Y Combinator Fellowship 2015 Application Videos(topchart.io) |
Y Combinator Fellowship 2015 Application Videos(topchart.io) |
* New entries start with a vote of 0, the poster has to actually up-vote their own submission to get it to 1 (as opposed to automatically making it 1 like on reddit).
* The ranking appears to be a sum of up votes, only. Links that are added later (like now), show up at the very bottom and it's unlikely will reach the top. In a situation like this, to get attention, you're creating a race to post first. Consider some type of rank deterioration similar to reddit/HN.
The second part really is irritating, given that new products are at the bottom of the pit and hidden under multiple 'Load More' with the slightest chance of anyone resurrecting it.
http://www.evanmiller.org/how-not-to-sort-by-average-rating....
As for ranking, I'm thinking of a good way to solve that problem. I'm sure I'll come up with something good. Rank deterioration is a good idea, will look into it more and weigh options.
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.
Keep in mind, we're a very early stage company. Our video reflects that, and our product video reflects the early product we have shipped (although we do hope you download and try Cuddli instead of just watching the video!). With the wide distribution and high profile that anything linked to YC is likely to attract, we may well be creating an impression with potential future partners, investors, and employees. This is likely the reason why most of the startups in this competition haven't chosen to make their video public.
It would probably be a good idea to have an email displayed somewhere, a 'contact us' section and, ideally, a way to leave feedback easily (without logging in, etc.).
TopChart looks good! It took me a second to realize the chart wasn't a Y-Combinator site.
I guess this is an allegory of the modern financial system, huh?
Just a heads up- your signup/login forms are unencrypted.
It's fine for a demo, but if you're going to put it out there like this, you should really throw some SSL on there.
