Is my non-computer hack what YC is looking for? | Hacker News Reader

Is my non-computer hack what YC is looking for?

6 pointsmrkmcknz4 comments

This is my proudest hack throughout my life, but is it what YC are looking for:

"In 2007 I realised my parents were struggling financially despite what I previously thought were solid incomes and jobs. The increasing cost of living and a stagnant income meant that net pay simply wasn’t going the distance. I wrote to my father’s and mother’s employers asking if he could become self-employed consultants in order to write off high commuting costs and work related expenses against income. Despite the extraordinary nature of the request they both agreed, they thought it “made sense and anyway single clients consultants aren’t that unheard of!”

Not only did I bring about a more comfortable lifestyle to my family they are still to this day self employed and both have more then one client as of today. "

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I think that's definitely good enough. You see an important metric in gauging _good_ answers is also how succinctly you've been able to express yourself. It is not merely good enough to have done something cool. Especially for YC.

...of groups good enough to make it to interviews, more than half blow the application.

Indeed not surprising. Rephrase what you're trying to say so it brings out why this was so brilliant a hack in the least number of words possible. Rewrite it again.

We're looking for people who like to beat the system. So if the answer to this question is good enough, it will make me go back and take a second look at an application that otherwise seemed unpromising.

It is definitely one of the most important questions in the application. Think of other things you have done that might seem trivial to you but might be really brilliant. Talk to your friends. They might help.

In any case, best wishes for your YC Application.

* Excerpts from http://ycombinator.com/howtoapply.html

I've always taken non-technical hack to refer to the simplest, most direct and quickest reasonable solution to a problem. But, it also implies you have, at least, some insight into the the opportunity cost of doing something the 'right' way.

For example:

Mike spends 37 minutes & $18 preparing his daily meals (Mike only eats at home). 7 minutes and $3 for breakfast, 12 minutes and $6 for lunch and 18 minutes and $9 for dinner. He boils water for dinner 2x per week. By spacing those meals equidistant, putting the boiled goods in a metal strainer and lowering the strainer into the water (which saves him from having to pour out boiling water) and re-using the water to hard boil eggs, Mike can save 5 minutes and $1.50 per day.

I like it, it shows initiative and creativity, although it sounds a bit awkward if you sent the emails without asking your parents.

Some grammar/spelling errors in there as it's a rough .txt doc at the moment so apologies.

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