any questions I'd be more than happy to answer them.
Here's a crazy idea: start working on your startup now and try to gain traction. Apply for YCombinator again next season and show them that you've actually hit on something that's becoming popular. This is actually how a lot of the most successful Y-Combinator alums got in themselves.
Cool bold approach. Props. I'd like to see YC respond with a challenge. Everyone should stop being so skeptical. Maybe the guys are incredible geniuses. In fact I think they are being modest by throwing in that third 24 hour period. I bet they could do any challenge in 48 ;)
Not getting picked should not necessarily reflect poorly on you... But if you try much harder you will just show that they were correct to avoid you. You do have spirit though, so do something useful with it instead of ranting about not being picked at the dance.
Finding good solution to a given problem is what most of the engineers do day-to-day at work.<p>Real entrepreneurs identify opportunities (problems) and provide solution. Remember, a problem well stated is a problem half solved.
Why don't you just build something other people want? Don't focus too much on what YC partners want, focus on what other people want(conversely if you do that YC partners will want you, not vice-versa).
If you'd rather not leave the Midwest, consider Chicago. They have a great entrepreneurial community at: <a href="http://www.builtinchicago.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.builtinchicago.org/</a>