Comment by chrisacky | Hacker News Reader

Comment by chrisacky | Hacker News Reader

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One point which I really was hoping to see covered in the OP article was timing.

Timing as to when to apply based on your startup's current roadmap.

We've been working on our startup for several months, will be ready to "pre-launch" beta right around the time we submit our application.

This leaves us in somewhat of a schism. A lot of discussions that I have briefly had with other entrepreneurs mention that they have either:

A) Just come up with an idea and are in the beginning development stage; or

B) Are already launched and are starting to pick up solid traction.

We are going to be in the middle of this, and will be starting to "pre-launch" at the beginning of next month with a solid MVP. So we would actually have quite a lot to show you in this application.

And then secondly, when it comes to the application, what do you prefer, direct links with logins to a live demo, or a 2-3 minute demo video of our startup discussing how we will plan to penetrate the market with our application.

I have a related question, though at a more micro scale: how early should we submit our application for the summer 2012 class?

The application page says that "Groups that submit early have a significant advantage because we have more time to read their applications." It also says we can edit and resubmit as often as we like. Based on this, we'd be inclined to submit as soon as we've completed all parts of the application to our own minimum standard of satisfaction, then update as needed.

However, I've seen pg say in another HN thread that YC does not reread applications when they are resubmitted, "so submit when you're ready for us to read it the only time we'll read it."

I perceive the trade-off to be that the earlier we submit, the more time YC partners have to read our application and engage with us, but the less time we have to improve the application itself before submitting (better demo, more up-to-date answers, etc). Do pg and the alumni have any advice on this question?

I realize the answer may end up being "you will need to evaluate that tradeoff and decide for yourself."

You will need to evaluate that tradeoff and decide for yourself.

Timing doesn't matter to us. Timing matters more as you talk to successively later stage investors. E.g. it matters more for series B rounds than A rounds. It doesn't matter at all when you're applying to YC.

For the demo we greatly prefer a link to the actual thing.

Timing doesn't matter to us.

Why is that?

How much does it matter for a large ($0.5-2MM) angel round?

We care mostly about the founders.

Timing matters for $2 million. It matters for $500k if you're unknown, but possibly not if you're not.

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