It baffles me that some people put so much into the video but don't actually put effort to read or adhere to the guidelines [1] for it. They clearly ask - no script, no background music, no postproduction.
Good luck to everybody though!
Good luck to everybody though!
Note that startups apply for a _lot_ of stuff, and we have seen a pattern that teams that look more professional are more likely to be selected (regardless of stated criteria). We're also based in Hollywood, so the kind of video stuff we just make ourselves in a weekend project tends to end up looking reasonably professional.
At the end of the day, startups are rarely successful based on careful adherence to all guidelines, and we think our business is a lot more exciting than our demo and founder videos. Hopefully the YC reviewers think the same.
Spending hours on the video is probably worse, too. The peak is maybe around 15-30 minutes, from the videos I've seen of YC teams. Talking points, decent lighting, decent audio (phone headset is fine), not a memorized script, maybe a couple takes if you really fuck up.
I wish I could've covered everything I wanted to cover naturally but in the end I felt a disconnect between what I wanted to say and what I was able to say. Then again maybe that makes me a worse candidate, but I hope I get a chance to show I'm not in interviews.