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NVDA just tanked 10% today and with it a whole bunch of AI valuations. Did YC startups from in the 2022 batches see positives or negatives?
What is the upside to fundraising in the next few months vs waiting for a better environment? If we have a startup and it’s profitable, does it make sense to apply it to wait?
Decided to take a risk with the founder video. On my first 2 applications I did what everyone does and shot 100 takes to get one "right"... On this one though, I shot the whole video in one take (with warts and all) and used our own software to edit it, and then used that as the demo as well[0].
In a way, it feels like I can't win on this video thing
- if we follow instructions to "not edit" the founder video, the result is 100 takes for a basic video that is unworthy of a video-based startup.
- If we use our own tool, the video is "too polished" (even though it took less work to do!).
Hopefully the application stands on its own merits. A year ago I took the first rejection hard. I really really hate applying for stuff or having some kind of "jury" reviewing things when the only truth is what the market wants and whether people use what I've created. So as an engineer I prefer marketing to fundraising, by far.
If we don't get into YC I'll just keep bootstrapping. I see the value though, because with the right pointers we could grow way way faster. So, fingers crossed!
> (1) "probably not good enough / won't get in" - you'd be surprised at how many people feel that way, whether because of impostor syndrome, lack of credentials, whatever—and often they turn out to be among the best founders. So this a terrible reason not to apply!
I have nothing going on at the moment. I am starting to apply to new jobs (have an interview with Google coming up). But I'm open to do the entrepreneurship thing. I always wanted to do it for years, strongly (I created my study program in such a way that it'd help if I'd ever do entrepreneurship). Nowadays it's not strong, I'm simply open to it.
> (2) "too early" - there's no such thing. YC looks for good potential founders—meaning anyone who can learn what they teach—and nothing else. You're already yourself, which is all you need.
Well, I don't have a project started. I have nothing. I did build stuff in the past and I do have a bunch of ideas, which I showed in my application. So let's see if there is no such thing indeed ;-)
> Some of YC's big successes start off as last-minute applications on a whim
Basically this.
I found that filling in the application, without even sending it, is a useful exercise. It makes you think hard about what it is you are trying to achieve with whatever it is your building. It's very helpful when you come to talk with clients.
You know how they say launch fast, launch early? That's part of it, because launching means talking about it to other people. Those people will have questions or objections or an incomplete understanding of pre-existing solutions. A lot of the application is about this kind of stuff.
Personally, I wanted to fill the application irrespective of YC. I figured, if I'm serious about building something useful, I shouldn't just build it and que sera, sera. I should know what to focus on. And since they've learned a bunch about building companies, if they care about something enough to ask about it, that's a good pointer that I should care enough about it to be able to answer it.
For example, I filled it in when a solution was just an idea, as if it were already built. So it made me set expectations, and clarify what I want this thing to be. Then, once it was built, the first thing that happened when that solution met with clients was this: I'd give them the short description I've written in the application, and they'd ask - Oh, but does it have to do just that?
Without the application, there wouldn't have been the short description, without which there wouldn't have been the useful client feedback...So, again: do it for yourself, not for the approval.
The written applications forces you to articulate your ideas in a concise yet easy to understand way.
And as much as YC doesn't recommend this, the mock YC interviews we did with alums was one of those most beneficial things that happened to us. Because so rarely will you get the opportunity to ask dozens of other YC founders to grill your business, and have 80%+ of them say yes.
We did about 30 at the time, which is a lot of time to be taken off product/building, hence probably why they don't recommend it, but looking back it *really helped us understand our own business. Given how young/naive/early we were.