Ask HN: What are my chances of getting accepted to YC?

3 points by alexchu 15 years ago | 11 comments

I was just introduced to this wonderful site a couple weeks ago. I gotta say this is such an amazing resource and thanks to everyone for sharing their insights.

I'm a designer working in the entertainment industry, but I've always been an entrepreneur at heart since I was a kid. Like most entrepreneurs, I'm really good at what I do, but I've always felt confined working for someone else on someone else's projects.

A couple years ago. I stumbled across an idea that I just couldn't resist passing on. With very little knowledge in hacking, I knew I couldn't do it myself and had to hire some help. Long story short, I took a good 2 months studying the structure and the knowledge I need to communicate with hackers and designers. After that, I went on to an outsourcing site and hired a phenomenal team to build my product together. It was a great experience, learning all aspects of the trade from doing the actual design to managing a small team of developers remotely. After months of development, we're almost ready to push the product out to closed beta, and I'm very excited with the work that I've done so far.

So I guess my question is, does YC accept founders with no programming / business background? What if I have a working prototype and a good profit model to prove that I can put a project together from start to finish?

I know eventually I will have to find a technical co-founder or hire a local hacker but that's really out of the question until i can secure more funding.

cperciva 15 years ago |

Every 6 months, there's a flurry of posts to HN from people who were surprised that they were not accepted into YC. A few months later, as YC companies announce themselves, there's a flurry of stories about how people were surprised that they were accepted.

Moral of the story? It's really hard to predict which startups will be accepted. You might as well apply; from what you've said there's certainly nothing which definitively rules you out.

pg 15 years ago |

I know eventually I will have to find a technical co-founder or hire a local hacker but that's really out of the question until I can secure more funding.

Why do you think it's out of the question?

alexchu 15 years ago | |

oh, i mean it's out of the question to hire someone local because of the bootstrapping situation now. I've been funding development out of my own pocket until this point. I'm starting to look for a co-founder now.

rrhoover 15 years ago |

As others have stated, it's not absolutely mandatory to have a technical co-founder but it will certainly increase your odds of being accepted and successfully executing your project.

It sounds like you're making the assumption that a technical co-founder requires capital. In most cases, founders split equity and money doesn't enter the equation until you're funded. Have you attended local meetups (some communities have "co-founders wanted" gatherings) or gone to networking events to search for a founder?

Also take a look at this similar question that was asked on Quora: http://www.quora.com/How-important-is-it-to-have-a-technical...

brk 15 years ago |

It's free to apply, so you should. Just filling out the app will force you to think about some things you may not have already.

Get a technical co-founder lined up, this increases your odds of acceptance (and overall success) significantly.

dstein 15 years ago |

Applying is free and can't hurt. But if you get rejected just remember that YC seems to use a kind of mold to decide if a company fits with their program. YC typically does not invest in pure technology or software companies (the kinds of companies that could be the next Google/Microsoft), generally preferring web-based apps that can be launched in 3 months or less. You can see the list of companies that YC has funded in the past at http://yclist.com. From that you can gleam whether you fit the mold.

YuriNiyazov 15 years ago | |

Is this even true?

Clustrix, Heroku, Cloudant, RethinkDB, dotcloud...

Jsarokin 15 years ago |

What do you have to lose? Nothing.

I guess this could be analogous to applying for college. Everyone wants to know what their chances of getting in are, etc. The best thing to do is just apply and let things fall into place.

You never know, getting into Y Combinator could be the best thing that ever happened to you, but on the other hand, not getting in could lead you on a path that turns you into a billionaire. You never know.

I'm applying for this next round as well.

alexchu 15 years ago |

thanks for the advice guys. Good thing my site is already designed around a lot of the questions asked on the app. I'm working on a project that i believe will bring e-learning to the next level. If anyone's interested in working together please feel free to contact me:)

coryl 15 years ago |

Mathematically, you have a 3 - 4.5% chance or less, based purely on numbers.

Mz 15 years ago |

Even if you don't apply, I encourage you to start filling out the application as a mental exercise. Starting to fill it out may also give you a better feel for whether or not you really want to apply.