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Comment by keating | Hacker News Reader

> If you got a no, think about why, and consider it free advice from someone whose opinion you trust.

I honestly think they are just too pressed for time to do a thorough review. Applicants can check their web logs and see if YC even looked at their stuff. Submitting early is probably a major advantage if it means they (YC) actually have time to take a gander at what you did.

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"Too pressed for time" is a valid reason for a rejection. If it doesn't sound compelling enough after the first sentence then you probably need to work on your pitch.

> If it doesn't sound compelling enough after the first sentence then you probably need to work on your pitch.

How compelling do these sound...

"Search engine" (Google)

"Computer languages" (MS)

"Directory of stuff on the web" (Yahoo)

"Online store builder" (ViaWeb)

"Computers for ordinary people" (Apple)

"Online photo album" (Flickr)

"Rate pictures of people you don't know" (HotOrNot)

"Blogging" (Blogger)

In many cases... "yet another X". Difference being in execution...

to me most those pitches sound compelling: Straight forward, tackle a big problem and you know what they're trying to do in well, one line ;-)

I only received 2 page views from them on April 2nd. I probably shouldn't have waited until the last minute to apply.

May I ask where the web logs I should look at are? (I see comments and submit logs)

I agree with you otherwise though. I think submitting the day before was... not a mistake... but I found YC a week before the deadline and spend the time working up an application and looking for a co-founder.

May I ask where the web logs I should look at are?

I think he's saying that you can check the logs of your own server.

ah... seems like yc had a note about checking something here for comments/questions. I thought he was referring to that.

If they have... had a question it would show up at the top of the page on this site.

He means, if you included an online demo, presumably on your own hosting space, check your web stats to see if/when/for how long they looked at it.

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