YC Applicants : The application teaches you to communicate well.
There is so much involved in getting from one end to the other that our minds begin to select answers for the ambiguities from day one.
The problem with this, is that when communicating our idea we often skip over those ambiguities because our mind now takes them for granted.
On, "What is your company going to make" I caught myself describing my implementation rather than my idea. It was similar to: "A web app that teaches robots to speak in idioms. It provides a typing interface and a keyword-sorting interface". The problem here is that everyone who reads this comes up with a visual to "interface" and makes an assumption.
The word "interface" was a variable in my mind for the visual representation of what I'm doing - and when reading it I was visualizing my exact interface. If you saw the demo, we would be on the same page. Without the demo, you are left to your own devices.
Be careful with leaving YC to their own assumptions due to the way you write. I recommend that you describe what the product does for the users rather than describe what how its implemented :
"A web app that teaches robot children how to speak in idioms. It provides a web UI which allows users to type out sentences and then apply keywords in order of highest to lowest relevance. The UI then hits the robot with a bolt of lightning from the cloud."
There. Now, the visual doesn't matter. They know what it does.
When you try to describe what you are going to build - especially if you have started to build it - all of the steps from text editor to user interaction must be dug up out of your brain and communicated unambiguously. Digging them out is painful, time consuming, and incredibly valuable.
I feel much better having only a small chance of getting into YC now that the application has been a catalyst for me to learn how to communicate my product. I would like you guys to also gain value from it.
Cheers,