One of my friends who did YC said something that stuck in my mind: "Getting into YC is like getting into Stanford. For 70% of people it's their zenith. Sure the other 30% go on to do amazing things, but for most people just getting in is the most impressive thing they ever do."
I found the perspective extremely motivating and it doesn't surprise me at all that he and his company have continued to do well.
It's weird people don't think about the other way around:
• Strive for success — period — and then Stanford/YC will want YOU.
At the end of the day it's about creating value. It's not made out of thin air. It's not made from a diploma. It's not made from an acceptance letter.
It's made by You.
(hopefully)
You couldn't have said it better. Nothing motivates me more than realizing that if I don't do something I care about myself, it won't happen.
I bet every investor out there would much rather fund the guy who says "I built this website with this basic feature set, got a few dozen customers and X revenue. My customers want these totally doable features. If you give me $Y, then I can hire more engineers or whatever to build them." than the guy who says "I have a really cool idea that I haven't done anything at all with yet. Give me $Millions and I'll do something awesome".
If your goal is to get funded, you're much more likely to get ignored. If your goal is to build something awesome with whatever is at hand, then the investors just might come to you.