Y Combinator W2011 application (my rejection email)

inDinero saw rejection many times before getting into Y Combinator...

We applied (and got rejected in the first round) from the U.C. Berkeley Business Plan competition first in spring of 2009, then again in the spring of 2010. We also got turned away from TechStars during Spring 2009. We also tried raising angel money in the summer of 2009 and couldn't get a single commitment.

It's not all fun and roses.

This kept us going for a while: http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html

Did the product improve between TechStars and YC? Or did the YC team see something in you that the others didn't 'get'?

we learned nothing from our rejections (other than the willpower to withstand rejection), and continued building our product.

I think we didn't get into TechStars because we were still wrapping up school. YC probably would have rejected us too.

It was also because you hadn't graduated school yet, if I remember correctly from your interviews (e.g. This Week in Startups).

Why didn't you apply to YC in first place ? Or any specific reason to apply to others first ?

I find this interesting, because is it wise to apply to YC with an idea and face rejection or keep building and working on your product until you meet the common sets of attributes that YC looks for in founders. Thus making a better first impression and progressing the product further.

My opinion is that YC is a catalyst to further your startup and not the end all to make things happen.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm still in a pretty good mood despite being declined.

I quit my job yesterday and I'm going to be working on my (3rd) startup full time.

It's liberating to become completely dependent on your own ability.

Bootstrapping: "a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help"

What are your other startups? What's your ongoing startup? Do you have a resume ? :)

I just quit yesterday too!! I feel happy and stupid, because in my situation I'm the only bread winner in my family, so they're really dependent on me for money (even though I'm only 21).

But I was getting miserable at work because all I wanted to do was work on my startup. I'm looking for other seed funding now since I can't afford to bootstrap. Let's see how this turns out. And let's hope my family doesn't starve.

I'm available to freelance as a UX/Mobile designer for anyone hiring in nyc! Money to tide us over as I work on my startup would be nice :)

I just got my rejection letter too. I have to say, though, that the whole experience has been great. Filling out the application really made me think a lot about my business, and what my pitch is.

It's amazing the clarity that comes from writing the answers to those questions down and making that video.

Good luck to everyone who hasn't been rejected yet! :)

Yup I agree, same here!

Yah man! It gave me clarity. That was nice. :P

Pardon the poetry if it is not your thing, but this one by Gibran always lifts my spirits after I fail.

"Defeat" by Khalil Gibran

Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude and my aloofness; You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs, And sweeter to my heart than all worldglory.

Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance, Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot And not to be trapped by withering laurels. And in you I have found aloneness And the joy of being shunned and scorned.

Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield, In your eyes I have read That to be enthroned is to be enslaved, And to be understood is to be levelled down, And to be grasped is but to reach one's fulness And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.

Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion, You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences, And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings, And urging of seas, And of mountains that burn in the night, And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.

Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage, You and I shall laugh together with the storm, And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us, And we shall stand in the sun with a will, And we shall be dangerous.

If getting rejected by YC is going to stop you, consider that you might not have the determination needed to found a startup.

I'm considering putting together a friends-and-family round for my startup now. The YC email was just one data point on the path.

The secret about rejection is... succeed in spite of the people that rejected you!

:-)

Agree with first sentence, not so with the second!

Pagerduty told me that they applied 4 times. They eventually got in and also got funding after Demo Day.

There is always next time, and then 2 more times after that. :-)

Was it on the same idea or different one's?

In the summer of 2008 I asked out two girls and promptly got rejected by both of them ironically on the same day.

A few months later I asked another girl out.

Two snowstorms and a few years later, the third girl is now my wife.

Rejection isn't always bad.

You married the third girl you ever asked out?

I married the first one, over half a life time ago. Some times you just get lucky.

Edit: Before I get uber-up/down-voted into oblivion and challenged because I am not 50, the accurate version of this statement should read "I married the first one, whom I started dating over half a life time ago". Still going strong though :)

Wow.. you're the only person I'm aware of where that actually worked out for the best. Congratulations!

Thanks. I was incredibly lucky, both in meeting her and in how shared challenges helped us build a very strong friendship over the next several years to support what started as an infatuation. I am aware of how rare it is and don't recommend making life changing decisions like marriage based solely on romantic notions of first love.

I'm still with the first person I ever dated, almost 13 years later :) we're not interested in the marriage thing, or we'd probably be married! There's a lot to be said for good communication, shared experiences, and open minds. That probably goes the same for a startup too, haha. :)

Third girl in 2008, yes.

I feel better after finally receiving an answer. This quote comes to mind:(Heheheh)

"I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT PEOPLE LIKE ME AS A MEMBER". - Groucho Marx

I know getting rejected brings disappointment. Hope this quote can cheer you guys up:

Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once. - Drew Houston, co-founder, Dropbox (@drewhouston)

http://startupquote.com/post/604060576

I would prefer to say 'not seleted' instead of saying 'rejected' . Getting not selected giving me lots of energy and Ideas for future. This is amazing.

That's actually a subtle-but-important distinction. Everyone so far seems to be describing this using the word "rejection", which can carry some pretty strong connotations, especially in the geek/tech crowd.

I wonder if changing the wording of the "not selected" email slightly would cause people to stop associating it with rejection?

In 2006 I met with many investors in Moscow, Russia, but the meeting ended unsuccessfully. Distance I then? Honestly, yes. But I was sure that they are just complete morons and do not understand what I did. I brought everything to the end and one year after the launch of my project was bought Fontlab, and now my technology used in Adobe Illustrator CS 5. I was upset now, after the YC rejection? Yes. But I really thought a great project and bring it to the end. We make a new Google. 2 people, Moscow. If you're interested, let me know - bourdine@gmail.com

Definitely don't be upset if you're not selected. There are quite a few YC funded startups that failed and I'm pretty sure the same could be said about some startups that were rejected by YC and ended up becoming very successful. Remember YC isn't a necessity, it's just an advantage.

Just to add to the other comments, don't let this bother you.

Remember, your goal is to build a solid tech business, not appease YC or anyone else. Not to take away from the value YC and PG add, but there were tech companies before YC, and its just a stepping stone to your final target.

Ultimately, all that matters is (a) awesome product/technology (b) users/customers.

More likely, if the problem you're solving isn't important, talk to real customers or find a friend you trust who will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woOu_4l3lio

I like this one better actually ; ) - "Failure" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc

Just out if curiosity, are acceptances confidential? Are people allowed to tell us if they've been accepted?

Acceptances are not confidential; it is up to the startup to determine when they'd like to release the news of their funding.

Most startups choose (wisely) to keep the funding news secret until they can use it for press purposes.

Ah, thanks for that. It's not the funding stage yet, though, is it? As I understand it, there's still the interview stage until YC decides whom to fund.

Whoops, you're right. It's really the same logic, though.

Another factor is likely the one behind this video: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/derek_sivers_keep_your_goa...

We were really nervous about getting to the interview stage, despite the greatly increased odds of being accepted once you get there.

If I remember correctly, I didn't tell anybody, including my family -- the fear of telling them I was probably going to get in and then having to tell them I didn't was just too great.

Ah, that's very prudent, you're right.

And you would know. You're not just a YCombinator winner, you're also founder of the very popular weebly.com ( http://www.weebly.com/ ).

:-)

I received the same exact letter lastyear for my music related startup. Word for word. You can email them directly to get more detailed info on exactly why they rejected you. I did it and got some good feedback.

Oh, really? I didn't know asking for more feedback was an option earlier this year. (In fact for some reason I thought they specifically said they wouldn't do that--maybe I'm thinking of something else.) Was that a one off or have other people had the same result?

For comparison, here is the rejection we received in late 2007 (for a two-founder business not in school willing to relocate):

"We're sorry to say we couldn't accept your proposal for funding. Please don't take it personally, because most of the proposals we rejected, we rejected for reasons having nothing to do with the quality of the applicants. For example, we were very reluctant to accept proposals with only one founder, because we think starting a startup is too much work for one person. We also had a higher threshold for applicants who were still in school, groups where one or more members planned to keep their current jobs, and groups that couldn't all move to California. We rejected a lot of proposals simply because we couldn't understand them, or didn't understand the problem domain well enough to judge them, or because the project seemed too big to start on only three months of funding. Sometimes we even rejected good ideas, because another group proposed the same idea and seemed further along.

"We realize this process is fraught with error. It's practically certain that groups we rejected will go on to create successful startups. If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email telling us about it; we want to learn from our mistakes."

When I got rejected from the MassChallenge business plan competition, I made a proposal that they didn't take but still think it might be valuable.

A "Best of the Rest" that could happen near the same time as maybe Demo day. Just adhoc come online and display the application video and details, and then show what we have done in the same time we would have been in SV.

I wasn't selected either. Our idea was Market Research compilers for scripting surveys and data processing. It's not directly a web related application and maybe the market is too niche and too small, but I'm sure I can create a subscription based business out of it. Prototypes of the compilers are hosted here http://sourceforge.net/projects/xtcc . Over the last month I've been working on Ramen profitability. I'm developing a tool that allows you to develop a web application using create table statements in about 20 minutes. It's hosted here http://github.com/neilxdsouza/codehelper.git and is coming along nicely. I will use it to take on some typical ERP-like projects for small companies where the big players feel the money is too small to pitch for ( like USD 1000 dollar projects)

I really like the way the this letter is crafted. It's sensitive to the founders, and is upfront about the reality: there are more promising groups than available spots. I'm struck not only by YC's admission that they will invariably miss good groups, but that they'd like to keep in touch to learn from their mistakes.

You certainly don't see that humility everyday from institutions of any size. Other organizations should take note. A personal tone goes a long way.

Hey folks, we are looking for co-founders, and would love to get with like minded people to shoot the sh*t. I have an email going around for a potential meetup in SFBayarea. Let me know if any of you are interested. rahulsharma2001@gmail.com

www.ikonblvd.com

2 pieces of advice:

1) Do not make me watch a video to see what you're doing. Write some text -- you should be able to explain it in one sentence and then have some supporting text if you want/need to clarify things.

2) If you really only have 2 employees and one of you is the CEO and one of you is the President, You're Doing It Wrong. Ditch those titles and just go for "founder" at most.

I like the last sentence of the rejection email, about the successful startups that were not selected by YC.

Does anybody have any specific information on this? I wonder what the most successful company is that has been rejected from YC?

Like I always say, this all will make for a good story one day right? :)

Yay! Rejected! Withing hours!!

Anyways, I wasn't waiting for YC to do a startup anyways. If you wanna do a startup, you don't wait for YC - you do it.

Off I go.

The rejection email would be better if:

1. It was addressed to the founders.

2. It had one or two bullet point suggestions/thoughts re: the application.

Imagine doing that for hundreds of applications.

Failure, sir, is not an option.

i got this letter once. no, actually twice. once from YC and once from techstars. i keep writing code though - and going to tech meetups - and looking for a partner (in chicago)...

Make your startup happen, continue regardless of the rejection.

My pitch was WikiTorrents.org, which is user-created lists of downloadable videos.

If you want to help me with some seed money, regardless of amount, maybe I can turn this whole thing into a positive. Email me at citizenkeys AT gmail DOT com .

Here is the WikiTorrents.org collection of YCombinator applicant videos: http://wikitorrents.org/wiki/ycombinator_applicants