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Comment by rprasad | Hacker News Reader

TL;DR: YC's formal application process is broken. The new application process is to send beer or other gifts directly to the YC partners.

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Actually what really blew me away was how much of the app was working and ready to go. Most people who pitch this idea end up not doing much more than some initial planning.

Apoorva had the iPhone app written, tens of thousands of items already in the database, and working with delivery people he had already hired. While the beer was nice, it really hammered home how much he had already done.

This case was exceptional because of how late he was to apply. 90% of yc startups come in via the regular process, and nearly all of the companies that send gifts are not accepted into yc.

But of course everyone is free to re-interpret the facts to fit their own self-defeating narratives...

>90% of yc startups come in via the regular process

I feel that it might then be safe to assume that accepted/applied_through_regular_process < accepted/applied_through_other_means ... the game then becomes being part of that 10% :)

In my experience this is very true for most application situations with a low acceptance rate. If you're standing out by doing something vastly different, you'll already get more consideration than most. I once got into a very competitive neuro-science grad program by claiming in my application that I won't be able to answer any technical interview questions because I'm from a different field, but I could be useful in building an interdisciplinary team and helping with modeling/simulations.

Yes, but has he not sent the beer, he would have not been accepted. Yes, or am I missing something?

Although PG is very good at politics and if tried hard he could semi-well explain you that white is black (to one of my comments he replied that the most important for YC is a team -- in that case why would he want to invest or work with one of the top 100s spammer? [1]), I have a hard time believing that when he pitched the first time, they could not understand the simplicity behind this idea and hence - get it right the first time, without a <strike>bribe</strike> beer being sent.

[1] http://gawker.com/5853754/the-seedy-spammy-past-of-airbnbs-c...

It's a grocery delivery company. It was more developed than the YC partners realized. That wasn't clear until actual groceries were delivered.

ok so what you saying is that he went through 2 or 3 interviews, afaik, and they havent asked him what business he is in? ("It's a grocery delivery company"), how far developed the MVP is? "It was more developed than the YC partners realized". and that actually a handful of smart people investing millions of dollars in never-ending train of startups couldn't imagine that a grocery delivery company is actually ... delivering groceries??

here, can we press it together? http://www.shopgadgetsandgizmos.com/product/4429/

No, the only interview was after the grocery delivery. Prior to that, none of the YC partners were interested enough to meet with him.

Too true. Perhaps the best answer to "How do get into YC with my start up?" is to just do it. Create a prototype and get feedback. Those things are needed with or without YC acceptance.

Remembering from my YC application, somebody did check the demo URL, so don't assume they wont.

It's not that he sent beer, it's that he sent beer with his own service. He was able to prove it worked, to an audience that needed that level of ease of use to be convinced it would work. The fact that he would get a free six-pack out of it was, I'm sure, an after-thought. After all, who knows if Garry even likes beer? ;)

Speaking of which, how getting six-pack of beer proves that the service works? I can ask my friend to drop a six-pack of beer at your door, does it prove I own a working grocery delivery service? Of course they already know a lot about the guy from his application, but IMHO sending beer doesn't actually prove anything. It does make the applicant stand out I guess and shows high motivation and thinking out of the box, which I guess are important.

It's easy to skim over an application and miss how much of the service is actually working. A demo is clearer.

That's a rather depressing interpretation of his article. I thought what he did was quite clever; by demonstrating his product he really made them understand quickly how it worked.

And that post shows exactly why you should never trust a TL;DR: it entirely misses the point.

1) YC's "formal application process" isn't some kind of heavily argued constitution that has centuries of tradition behind it and will never be changed. It's what a few people thought was a good idea and has changed with every intake (whether it be the questions that were asked or the way they were reviewed). I suspect YC would say of course the application process it broken, but it is what we have now, and next intake will fix something we saw wrong with this intake.

2) The "new application process" has ALWAYS been to show initiative and that what you have is something that people want.

3) I'm not a HN partner, but I'll tell you a secret way into YC anyway: deliver them 100kg of moon rocks. If you can do that I guarantee they will fund you, and if they don't then I'll do it myself[1].

4) If you wonder what moon rocks have to do with YC then understand this: Instacart did something impossible: they made YC consider accepting them late. In itself that make them interesting to YC. Yes, this is a circular argument, but action when there is incomplete knowledge is something YC has to be comfortable with.

TL;DR: missed the point entirely.

[1] This post has the legal standing of something someone wrote on the internet. That said, if you can give me 100kg of moonrock, then I'll do anything possible to give you $12,000 for 8% of whatever your (appretnyl working!) anti-gravity/space elevator/alien trade port company is. Hell, I'll take 1%.

It's not going to work for the next 100 unimaginative wannabes that are guaranteed to try it.

...and from the other side Y Combinator partners will receive 100 beer bottles for free :D Not that bad

I guess I should cancel the pizza delivery by dancing clowns then. Oh well.

YC is all about building something people want. Garry Tan clearly wanted a 6 pack of beer that day. Either that, or the other partners were jealous and wanted to know how they could order their own 6 packs.

Anyways, this guy got in because he built something people wanted. Do not try this unless you have an actual product.

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