Ask HN: People who gave up on the YC/startup dream, what happened? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: People who gave up on the YC/startup dream, what happened?

17 pointsmr_puzzled8 comments

Without linking comments, I saw comments from more than 6 years ago where regular HNers applied to YC unsuccessfully. There was a lot of the youthful optimism and hustle in those comments that I see in myself now but many of those people are now either employed or contracting/consulting. This is in no way meant to look down on them or imply that a regular 9-5 is inferior to being a startup founder. It's just that it sucks when something that you really hoped would work out, didn't come to pass. I'm starting to realise that I may be another person who goes the same way. YC and startups may not work out for me. So how did you come to terms with the fact that the YC dream will never come to pass? How has your mentality regarding YC/startups changed over the years? What advice do you have for people who are in the position that you were in, a few years ago?

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I've been reading HN for a long time. I never attempted a startup, moved to the Bay Area or applied to YC, so I've always been on the outside looking in, but over the years software developer salaries continue to skyrocket and I've realized that financial independence is quite possible with a normal "boring" software development career. So I'm focused on maximizing compensation and savings while ensuring that I'm enjoying my day to day life.

My advice to people starting out: if you can save 50% of your take-home income in a month, you have a month of "runway" to do whatever you want, whether that's a startup on your own terms or something completely unprofitable.

Bootstrapping is gaining traction. It's just not mainstream yet. And it doesn't sound sexy.

https://indiehackers.com is literally HN of bootstrapping.

I think bootstrapping and sustainable growth are sexy. A bootstrapped company is like the cute, homely girl next door. Just because she's not a Victoria's Secret supermodel doesn't mean she isn't sexy! Lol

There is a heck of a lot of low quality content there lately. And a lot more drive by url dropping comments and posts, with no/little context.

People have been bootstrapping for thousands of years. Most business don't get VC money. I would say it is main stream. However in SV startup business its either go big or go home so it is hard to make it big without capital.

Beyond money YC is a brand. Its like harvard or stanford or google or facebook. Its good to have on your resume.

It's like colleges. You get the hype, everyone is talking about it and you feel like you have to be in one of the top schools in the world in order to make a difference. The truth is, it's over rated. Like MBA's, like top colleges, etc. There is a true value to YC, I do understand that, but it's business at the end of the day. The more money comes in, the happier the partners and investors. That value I'm referring to is the access to the network. Very similar to top MBA programs like I said right? It's like surrounding yourself with "yes" people. Eating your own dog food.

At the end of the day, if you decide to do something on your own, you'll do it no matter what. A ticket to Harvard is not what's gonna lead you to success. It's you and only you. YC comes as a distraction to a lot of people. They don't want to find a real solution to a real problem, they want to get into YC. That's their main motivation... not everyone of course, but in 2018 it feels like majority of the candidates are attracted by the hype. Unfortunately, if you keep squeezing the orange there won't be any juice left.

To answer your question, it takes time to get all the stars in line and to jump on a problem in a meaningful way. YC is a way to skip the line hopping you'll end up getting a ticket at the VIP party. I think some people got sick of it and became a little more patient. Waiting for a new way to make it and to become early adopters of that thing. Be a black sheep.

On my part, after 6 years of applying, I have 3x the salary and responsibility as an employee that I used to. Being more financially secure and feeling more professionally relevant are strong forces for complacency. But for me, the most important thing was realizing what it takes to be successful as a founder (and in getting into YC), and that I lacked those things: excellent co-founders, an MVP, and traction. While it is true that YC still accepts startups that have solo-founders, no product, or no traction, I don’t think it accepts many that lack all three traits. The furthest along I got at YC was when I had a real co-founder (not someone I roped into it) and a prototype. I’ll apply again when I have something useful to accelerate.

So I gave up on the dream of YC being dumb enough to look at me and say, “well, there are no signs of success here, but hell, let’s roll the dice and see what happens!”

Tangentially, in terms of seeing less passion for startups at HN, there has been a very distinct shift in HN’s content and focus that occurred when PG stopped participating in comments and stopped writing as many essays. It reached a tipping point sometime over the last year, where I now often ask, “Where have all the hackers gone?” My suspicion is that there is a private forum of YC alumni and friends, and friends of friends, that has replaced HN as the go-to destination for fascinating, insightful, and provocative discourse. Perhaps it isn’t private, and perhaps it isn’t YC alumni-based, but if you could have such conversations (again), would you want to reveal its existence to the masses? Not unless you wanted to see it become what HN has become: a fun but flimsy off-site subreddit.

Since I think this thread is going to be overlooked by most people, I’d like to make the case for clueing me in here and sending me an invite. ;)

Forgive me for sounding harsh, but it sounds like your real startup idea is "to get into YC". If you believe in your thing, then do it. Life is short, and being poor is not great, but better than being rich and unhappy.

Why is YC a "dream"? YC and other forms of capital are tools to speed you up. If you can't speed up, trudge along with the rest of us mere mortals, get more paying customers, and grow organically. If you cannot execute your business without capital, revise your business model and see what you can do to kickstart sales process.

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