Y Combinator interview decisions postponed to November 15 | Hacker News Reader

Y Combinator interview decisions postponed to November 15

198 pointspg96 comments

We originally intended to invite people to YC interviews on November 13. But we pushed the application deadline back by 3 days because of Sandy, and it turns out there is just not that much slack in the system. We need more time to read applications, so we're going to push back our deadline too, to November 15.

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Good luck everybody.

If you fail, don't worry, keep learning, iterating and hustling.

We failed last time, made some changes and then successfully raised from great early stage investors.

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Wow, I didn't know how the scrolling worked until I looked at my scroll bar. It's neat! A great sense of design.

Nice looking site... congrats

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great job! great attitude! who did you raise from and how did failing at YC application help you? I've applied for this cycle. Waiting eagerly.

We eventually raised from SV Angel, Floodgate, TechCrunch co-founder Keith Teare (Archimedes Labs) and others. We had enough offers to raise 1M, we took only 700K.

We didn't get much feedback during the interview; Paul, Robert and Trevor didn't give us a hard time, they actually liked the product. 10 minutes feels like a minute.

But the vision we pitched them was rough around the edges. We re-branded the product and changed market positioning completely right after.

You're awesome, thank you for the encouragement!

This gives me hope. Since I submitted early and have made a lot of improvements since, I'm crossing my fingers that they'll either check out the app in its current state or we'll get another chance.

BTW, checked out M.Dot and PoweryBase. Good job dude.

FYI. Shifting by a couple of days could significantly increase the cost for international applicants because international flight prices often increase steeply in the two weeks leading up-to the the flight date.

Paul Graham stated that the interview dates won't be adjusted, just the announcement:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4775020

It doesn't matter. If the announcement is made later you buy the tickets later which makes them more expensive.

Not only tickets matter for international applicants, I believe, there are a lot of applicants who have a visa-stuff going on... And this is more troublesome than expensive tickets.

US Embassies change from country to country so don't read this as gospel, but if you don't have your visa 15 days before the interviews you're probably too late now :(

Well,I think the tickets and visa stuff should be figured out by the applicants as soon as they submit their app assuming that you should get a call,cancellations might cost cheaper than booking at the last minute

I'm from France and personally don't mind paying more, as long as I get there and get a chance of serious funding... Even though my finances are extremely limited

I would cross my fingers but then I wouldn't be able to code very well. Good luck everyone!

Good luck to you too :)

yeah my code has started to have a variable ycRefresh too often.

Any applicants (past, present, future) interested in having an informal meetup this weekend? Whether we get good news or bad news on the 15th, getting together would be a great morale boost and it'll be fun to meet everyone! I happen to be in Silicon Valley, but I'll be there in spirit for fellow applicants everywhere else :)

Contact info's in the profile. Good luck to everyone!

I am game.

Cheers! Gokul SolutioNXT Inc 408-477-4102(c)

I've created a separate post for this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4775943

People from other areas are welcome to start comment threads based on location.

This sounds awesome, NYC anyone?

Thanks for the update. Good luck everyone.

While we wait I thought i'd create a friendly competition for all the y Combinator January hopefuls. Enter your product or team video here: http://www.topthat.com/brandon/yCombinatorProductVideo

Thank you for the update and I look forward to 11/15. From looking at the website, all of the photos are primarily male, so I am hoping to add some female diversity to Y Combinator for 2013. What women wouldn't want to be surrounded buy hundreds of intelligent men for three months? :)

Will this affect interview dates?

No.

Thanks for the update!

But my f5 key is almost worn out! :) This makes perfect sense, best of luck getting through the applications and thanks for postponing the applications for those effected by the hurricane.

Yeah, hopefully everyone on the east code made it through the hurricane and its aftermath okay! It really gave me a perspective on communities helping each other in the local area, even when the government doesn't come in right away. I'm hoping next time around, we'll be able to have tools that enable people to come together and organize more easily. It makes me feel sorry we've taken this long to launch our stuff. Could have used it.

But more than that, of course, I'd rather there not be a next time.

I love that "east code" lapsus! Keep coding and good luck to everyone!

To the applicants here. I'm using YouTube stats as a metric whether or not our application was read. We have 5 videos in the application: 1 team video that was watched by someone from YC; 3 videos about teams' past work - only one was watched from California in the last 10 days, and we can't be sure it's someone from YC because it's a public video; 1 video showing the proof of concept of our product - not watched. So, I'm guessing this is a bad sign for our application? :)

I'm not part of YC so take this with a grain of salt, but I don't think that not viewing videos is necessarily a bad sign based on comments I've seen from the YC founders about the subject. Videos are mainly viewed to see the chemistry between founders. Someone posted on HN the other day who said that last batch their video had 2 views and they got an interview. As long as your written application has all the relevant info, I wouldn't worry about this stuff.

As far as I know, the applications are scored as they are seen, the scores are averaged, and the top n% are invited. So you shouldn't read into the number of views you get.

I have no visits too, maybe we were so convincing the video was not necessary! :)

We understand.

Sandy made a HUGE impact in the Northeast. I was so appreciative that you extended the deadline a few days for that corridor. Although, that would of meant I could of gone to my best friends wedding...

More time to read applications and give second glances is a plus to ALL of us. Thank you for deciding to alot enough time to make an informed and educated decision about your startup companies.

We look forward to the 15th!

Something told me, to search YC interviews,was beginning to think that i was on the receiving end of bad news or no news at all. On the contrary,more time should give applicants a overly decent review and decision. Good luck to every one, hope to see most of you and hearing/collaborate during the program,. Also, thanks to YC for the update and present opportunity. !

Thanks for the heads up. I think everyone is waiting impatiently to hear back from you guys. Good call on extending the deadline too.

One question though: I have been checking this site every day for any potential questions from YC regarding my product / startup, just by scanning the "new" and "ask" sections for anything that may be related.

Is there a simpler way to spot if there was a question directed at me?

Thanks!

I wondered this too, and was worried I'd miss questions. I poked around though and found this on quora: http://b.qr.ae/UDFIqn

Apparently questions are not super common.

I remember a few years ago they asked me a question about my application. It was pretty easy to spot. If I remember, the topcolor changed and there was a new menu option that took me to the question (it basically looked like any other story on HN, except only me and pg were commenting).

Now I kind of wish I took a screenshot.

I read a post about this on quora, it's actually very rare that they will ask questions. It's the exception rather than the rule.

If the interview also gets pushed back, then that's 3 more days to work on our product... assuming we get in that is.

Good Luck Everyone

You're playing with lots of anxiety here pg! Anyway, hope to see you soon in our interview :) Good luck everyone!

That was expected (given the deadline change) but the notice is highly appreciated. Like everyone else, we spent a lot of time going over the application and fine-tuning it. Personally speaking, we are glad you're taking a comparable time reviewing the application given Sandy and all.

Whatever the outcome, us start-ups should always takes things in their stride and focus on the end goal. I've always held the belief that things happen for a reason and if you works hard towards something, you will get it, even if it was not the intended path.

Totally agree. Fundraising is a tactic, not a strategy.

It makes sense only if you're doing stuff you would have done anyway to build the company.

Read news about 3.2M round by Amicus (YC-S2012). Feel very excited! We're solving the same problem in another way - combining micropayments and social graphs for non-profit fundraising. Looking forward for Day X! Good luck everyone!

Thanks for the update being in the UK with the time difference we were beginning to wonder if it was bad news but gladly we are still in with a chance. Good luck to all of you and hopefully we'll get to meet you in January 2013!

Thanks for the update.I am from India so got this news now. Now the fingers are crossed. I hope for the best. And Also would like to wish you all a Very Happy Diwali.. (Indian Festival Of lights).....

More time - a more thorough review process; Perhaps getting an extra minute on their application shall be the deciding factor for some applications =)

Good luck to All!

Believe in your vision and Never give up!!

Question... I know it's a small chance of getting a response at all but if you do how do you get it? I haven't found an inbox / messaging area of any description... Cheers

You will get a response wether you're accepted or not. It'll be sent to the email of the person who filled out the form.

Ah ok, thanks for the info. Cheers Rob

(3)more days? :( I need a cigarette! (I don't even smoke)

Thanks for the heads up. I was curious as to what the outcome was. It sounds like applications are really looked at in depth. That's really good to hear!

Thanks for the heads up. Like everyone here, we our excited to hear your decisions! Looks like we need to be a bit more patient with this one.

Thanks for notifying us, but I'm not sure I can take three more days of suspense waiting to find out! Best of luck to all those who applied!

Thanks for the update, much appreciated. Couple of extra days of chewing my fingers off waiting in anticipation ;-)

The suspense is killing us!

To others who have went through this before, do you hear back wether you get an interview or not?

Good luck everyone.

Thanks for this added transparency! Good luck to all my fellow applicants...I am also down for the meetup!

I am nine hours ahead in London, I was actually getting quite nervous, this is tense. Good luck everyone!

Any Canadians applying from Ontario? If yes, would love to meet in the Toronto area.

Wish everyone the very, very best!

I'm based out of Markham. Where are you from?

Kingston (at Queen's University).

I am in London too.

Based in London. :)

Confused ..is this London in (UK or Canada), if anyone interested in meeting in UK drop me a line, info on profile

Canada.. I was replying to the question of other Canadian applicants. :)

I'm based in Toronto. Glad to meet up!

Waterloo!

I'm anxiously waiting - but programming nonetheless :) Any other teams/solo developers in Houston?

Appreciate the heads up, thank you.

Good luck, everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing the next generation of YC startups launch.

Good luck to all. When did most people apply? We applied a few days before the 30th.

I'll say it...I'm nervous.

Has everyone on the edge of their seat! Excited. Good luck to all.

Thanks for the heads up on the date shift, much appreciated.

how productive is everyone today? my email client is getting a lot of attention and my dev. env. is not getting much use. LOL. Good Luck to all.

Don't worry too much, the emails usually start going out around 7PM Pacific so there's not much to do until that hour.

Thanks for the notification and goodluck everyone!

Tough decisions, I'm sure. Looking forward to it!

Good decision. Best of luck to everyone applying!

Anticipation is the purest form of pleasure...

Looking forward. thanks for the update.

Good luck everyone!

Fly. Wall. Me. Wishing to be one.

No worries. Thanks for the notice.

What? I was accepted by YCombinator? I am so stoked...I go to tell this to all my friends.....yeeeaaaaaaaaaaa

I imagined that I won. why is there a thumb down?

Awesome!! See you guys there!

And the tension continues.

Ohh,its Diwali in India,so had bought extra crackers for the result...wud save them for 15th :)

Thanks for the heads up

Thanks for update!

Pins and needles

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