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Comment by nkotov | Hacker News Reader

I went through YC in S20. The number one question I get from those who apply is, "Is it worth it?". For me personally, 100 percent worth it. The application process alone makes you think through questions you probably haven't thought of before. It's worth it if you are building a venture scalable business. It's also worth it for the people that you get to meet. As someone who lives outside of SV, it opened a new door for me that was previously unavailable.

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I feel like I've read this exact comment before on another "Apply to YC!" thread.

So I went through and applied for the first time, and honestly, I felt like a lot of the questions were very obvious? Could be because I come from a finance / business background vs. a CS background, but I was shocked that people would consider these questions non-obvious.

Hopefully this doesn't come off as arrogant. If it helps, I was rejected from YC, so perhaps I hadn't thought through the questions enough!

I think you are right but even being obvious the questions it doesn't mean your answers were good or what they were expecting.

Programmers like making cool things without regard to profit.

That’s why programming and business development are different skill sets

This an interesting reply. I did not read it as arrogant. Can you share what questions you felt were obvious?

I've never been thru YC, though I know many who have.

Unless you are already well-informed, well-connected, and well-resourced, it seems like a no-brainer.

(1) Education (2) Connections (3) Near-guaranteed seed fundraising

And two of those three you keep even if you don't wind up succeeding.

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