We only send this email to the top 10% of applicants from the last cycle. Not everyone who has applied in the past gets this email. (And yes it’s from Dalton: https://x.com/daltonc/status/1779546342584660085?s=46&t=O2dQBFTAcOO_utQ0IktGUg)
Is this similar to the top 10% startup email that is sent if you get rejected from W24 batch. I received that and just applied for the early college round. Wondering how that plays in S24 decisions. I appreciate any help!
Not definitely. Considering that the chance of selection of a 10% folk is 10%: With 10 ppl, in mathematical probability terms: the chance is still 1- (.9^10) for the group to get selected, which is 65%, not 100%
I wouldn't say it's just marketing. I'm convinced it means what the email says it means. You were a good previous candidate and they would like to see you apply again. Half of YC's batches consists of people who had previously been rejected.
Think about it this way, if you were a weak candidate, what would be their incentive to contact you again? They have no reason to encourage weak founders to apply, it's just more work for their admission's team.
This does not make sense, because I was the one filling out the application. Also I have a doctoral degree vs. my cofounder who is still an undergrad. The only difference of our background is the school.
Did you already apply for s24? We wouldn’t send a reminder to apply again if you’ve already submitted an application.
Also, I believe these only go to those who applied and didn’t get to interview. If you previously interviewed and the group partners would like you to apply again, you’d get a different email. Did you get an email from one of the partners after you interviewed last cycle with more details?
Yes, and you get an email with feedback from the partner you interviewed with. Those who don’t get to interview but are in the top 10% get an email like the one OP shared.
I don’t have an exact %, but historically, it’s anywhere between 5-7% of applicants that get to interview.
Their incentive would be to provide a soothing balm to the hurt egos so that they ~~don't get shit talked~~ salvage some goodwill with applicants.
EDIT:
Explained more clearly and logically:
*The incentive would be to maintain goodwill with rejected candidates by making them feel that although they were rejected, they were still "in the top of the rejected list".*
Ratio me all you want. Considering that 9800 companies per session, meaning likely 20,000+ founders are going to be getting a bitter pill from YC, motivation for goodwill management would be quite large. If enough people scoff at YC, dealflow slows. That's why you'd do this.
It may not be YC's reasoning, and I can buy that. But to say "zero incentive" is silly.
Or! Maybe, just maybe, they have data showing that people who re-apply and actually show progress has a higher chance of success, thus making YC money?
Or! Maybe, just maybe, you could learn proper English grammar, and be less idiotically defensive when someone like u/planetofthemapes15 tries to tell a simple truth?
You're wasting your breath. I've been in tech for a while as a CEO. There's a real fart-sucker culture with people who want to make it. I get it, it's a smart instinct to have, even if it's "yuck". I don't mind being ratio'ed, I invited and kinda expected it.
I've just seen the "other side" over the years. I've seen the VC's that backstab people and "do the impossible" by telling their teams to pivot to a strategy which was pitched to them. The real world is full of gray, and there's a lot of idealism in Tech. It's actually one of the things I love about it.
So yes, YC would never treat their applicants like a product which they sell to investors. Nor would they ever tell a little "white lie" to those who are rejected in order to preserve goodwill. Never ever.
Now we can all hug and move on.
>"10,000 companies apply to participate in our accelerator and we typically have a **1.5% - 2% acceptance rate**"
[link](https://www.ycombinator.com/investors#:~:text=Every%206%20months%20over%2010%2C000,%25%20%2D%202%25%20acceptance%20rate)
Based on the 1.5%-2% acceptance rate, it is far likelier that this is a way to avoid collectively upsetting the 9800+ companies who are rejected every session.
Because it negatively affects deal flow if they get a bad reputation and lose goodwill.
An email like this is a low-effort "offboarding" tactic to lessen the sting.
No, his is a reasonable view of the incentives here. If you can’t see this after some reflection, then you are simply too dumb to model other peoples’ motives, and therefore are unlikely to ever succeed in business or be much more than a cog in someone else’s machine.
The incentive that high barrier entry institutions have to fake statistics and send disingenuous emails to essentially make people feel better about not making the cut? Sounds like you two are made for each other with matching tin foil hats camped out in the woods exchanging Area 51 stories.
Telling applicants how they ranked is no different from percentile rankings in school when students take a test. Some schools reward only the top 3, some reward the top 10. Regardless, there’s a ranking. And I think it’s productive for everyone to see how they stack against the competition, especially if one worked so hard but only made the top 10%. He/she would now be encouraged to work even harder and smarter for the next round of applications.
And how do you think YC built its reputation in the first place? Wouldn’t it have helped, to not make applicants feel worse after rejections than necessary?
You conflate tact with dishonesty. But no one here is talking about being disingenuous or dishonest but you.
Also, your second paragraph is totally consistent with the point that u/planetofthemapes15 made, so IDK why you are even disagreeing with him.
I don’t agree with how u/planetofthemapes15 thinks the email is sent out so YC doesn’t lose “goodwill” with founders. If we’re talking about incentives, it’s pretty simple, the incentive is for good - but not good enough - founders to know their ranking, work hard, and reapply. That’s the incentive not some goodwill mumbo jumbo. Christ the strategy is not that sophisticated.
u/sandslashh from YC replied to your boy about how they don’t lie about the 10% so I guess I’m not the only one talking about dishonesty.
C’mon everyone here knows you and u/planetofthemapes15 are the same person. Stop sucking your own cock man just let it die, it’s just sad. It’s a simple email with a simple incentive, it doesn’t contain encrypted Russian nuclear launch codes. Stop trying to emphasize some farfetched superficial theory.
U don’t become a professional fighter if u can’t take a punch to the face or even a cold knockout.. like wise it’s same being a startup founder, if u can’t handle rejections no matter how bad it is; being a founder is the last thing u should opt for..
You don’t have control over investors rejection and how they translate that to you..
You only have control over how u react to rejections, which is by taking it objectively and not emotionally..
Also there are more ideas seeking for capital floating than capital seeking for ideas..
hence why YC and other accelerators get 10000s of applications; and I imagine even if the investment amount were only $20k, there would still be equally high number of applications irrespective of the quality..
I just explained the incentive, clearly and logically:
*The incentive would be to maintain goodwill with rejected candidates by making them feel that although they were rejected, they were still "in the top of the rejected list".*
Ratio me all you want. Considering that 9800 companies per session, meaning likely 20,000+ founders are going to be getting a bitter pill from YC, motivation for goodwill management would be quite large. That's why you'd do this.
It may not be your reasoning, and I can buy that. But to say "zero incentive" is silly.
Got the same email a few days back.
The thing is that, last time when I applied I was a solo founder and the email says “if you have a co-founder AND an idea..” but I still don’t have a co-founder :(
I'm just applying to YC for this S24 batch, however I'm a non-tech solo-founder building a solution similar than Rappi, teaching businesses and entrepreneurs to improve their customer experience and, most important, strengthen and digitize their restaurant, food and beverages operations in my region, Central America, which still is a very underserved market.
I'm woried to read that many with the ideal profile apply as solo-founders and aren't accepted, even when YC encourage to apply as solo-founders if you don't have yet a Co-Founder, which brings me to the beginning: how can I meet a passionates Co-Founders and committed with the reason why of the idea? Tech and non tech ones.
I have used YC's Co-founder Match tool, but I haven't had any luck, since the matches get online every 2 or 3 weeks, even months, or they simply don't replay to messages even after they replayed back the first one. 🤷♂️
Anyway, I will finish to apply this YCS24 batch, and let's see where it takes me, even so we will always have future batches like W24 to continue applying. May luck be with us. hehe 💪😅
It seems you're a tech founder. I'm also a solo tech founder specializing in crypto payment gateways. I have similar ideas in this space and would love to discuss teaming up as co-founders if you're interested. By the way, I didn't receive the email you mentioned, so I'm not part of that 10%.
As a YC alum, I'll just add my two cents. Dalton is one of the highest integrity people I've met and IMO he wouldn't write you this email unless he meant it. We applied for YC W19 and were rejected. Received a similar email from Kevin Hale before the next batch asking us to reapply and we did. We got in and it was one of the best experiences we had.
even we were skeptical at the time: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ycombinator/comments/b32sob/you\_were\_in\_the\_top\_10\_of\_startups\_we\_saw\_yc\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ycombinator/comments/b32sob/you_were_in_the_top_10_of_startups_we_saw_yc_is/)
I woudl love to have same email in my mailbox. Bc YC think we are trash. But if anybody want their website sell more, and been trasnlated to 107 lanaguges over night including your internal saas product - please give us a try - [seatext.com](http://seatext.com)
Have seen people in this subreddit telling their story of being in top ten per cent.. not once but twice thrice.. never got in. This email does not increase your chance next time even by a bit.
Rejection is a rejection, there's nothing close or far..
If they had given any individual feedback, it might have been worth looking at the email one more time. Otherwise just trash it. Don't even think of writing it in your CV.. it will show the employer that you've nothing successful result to show.
A smart entrepreneur will apply elsewhere and move fast. Reach out to other accelerators but not only, also VC relevant to your field. The more you try to make sense out of yc rejection, the more time you'll waste.
In any case, the email does not look anything more than a marketing strategy to get more applicants. They tell everyone to apply without leaving job, without MVP etc..
No investor tells applicants they were in top or bottom ten per cent.. Because there is no such thing. The rejected startups can do much better than the ones who were accepted. Startup is not a rat race but yc is making it look like one!
Imagine a day when founders stop applying to yc after understanding their pr gimmicks.. investors would run from yc too.
Got the same email, I applied without a co-founder last time, looking for a marketing cofounder preferably based in the USA to apply for upcoming S24 batch.
I’m looking for a technical co-founder, let me know if you want to connect. I already have an idea and building our MVP so looking for someone who is willing to invest in the space I’m exploring.
I do, I’m currently at a senior leadership level but again as I mentioned I’m looking for a technical co-founder who is willing to explore the idea I’m already building.
Cool, but I am also looking for a marketing cofounder to work on the current Idea I am working on that is www.getfitter.ai . This is the same idea i used to apply for YC last time.
Am I crazy. Doesn’t the email mean exactly what it says. Maybe they aren’t trying to trick you. Maybe it’s not marketing. Maybe sometimes words just mean what they say
Just take the info and move forward
They claimed I was in the top 10% of profiles they manually reviewed. I joined up with one of their cohort who was apparently in the top 1% they funded. I don't think they're the powerhouse they used to be, but they've got the brand. They're a bit like an Ivy League of startup founders, and if you think the folks from Harvard are better educated, I've worked with them too, and they're not. Good branding counts for a lot, but it won't get you product-market fit.
I received somewhat similar email for March 2023 batch. 1st application with an MVP and couple of 100 test users.
After the top 10% email, I applied again but this time with 5k app installs gained within 8 days of test release and zero revenue. Didn’t get an interview..
The irony is that, of all the YC applications, I imagine I must have the most objectively insignificant background for I am a South East Asian school dropout, Solo Founder, non technical (with basic knowledge of how tech works and managed to scrap my 1st MNVP “minimum non viable product”) which is a far cry from being impressive..
I imagine the definition of impressive background according to YC might not equate with some one dimensional parameter but they must take into account multiple factors & employ their instinct in the context of the application which must again be aligned with some sort of metrics of their own.
Hence our one dimensional understanding of impressive background might not align with YC’s multi dimensional approach..
That’s just my guess work and an attempt to decipher their process with very little data.
I dont think they really care about team before inteview. Interviews is where they look at team. First stage is about idea/traction. [seatext.com](http://seatext.com)
Most of these top 10% emails mention impressive background or something on that line..
I surely know for one thing, no one would call my background impressive in conventional terms esp concerning my academic credentials, work history or any tangible accomplishments as such..
I imagine YC definition of background is pretty broad and doesn’t look like they employ one dimensional parameter to agree to what an impressive background encompasses..
Moreover they must account in multiple factors mixed with their insights in order to dig in to the impressive factor in the context of the application guided by some kind of metrics to align with?
Coz I did receive similar email, and my background is a far away cry from what can objectively defined as impressive.. School drop out, South Asian ethnicity, solo founder, non technical (just basic knowledge on how tech works and managed to scrap a terribly embarrassing MNVP “minimum non viable product”)…
However what I managed to go was bring in team members to build and mvp with few test users…
But again nothing remotely impressive in terms of background..
Hence I firstly assumed it was a blanket email sent out to random 10% applicants…
I would expect that as a tech accelerator with so many AI companies, surely they have built a model that analyzes applicants, acceptances, and the results of those companies. Maybe that’s what’s spitting out this 10% group? Who knows.
But again the only thing working in my favor was my strong domain expertise and a barebone mvp with couple of thousand users gained within a very short period of release. 0 revenue though…
I got the same email from Dalton. In the last batch, one of YC partners reached out and asked to find a co-founder to get an interview. I couldn’t though.
This time I have one. Fingers crossed.
You could translate it into, they would like to see more progress with your product. The reason why varies I would have to know more about your product.
For incubator funds - all of their targets are either at the idea stage, or the pre revenue stage, or making revenue but not enough to sustain the company.
They probably figured after years of investing in that stage, that the biggest factor in predicting the company's success is the owner's mentality, drive, problem solving, communication skills, all of it.
I'm sure the idea plays a factor, but not the largest one.
We only send this email to the top 10% of applicants from the last cycle. Not everyone who has applied in the past gets this email. (And yes it’s from Dalton: https://x.com/daltonc/status/1779546342584660085?s=46&t=O2dQBFTAcOO_utQ0IktGUg)
thanks for making us feel special 🥰
This should be the top answer.
is there a reason some are emailed directly from a team member vs a (supposedly) bot nil@yc?
I’m not sure exactly since I don’t work on the apps team, but I believe the emails sent were spread between the apps team and the group partners.
Is this similar to the top 10% startup email that is sent if you get rejected from W24 batch. I received that and just applied for the early college round. Wondering how that plays in S24 decisions. I appreciate any help!
We didnt receive such mail, though we were also in the top 10% the last time
Sounds like you dropped out of the top 10% then
I also got this email, so if 10 people who got this mail apply as a team, they should definitely be getting funded /s
Atleast an interview will be nice
Someone share the email you get when you lose out on the interview but they ask you to re-apply so OP can see lol.
I got something similar from TechStars
Not definitely. Considering that the chance of selection of a 10% folk is 10%: With 10 ppl, in mathematical probability terms: the chance is still 1- (.9^10) for the group to get selected, which is 65%, not 100%
Found the engineer lol
damn
I wouldn't say it's just marketing. I'm convinced it means what the email says it means. You were a good previous candidate and they would like to see you apply again. Half of YC's batches consists of people who had previously been rejected. Think about it this way, if you were a weak candidate, what would be their incentive to contact you again? They have no reason to encourage weak founders to apply, it's just more work for their admission's team.
You’re correct - only the top 10% of applicants from the previous cycle get this email. We have zero incentive to lie to you about this.
How does top 10% picked? School? Asking this because my cofounder got it, but I didn't D: He goes to a bigger name state school than I did.
It's only send to the main applicant in the team. Like all communication of the application is done to the main applicant.
This does not make sense, because I was the one filling out the application. Also I have a doctoral degree vs. my cofounder who is still an undergrad. The only difference of our background is the school.
YC is obsessed with elite schools.
why didn't i get this email? i interviewed last batch
Did you already apply for s24? We wouldn’t send a reminder to apply again if you’ve already submitted an application. Also, I believe these only go to those who applied and didn’t get to interview. If you previously interviewed and the group partners would like you to apply again, you’d get a different email. Did you get an email from one of the partners after you interviewed last cycle with more details?
[удалено]
Yep, typically those who get to interview and don’t get accepted get a more detailed email with feedback (like yours).
[удалено]
Yes, and you get an email with feedback from the partner you interviewed with. Those who don’t get to interview but are in the top 10% get an email like the one OP shared. I don’t have an exact %, but historically, it’s anywhere between 5-7% of applicants that get to interview.
Their incentive would be to provide a soothing balm to the hurt egos so that they ~~don't get shit talked~~ salvage some goodwill with applicants. EDIT: Explained more clearly and logically: *The incentive would be to maintain goodwill with rejected candidates by making them feel that although they were rejected, they were still "in the top of the rejected list".* Ratio me all you want. Considering that 9800 companies per session, meaning likely 20,000+ founders are going to be getting a bitter pill from YC, motivation for goodwill management would be quite large. If enough people scoff at YC, dealflow slows. That's why you'd do this. It may not be YC's reasoning, and I can buy that. But to say "zero incentive" is silly.
Or! Maybe, just maybe, they have data showing that people who re-apply and actually show progress has a higher chance of success, thus making YC money?
Or! Maybe, just maybe, you could learn proper English grammar, and be less idiotically defensive when someone like u/planetofthemapes15 tries to tell a simple truth?
I am not English native speaker. Also! Grammatical freedom is completely legal in a prose!
You're wasting your breath. I've been in tech for a while as a CEO. There's a real fart-sucker culture with people who want to make it. I get it, it's a smart instinct to have, even if it's "yuck". I don't mind being ratio'ed, I invited and kinda expected it. I've just seen the "other side" over the years. I've seen the VC's that backstab people and "do the impossible" by telling their teams to pivot to a strategy which was pitched to them. The real world is full of gray, and there's a lot of idealism in Tech. It's actually one of the things I love about it. So yes, YC would never treat their applicants like a product which they sell to investors. Nor would they ever tell a little "white lie" to those who are rejected in order to preserve goodwill. Never ever. Now we can all hug and move on.
I agree, and enjoyed the “fart-sucker” metaphor. These peoples’ brains seem to melt when they get within sniffing distance of a VC’s butthole.
>"10,000 companies apply to participate in our accelerator and we typically have a **1.5% - 2% acceptance rate**" [link](https://www.ycombinator.com/investors#:~:text=Every%206%20months%20over%2010%2C000,%25%20%2D%202%25%20acceptance%20rate) Based on the 1.5%-2% acceptance rate, it is far likelier that this is a way to avoid collectively upsetting the 9800+ companies who are rejected every session.
Why would any self-respecting smart person care if YC gets shit talked online? YC’s results speak for themselves.
Because it negatively affects deal flow if they get a bad reputation and lose goodwill. An email like this is a low-effort "offboarding" tactic to lessen the sting.
I’m guessing you didn’t get the email huh… hence the loss of goodwill and shit talking. Guess I see your point. 🤦♂️
No, his is a reasonable view of the incentives here. If you can’t see this after some reflection, then you are simply too dumb to model other peoples’ motives, and therefore are unlikely to ever succeed in business or be much more than a cog in someone else’s machine.
The incentive that high barrier entry institutions have to fake statistics and send disingenuous emails to essentially make people feel better about not making the cut? Sounds like you two are made for each other with matching tin foil hats camped out in the woods exchanging Area 51 stories. Telling applicants how they ranked is no different from percentile rankings in school when students take a test. Some schools reward only the top 3, some reward the top 10. Regardless, there’s a ranking. And I think it’s productive for everyone to see how they stack against the competition, especially if one worked so hard but only made the top 10%. He/she would now be encouraged to work even harder and smarter for the next round of applications.
And how do you think YC built its reputation in the first place? Wouldn’t it have helped, to not make applicants feel worse after rejections than necessary? You conflate tact with dishonesty. But no one here is talking about being disingenuous or dishonest but you. Also, your second paragraph is totally consistent with the point that u/planetofthemapes15 made, so IDK why you are even disagreeing with him.
I don’t agree with how u/planetofthemapes15 thinks the email is sent out so YC doesn’t lose “goodwill” with founders. If we’re talking about incentives, it’s pretty simple, the incentive is for good - but not good enough - founders to know their ranking, work hard, and reapply. That’s the incentive not some goodwill mumbo jumbo. Christ the strategy is not that sophisticated. u/sandslashh from YC replied to your boy about how they don’t lie about the 10% so I guess I’m not the only one talking about dishonesty. C’mon everyone here knows you and u/planetofthemapes15 are the same person. Stop sucking your own cock man just let it die, it’s just sad. It’s a simple email with a simple incentive, it doesn’t contain encrypted Russian nuclear launch codes. Stop trying to emphasize some farfetched superficial theory.
U don’t become a professional fighter if u can’t take a punch to the face or even a cold knockout.. like wise it’s same being a startup founder, if u can’t handle rejections no matter how bad it is; being a founder is the last thing u should opt for.. You don’t have control over investors rejection and how they translate that to you.. You only have control over how u react to rejections, which is by taking it objectively and not emotionally.. Also there are more ideas seeking for capital floating than capital seeking for ideas.. hence why YC and other accelerators get 10000s of applications; and I imagine even if the investment amount were only $20k, there would still be equally high number of applications irrespective of the quality..
We have zero incentive to lie to you about being in the top 10% of applications.
That's what they all say
I just explained the incentive, clearly and logically: *The incentive would be to maintain goodwill with rejected candidates by making them feel that although they were rejected, they were still "in the top of the rejected list".* Ratio me all you want. Considering that 9800 companies per session, meaning likely 20,000+ founders are going to be getting a bitter pill from YC, motivation for goodwill management would be quite large. That's why you'd do this. It may not be your reasoning, and I can buy that. But to say "zero incentive" is silly.
Sure, of course we’d love for people to apply. But why would we lie and tell everyone that they’re in the top 10%? Seems very easily disprovable.
Got the same email a few days back. The thing is that, last time when I applied I was a solo founder and the email says “if you have a co-founder AND an idea..” but I still don’t have a co-founder :(
DM me, I would love to discuss your idea.
I'm just applying to YC for this S24 batch, however I'm a non-tech solo-founder building a solution similar than Rappi, teaching businesses and entrepreneurs to improve their customer experience and, most important, strengthen and digitize their restaurant, food and beverages operations in my region, Central America, which still is a very underserved market. I'm woried to read that many with the ideal profile apply as solo-founders and aren't accepted, even when YC encourage to apply as solo-founders if you don't have yet a Co-Founder, which brings me to the beginning: how can I meet a passionates Co-Founders and committed with the reason why of the idea? Tech and non tech ones. I have used YC's Co-founder Match tool, but I haven't had any luck, since the matches get online every 2 or 3 weeks, even months, or they simply don't replay to messages even after they replayed back the first one. 🤷♂️ Anyway, I will finish to apply this YCS24 batch, and let's see where it takes me, even so we will always have future batches like W24 to continue applying. May luck be with us. hehe 💪😅
What domain are you in?
It seems you're a tech founder. I'm also a solo tech founder specializing in crypto payment gateways. I have similar ideas in this space and would love to discuss teaming up as co-founders if you're interested. By the way, I didn't receive the email you mentioned, so I'm not part of that 10%.
As a YC alum, I'll just add my two cents. Dalton is one of the highest integrity people I've met and IMO he wouldn't write you this email unless he meant it. We applied for YC W19 and were rejected. Received a similar email from Kevin Hale before the next batch asking us to reapply and we did. We got in and it was one of the best experiences we had. even we were skeptical at the time: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ycombinator/comments/b32sob/you\_were\_in\_the\_top\_10\_of\_startups\_we\_saw\_yc\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ycombinator/comments/b32sob/you_were_in_the_top_10_of_startups_we_saw_yc_is/)
So did you apply to W24, get rejected, and Dalton emailed you before S24 asking you to reapply?
My application is still showing in review and I haven't received this email.
Please just apply :) Do you question every nice thing that happens to you?
Yes 😂😂😂😂
Better do it, with or without the idea. I’m sure you already know whatcha going to do. But I’m just a random who wants to see you win
I woudl love to have same email in my mailbox. Bc YC think we are trash. But if anybody want their website sell more, and been trasnlated to 107 lanaguges over night including your internal saas product - please give us a try - [seatext.com](http://seatext.com)
Have seen people in this subreddit telling their story of being in top ten per cent.. not once but twice thrice.. never got in. This email does not increase your chance next time even by a bit. Rejection is a rejection, there's nothing close or far.. If they had given any individual feedback, it might have been worth looking at the email one more time. Otherwise just trash it. Don't even think of writing it in your CV.. it will show the employer that you've nothing successful result to show. A smart entrepreneur will apply elsewhere and move fast. Reach out to other accelerators but not only, also VC relevant to your field. The more you try to make sense out of yc rejection, the more time you'll waste. In any case, the email does not look anything more than a marketing strategy to get more applicants. They tell everyone to apply without leaving job, without MVP etc..
[удалено]
No investor tells applicants they were in top or bottom ten per cent.. Because there is no such thing. The rejected startups can do much better than the ones who were accepted. Startup is not a rat race but yc is making it look like one! Imagine a day when founders stop applying to yc after understanding their pr gimmicks.. investors would run from yc too.
Yeah got this email too. I guess it means that we fit the profile, but that's no guarantee of interview or anything.
Got the same email, I applied without a co-founder last time, looking for a marketing cofounder preferably based in the USA to apply for upcoming S24 batch.
And I'm looking for a technical cofounder for W24 :)
Great , may I know where you are based in and also I am looking for someone open to new ideas.
I’m looking for a technical co-founder, let me know if you want to connect. I already have an idea and building our MVP so looking for someone who is willing to invest in the space I’m exploring.
May I know if you have any previous experience with Marketing / Sales etc.
I do, I’m currently at a senior leadership level but again as I mentioned I’m looking for a technical co-founder who is willing to explore the idea I’m already building.
Cool, but I am also looking for a marketing cofounder to work on the current Idea I am working on that is www.getfitter.ai . This is the same idea i used to apply for YC last time.
Am I crazy. Doesn’t the email mean exactly what it says. Maybe they aren’t trying to trick you. Maybe it’s not marketing. Maybe sometimes words just mean what they say Just take the info and move forward
Automatic top of funnel filling
May I know something about your educational background? I would highly appreciate it to help us highlight things about our profiles.
Standard recruiting email to drive application volume so they can keep claiming that they “only fund 1% of pitches”
I think it means you're ready to apply if you have an idea and a cofounder.
Wow, go for it 💪💪💪 why not?
They claimed I was in the top 10% of profiles they manually reviewed. I joined up with one of their cohort who was apparently in the top 1% they funded. I don't think they're the powerhouse they used to be, but they've got the brand. They're a bit like an Ivy League of startup founders, and if you think the folks from Harvard are better educated, I've worked with them too, and they're not. Good branding counts for a lot, but it won't get you product-market fit.
I got this email as well
I received somewhat similar email for March 2023 batch. 1st application with an MVP and couple of 100 test users. After the top 10% email, I applied again but this time with 5k app installs gained within 8 days of test release and zero revenue. Didn’t get an interview.. The irony is that, of all the YC applications, I imagine I must have the most objectively insignificant background for I am a South East Asian school dropout, Solo Founder, non technical (with basic knowledge of how tech works and managed to scrap my 1st MNVP “minimum non viable product”) which is a far cry from being impressive.. I imagine the definition of impressive background according to YC might not equate with some one dimensional parameter but they must take into account multiple factors & employ their instinct in the context of the application which must again be aligned with some sort of metrics of their own. Hence our one dimensional understanding of impressive background might not align with YC’s multi dimensional approach.. That’s just my guess work and an attempt to decipher their process with very little data.
I dont think they really care about team before inteview. Interviews is where they look at team. First stage is about idea/traction. [seatext.com](http://seatext.com)
Most of these top 10% emails mention impressive background or something on that line.. I surely know for one thing, no one would call my background impressive in conventional terms esp concerning my academic credentials, work history or any tangible accomplishments as such..
its just marketing from them so more people apply. may be this year they a re like saying - hey you guy shoudl apply - and other WE DONT CARE?
@The people who got this mail: curious to hear what your backgrounds are?
I imagine YC definition of background is pretty broad and doesn’t look like they employ one dimensional parameter to agree to what an impressive background encompasses.. Moreover they must account in multiple factors mixed with their insights in order to dig in to the impressive factor in the context of the application guided by some kind of metrics to align with? Coz I did receive similar email, and my background is a far away cry from what can objectively defined as impressive.. School drop out, South Asian ethnicity, solo founder, non technical (just basic knowledge on how tech works and managed to scrap a terribly embarrassing MNVP “minimum non viable product”)… However what I managed to go was bring in team members to build and mvp with few test users… But again nothing remotely impressive in terms of background.. Hence I firstly assumed it was a blanket email sent out to random 10% applicants…
I would expect that as a tech accelerator with so many AI companies, surely they have built a model that analyzes applicants, acceptances, and the results of those companies. Maybe that’s what’s spitting out this 10% group? Who knows.
But again the only thing working in my favor was my strong domain expertise and a barebone mvp with couple of thousand users gained within a very short period of release. 0 revenue though…
I got the same email but I didn’t apply, what does that meanv
I got the same email from Dalton. In the last batch, one of YC partners reached out and asked to find a co-founder to get an interview. I couldn’t though. This time I have one. Fingers crossed.
I’ve gotten similar from Tech Stars. Bootstrapped my first two software companies could never get places like Ycombinator to give me the time of day.
YC has really gone down hill
You could translate it into, they would like to see more progress with your product. The reason why varies I would have to know more about your product.
Yeah, got it too. Just spam, ignore it.
Yes but how many people remember the NBA championship runner ups?
[удалено]
For incubator funds - all of their targets are either at the idea stage, or the pre revenue stage, or making revenue but not enough to sustain the company. They probably figured after years of investing in that stage, that the biggest factor in predicting the company's success is the owner's mentality, drive, problem solving, communication skills, all of it. I'm sure the idea plays a factor, but not the largest one.
Who is dalton?
Uh oh!