00:08hey everybody this is Dalton I am
00:11excited to talk to you today topic of
00:13today's talk is how to apply and succeed
00:16at y a combinator so to begin with let's
00:18talk about why it's worth applying to Y
00:20combinator it's a good idea to sit down
00:22and think about your startup this is
00:24Evergreen advice regardless of IC and so
00:27going through and answering the
00:28application questions
00:30um to organize and clarify your thinking
00:31super helpful right go look at the
00:35um it'll help you think about your own
00:36business and maybe find some edge cases
00:38and so I think that's worth doing for
00:40everybody in addition if you're sitting
00:42there watching this presentation the
00:45odds uh that YC is good fit for you is
00:47pretty good and then let's talk about
00:49the cost benefit analysis of applying to
00:51YC we very intentionally designed the
00:54application to be fast and easy to fill
00:57out and so the the downside is you apply
01:01and you don't don't get in but you only
01:03spend a tiny bit of time doing it versus
01:05the potential upside being very big man
01:07that's that's a pretty good trade-off
01:08and so those are all some reasons why
01:10it's worth applying to YC I want to talk
01:12about luck a little bit um I've spoken
01:14about this in past YC talks and I've
01:16noticed a lot of applicants that have
01:18gotten into YC referenced this talk that
01:20I gave years ago so I want to remind you
01:21all of kind of My Philosophy about
01:23creating luck certain people are luckier
01:26than others but one of the ways you can
01:28create luck and become luckier is to put
01:30yourself out there more to create this
01:33luck you need to take risks
01:35you can systematically put yourself out
01:39to be in situations where good things
01:41can happen to you or surprising upside
01:43things can happen to you on the flip
01:45side if you avoid situations where you
01:47face rejection like applying to YC
01:49you're reducing the surface area to get
01:52lucky and so I think this is pretty good
01:55Evergreen advice regardless of what
01:57you're doing which is if you're looking
01:59for a startup idea if you're trying to
02:00learn how to do sales if you're trying
02:02to recruit great employees you want to
02:04put yourself out there and take risks
02:07you want to try a lot of different stuff
02:08and the more you can develop this luck
02:10creation skill the better and deciding
02:13to apply apply to YC itself is a way to
02:15great luck I also want to go through a
02:17lot of the weird reasons people come up
02:20with not to apply to IC again I've
02:22talked to lots of Founders and so these
02:24um from many conversations I've had in
02:26person with folks first off I am too
02:29early this is a very common one if you
02:31look at the history of great YC
02:33companies that have gotten in many of
02:36pivoted after they got in and so if
02:37that's not too early I don't know what
02:39is many folks haven't quit their job
02:41they get into YC they haven't written
02:44um there's there's honestly no such
02:48um and so I would not count that as a
02:50valid reason next I am too far along the
02:53flip side of I'm too early
02:55um this one we hear a lot again it's
02:57it's pretty funny because we have folks
02:59that get into YC that have I don't know
03:01half a million dollars in annual
03:02recurring Revenue also a common one here
03:05these days is oh I'm too far along
03:06because I've already raised some money
03:07we have folks that apply and get
03:09accepted to YC that have raised
03:11literally a million dollars
03:13um often more depending on uh their
03:16specific situation and so if you don't
03:19have product Market fit as per the other
03:21talks you've heard here there's a good
03:23chance that you are not too far along
03:24from YC and much of the help we can give
03:27you is to kind of zero in on and focus
03:30on finding product Market fit all right
03:32and so I wouldn't say to yourself well
03:33I'm too far along for YC
03:35um I doubt it next this is kind of a new
03:37one a lot of folks have seen our videos
03:39like this one and they think this is
03:41like a reasonable approximation of being
03:43an NYC that is not the case so let me
03:46just run through a few of these uh
03:48reasons why being a real YC founder is
03:51different than watching these videos
03:53first off we are real people believe it
03:57um and by being in the batch you get our
03:59full attention you get real-time access
04:01to us we text with people all the time
04:03and you get to know us in person very
04:05different experience and so you get
04:07these one-on-one office hours with your
04:08group Partners folks like me and I'll
04:11tell you a secret there's tons of
04:12Secrets we tell you that we would never
04:15say on the internet we have to be you
04:18know we're careful about what things we
04:19say in this format and there's a whole
04:21breadth and depth of knowledge that you
04:23will only hear if you're NYC in addition
04:25there's a bunch of internal tools for
04:27Founders inside of YC work at a startup
04:29all of our proprietary fundraising data
04:31and tools our series a fundraising tools
04:35etc etc so so there's lots of stuff that
04:37go on behind the scenes it could not be
04:39more different than watching some videos
04:40on the internet another one that comes
04:42up a lot is a potential applicant is
04:45discouraged by someone in their life
04:46someone is trying to play the role of
04:48gatekeeper and that person is saying oh
04:50don't apply to YC you know and then
04:52there's a there's a few different
04:53reasons why they may say that you could
04:55ask someone that's saying oh don't apply
04:57to IC some of these questions hey so
04:59you're saying I shouldn't spend a few
05:01minutes filling out this application and
05:02applying to maybe getting in and I get
05:04half a million dollars up front and so
05:06if it's an investor discouraging you you
05:08should ask the investor oh so are you
05:10going to invest on what terms are you
05:12going to invest this is again this is a
05:14tip for you because if the investor is
05:16not willing to invest themselves they're
05:17simply saying they don't want to see you
05:19raise but they themselves are not going
05:21to invest you can call them out on that
05:23next sometimes folks are in some Market
05:27or some City or somewhere
05:29um and there's there's folks saying you
05:32know stay small stay in this country
05:33stay in the city don't think of this on
05:35a global scale YC's too big it's too far
05:38away and again I we fund people from all
05:41over the world from every city from
05:43every country and you want to ask them
05:45if if they're discouraging you from
05:47actually dreaming as big as you can
05:48dream because sometimes they are and I
05:51don't think that's great and then
05:52finally sometimes folks uh suggest not
05:54applying because some other theoretical
05:56thing might happen like maybe you'll do
05:58this maybe you'll raise a series a maybe
05:59you'll raise a seed round and again I
06:02want you to think about asking the
06:04are you discouraging me from seizing an
06:06opportunity right in front of me for
06:08some theoretical thing that might happen
06:11and I think you'll you'll kind of see
06:12where they're coming from so anyway I
06:14think these are questions you can ask
06:15someone that's discouraging you from
06:17applying to YC and again maybe they'll
06:19have something good to say maybe they'll
06:20want to invest I don't know next up a
06:22few other reasons people sometimes don't
06:23apply one they think their company is
06:25too different or unique for YC to
06:27understand again if you look at our top
06:29companies list you'll see we fund
06:31companies in every vertical from every
06:32country and so again I I doubt it
06:35sometimes people are based on a location
06:37and they're not sure if we fund people
06:39in that location I assure you we do if
06:43you look at all the countries
06:44um for companies we fund we fund them
06:47sometimes people are worried that we
06:48funded a startup in the same space it's
06:50pretty common especially if it's a great
06:52startup idea to have multiple companies
06:54in the same space and so we don't hold
06:56that against someone okay and then
06:58finally people that have applied before
07:01um are upset about it and don't want to
07:03apply again because they fell they feel
07:05upset about not applying again I we're
07:07going to talk about this more later but
07:09I can't stress enough that it's actually
07:10a plus to have applied multiple times
07:14um and not a negative and so look don't
07:15let that hold you back I think my last
07:17point on this section is is a simple
07:19piece of advice don't overthink this
07:21just like anything with your startup
07:23don't overthink the decisions if
07:25something seems like it might be a good
07:26idea give it a shot it's as simple as
07:28that and we see a lot of people with
07:29these really complex ideas about the
07:31best time to apply to YC or when to
07:33apply to yce or what startup ideas to
07:35apply to IC with you know don't
07:36overthink this certainly not conducive
07:39with folks we've seen build big
07:40companies and look a lot of the reason
07:42people don't apply to ycee is because
07:45they're pretty confident they won't get
07:47it fair I would just suggest to everyone
07:51get used to doing things that you think
07:54probably won't work and get comfortable
07:57being uncomfortable in this way I think
07:59it's a really good lesson to set
08:01yourself up to do things that are kind
08:03of a long shot and the fact is most of
08:06the folks in the most recent YC batches
08:08are not first-time applicants there's
08:11some folks that applied five times six
08:13times seven times those folks had
08:14persistence they showed character and it
08:16worked for them and so uses just is just
08:19one little lesson on not being afraid of
08:23doing something you think has a
08:24relatively low odds of success here's a
08:26few good reasons not to apply to IC uh
08:28one is you don't want to work on the
08:30company for very long say you want to
08:32just work on it for the summer or six
08:34months and then go get a job okay yeah
08:36you know don't don't apply another one
08:38is if you don't think Venture uh capital
08:41is a good route to take all right that's
08:43fair I mean because because YC investing
08:45is a form of venture capital right and
08:47so if you don't want to pursue that type
08:49of business probably a good reason not
08:50to apply and then also if your business
08:52is not a technology startup say it's
08:55more of a traditional business where
08:57there's no technical component there's
08:59no programming there's no biotechnology
09:01okay that's probably a good reason not
09:02to apply that's not really
09:04um our sweet spot let's shift gears and
09:06let's talk about the application and let
09:08me give you some tips for your YC
09:09application first off you apply on our
09:12website you don't need permission you
09:15don't need to email us you don't need to
09:17send us a deck you just apply on our
09:19website it really is that simple let me
09:22give you some tips on your application
09:23first fill the whole thing out fill out
09:26the founder biographies a lot of the
09:28worst applications say worse but the
09:30ones that are just not strong the
09:32founders did not take the time to fill
09:33them out okay that's obviously someone
09:36that didn't put much effort in and so
09:38actually fill it out pay attention to
09:40little things like grammar punctuation
09:42capitalization little stuff like that if
09:45you don't if you don't do it certainly
09:47shows to us that you may not be that
09:48serious about applying to YC so do that
09:50stuff make a Founder video that follows
09:52directions we put directions on how to
09:55do the video sometimes people don't
09:57follow the directions for whatever
09:58reason and I just want to give you a
10:00little tip our entire application
10:02process has these detailed instructions
10:04and we definitely take into account if
10:07you follow them in our selection
10:09criteria this is one of the ways to tell
10:11how detail-oriented someone is if they
10:14just follow directions and So Pro tip
10:16read all the stuff follow the directions
10:18we definitely weigh that in our decision
10:20next your written answers should be
10:22clear and concise don't write a novel
10:26more words is not better right you don't
10:30get bonus points for writing something
10:32that's so long we can't scroll down the
10:33screen be clear be concise answer the
10:36question directly let me talk to you
10:37about what it's like to be on our side
10:40of the table someone that reads
10:41applications and so here are the
10:43questions that I ask myself when I'm
10:45reviewing someone's YC application first
10:47off who are the founders what's their
10:49backstory how do they come together how
10:51do they know each other who on the team
10:53is doing what okay I ask myself that
10:56next what is their idea what are they
10:59um do I understand what they're doing
11:01does it seem interesting have I heard
11:02this before what exactly do they have
11:05today right today at this moment in time
11:09is it built are there users
11:12um I really want to know what the
11:13current state of the union is on the
11:16in addition is there any evidence that
11:18people want this they have customers
11:20they have users um are they using their
11:22own product in addition is there
11:23evidence that the founders are serious
11:25and serious in this in this sense is the
11:28following that they really want to do a
11:31right for instance if someone has left
11:32their job to work on this full-time
11:34that's an Evidence of seriousness if
11:36someone has applied multiple times and
11:38every time they apply
11:39they make more progress that's evidence
11:41of seriousness you see what I'm saying
11:43like it's it's trying to get the sense
11:46if they're just throwing in the
11:49for fun or if they really are serious
11:52about doing a startup and then finally
11:54um I look for what's impressive or
11:55unique or special about the application
11:57this could be different things sometimes
11:58the founders are unique sometimes the
12:01traction is unique sometimes the ideas
12:02and idea I've never heard before and so
12:04I really look for something that really
12:05stands out about the application what I
12:08do with this data that I just told you
12:09that I read is an application reader is
12:11I tell myself a little story and so I
12:14might say something again this is all my
12:16head but I might say something like oh
12:17this is the story of two friends we're
12:19both programmers working on
12:20infrastructure at Facebook and they quit
12:22their jobs three months ago to build a
12:23new Cloud hosting company they built a
12:25basic demo and have one first customer
12:27and that customer is using it on this
12:28website and I can go look at the website
12:30and our plan has become the top hosting
12:32company for all react apps great do you
12:34see how that's a story it has characters
12:35it has a beginning it has an end I
12:37understand what's going on
12:39um if I can tell this kind of story
12:40about your company by reading your
12:41application it means it was a good
12:43application on the flip side
12:45weak applications obfuscate everything
12:49and so I as a reader can't tell what's
12:51going on I don't understand what the
12:53idea actually is I don't understand the
12:55back story like why do these people know
12:57each other how do they meet I can't tell
13:01I have no idea you know I can't see a
13:03demo maybe it's built I don't know I
13:05can't tell if they have customers they
13:07might have customers but I can't
13:09actually tell and so it's basically
13:10impossible for me to tell a story about
13:12you because I don't even understand the
13:14basics to me this is actually a deep
13:16tourism for all aspects of your startup
13:18which is if I can't even understand
13:22basics of what you're trying to
13:24communicate to me you're not even the
13:26ball in the ballpark of convincing me
13:28right like if I don't even know if I
13:31can't parse what you're trying to say
13:32the odds of you convincing someone is
13:35basically zero and so you want to really
13:38make sure people understand the basics
13:40here's an example that I threw up
13:42there's a company called gitlab it's
13:43publicly traded you can go buy their
13:44stock it's a multi-billion dollar
13:47company this is from their YC
13:49application I just pulled it off to give
13:51you an example of what a clear
13:52description is do you see they're very
13:54concrete about what it is what it does
13:56who uses it they say a hundred thousand
13:59organizations use it they say
14:00programmers Apple use it this is really
14:02well done so me as a reader reading this
14:04Crystal Clear what gitlap is great
14:07application and look they did it in just
14:09a few sentences very well done here is a
14:11fake thing that I wrote because I don't
14:13want to shame anyone
14:14and I I put this together I don't even
14:17know if this is really exaggerated these
14:19are these are the kinds of things I read
14:20in applications sometimes where there
14:22are words here the words say things
14:24there's there's words I recognize but if
14:27you ask me to summarize what these three
14:30or four sentences are and tell a story
14:32about what you do or what it is or how
14:34it's different I would not be able to
14:35tell you this just turns my brain off so
14:38there you go please don't submit stuff
14:41I still don't know what they do I wrote
14:43this and I have no idea what this is
14:44okay let me give you some other tips our
14:47entire system rewards honest people
14:49acting in good faith if there's some
14:52hint somewhere in your application or
14:54elsewhere that you are being misleading
14:56in your answers your application will be
14:58rejected uh we're sympathetic to honest
15:01mistakes but anyone that's doing
15:03intentional obfuscation or
15:05misrepresentation of things in their
15:07application like revenue or traction
15:09your founder background your educational
15:12history you name it that just that's
15:13disqualifying you know it's pretty
15:15common to see people kind of try to
15:17misrepresent revenue or make it look
15:19like it's monthly revenue is really
15:21annual revenue so just don't do things
15:24like this we notice and we really
15:27um don't like it as an application
15:30reader this is like automatic
15:32disqualification okay in addition I want
15:35you all to understand extraordinary
15:36claims on your application require
15:38extraordinary evidence and so if your
15:40claim are hey we have no users cool like
15:43there's not a lot of evidence you would
15:45need to show there but if you want to
15:47argue that some big impressive company
15:49is one of your customers you should be
15:51prepared to back that up or demonstrate
15:53that they are actually one of your
15:54customers shouldn't be a problem in the
15:56case of gitlab it wasn't a problem for
15:57them to demonstrate who their customers
15:58were next a lot of people ask questions
16:00around what their odds are of getting an
16:03interview at ycee it's very hard to
16:05answer this question but I'm gonna do my
16:06best because it gets asked so much
16:08probably the biggest variable
16:11for if someone is selected for interview
16:13is the quality and quantity of the
16:16technical Talent on the founding team so
16:19if there is a team that's applying or at
16:21least one of the of the founders is it a
16:24skill set level to be hired into a
16:26technical role at a top YC company they
16:28have 5x better odds than teams that
16:31don't and quick note on this internships
16:33are okay so say you're an intern at
16:35stripe or Airbnb or a place like that
16:38okay that counts and so it's very
16:41helpful to have technical Talent on the
16:42founding team and this this includes
16:44biotech hard tech things like that right
16:46this isn't just software but
16:48definitely something we look at and then
16:50as per this talk we did earlier in
16:52startup School dispatch about tar pit
16:54ideas teams where there aren't technical
16:56Founders and they're working on an
16:58unlaunched tarpet idea those folks have
17:01the lowest odds that's a fact how can
17:02you improve your odds of getting an
17:04interview well first off add technical
17:06talent to the team and so this is why we
17:08have co-founder matching there's a
17:10number of folks even in the current
17:11batch that met via co-founder matching
17:13and it works we love it what a great way
17:15to add technical talent to your team
17:16hooray quick note on this the entire YC
17:22was built to not require networking we
17:25don't want warm intros we don't want
17:27pitch decks we don't want to hop on a
17:30quick call that is not how YC Works in
17:33our funding decisions we built a system
17:35that is optimized for funding complete
17:38strangers that fill out a form on our
17:40website there's no tricks here it really
17:43is that simple and if you ask alumni the
17:45folks that I found are complete
17:47strangers that I have not met before so
17:49beware of folks out in the world that
17:51claim they can help you get into YC they
17:53claim they're connected with some other
17:55investors and they want something they
17:57want Equity they want money they're
17:59basically scammers and so you should be
18:01aware that there's lots of folks out
18:03there in startup ecosystems that kind of
18:05victimize aspiring Founders giving these
18:08kinds of people Equity or whatever in
18:10your company does not help you get into
18:11YC I'm sorry let's talk about the
18:13interview let me give you some interview
18:15tips and preparation how do YC
18:17interviews work if you're selected for
18:19interviews after applying there's just a
18:2110 minute Zoom call with us we expect
18:24all the founders on your side to be
18:25there there's usually two to four folks
18:28from YC on the call on our side
18:30and you should assume during the
18:31interview that we have the application
18:33that you applied with open on our screen
18:35and we're looking at your application
18:36while we're asking you questions or
18:38taking notes all right this is how this
18:40is how our workflow works on our side
18:42now the first thing to understand is
18:44that interviewers are trained to ask
18:46basic questions help us understand your
18:49startup these are not trick questions
18:51these are basic simple questions and
18:54these questions are highly context
18:56dependent some folks over prepare for
19:00interviews in a way that is not relevant
19:02to them and they're surprised by the
19:04questions we ask you you shouldn't be
19:06surprised so for example if you are
19:08pre-launch we often ask questions that
19:11are relevant to a pre-launch company
19:12when are you going to launch things like
19:15that if you are in a regulated space say
19:17fintech or insurance or things like that
19:19we're going to ask you questions related
19:21to your regulatory strategy if you're in
19:23a space where there's many competitors
19:25we're going to ask you about your
19:26differentiation these are all very basic
19:28questions and so I'd encourage you to
19:30walk into the interview with an open
19:32mind and expect to begin the interview
19:34answering these basic questions and
19:37hopefully this will turn into a quick
19:39conversation about different topics once
19:41we understand the basics for our initial
19:43questions probably the biggest mistake I
19:45see in folks preparing for their YC
19:48interview is to treat it like an
19:49adversarial process they treat it like I
19:52don't know applying to college or I
19:55don't I don't know how to explain it but
19:56they you know we're we're like the other
19:58team and their job is to like work
20:00against us and there's a lot of YC
20:03interview devices out there that I think
20:05is pretty bad because it treats us as an
20:07adversarial process and like let me make
20:09something super clear to you the people
20:11on our side of the zoom call when you
20:13interview are likely the people that are
20:15going to be working with your company if
20:18you're accepted if you act
20:20weird to them or mean to them or
20:22adversarial to them that is completely
20:25going to backfire on you because these
20:27are the folks you're going to be working
20:28with and the fact is interview is ask
20:30themselves this question do I believe I
20:33can have a productive productive working
20:35relationship with these Founders okay so
20:37to give you some examples Founders that
20:39recite memorize speeches where they have
20:42some memorized paragraph they just shout
20:43at us oh man do we not like that uh
20:46Founders that don't listen to the
20:47question were asked and they did all
20:49this preparation so they think they know
20:51what we're going to ask and they recite
20:52back some thing man do we not like that
20:55and then finally Founders that seem to
20:56be stretching the truth right like if we
20:58ask very simple questions and we get the
21:00sense that you're trying to fool us or
21:02lie to us that's going to get you low
21:05scores right because we're the people
21:06you're going to be working with and um
21:08if you don't seem trustworthy that
21:11factors in okay so when you're preparing
21:13for this remember this stuff in terms of
21:15preparing for the interview most of the
21:17folks that get into YC uh read the
21:20instructions provide a lot of
21:21instructions we also have official
21:23videos like this particular video is an
21:25official video put up by YC some folks
21:27do extra interview practice uh with
21:30other folks which can be helpful if it
21:33helps you build confidence so that in
21:35the moment you're not super nervous but
21:37I just want to know it can backfire if
21:39you train yourself if you do too much
21:41preparation and you just give us
21:44nonsense robotic answers so if you've
21:46done so much interview preparation that
21:48every time we ask a question you
21:50immediately spout off some memorized
21:52answer that will frustrate us and again
21:54watch out for being coached by people
21:58to be intentionally confusing or
22:00misleading about what your company does
22:02what the market is what your revenue is
22:04we've heard a lot of horror stories out
22:06there of someone being coached in an
22:09interview preparation
22:11basically try to fool us and that's not
22:15helpful be thoughtful about what you say
22:17and don't take anyone's advice too
22:19seriously especially if it's not advice
22:21that we're putting out ourselves okay so
22:23let's talk about a successful interview
22:24someone that gets into YC a good
22:26interview is one where all the basic
22:28questions that we ask are answered well
22:31in a good interview the founders can
22:33demonstrate a Mastery of their own
22:34business they understand their own
22:36numbers they understand the risks they
22:38have a crisp idea on what to work on
22:40next they have a really fleshed out view
22:42of the whole business in our opinion the
22:44founders are credible they're honest
22:47they're self-aware about what the real
22:49challenges are right like they're not in
22:51denial about this but they still are
22:53confident when they are speaking about
22:54their business and then finally we
22:56successful interviewees are
22:58know how to be themselves and I know
23:00this is like annoying when people like
23:01Oh Be Yourself what does that mean let
23:03me explain what I mean by be yourself it
23:05means we want you to show up in an
23:08and not act like you're on a Shark Tank
23:11Episode or a pitch competition there's
23:13few things more Awkward for us on the
23:15other side of the table when we you know
23:17we get on a call and we want to talk to
23:18you and you're like hello people we are
23:20here to tell you about Urban oh man that
23:24is rough on us the interviewers and so
23:27try to just be natural and try to have a
23:29good conversation and remember we're
23:30people that want to see you succeed or
23:32people that are looking for folks who
23:33are excited to work with try to show who
23:36your real self is for us to get excited
23:37about working with if someone interviews
23:39YC and they are not selected we send you
23:41an email it has some quick feedback we
23:43do our best to make it actionable and uh
23:46focused on the most important factors in
23:48our decision internalizing this feedback
23:50and demonstrating that you've addressed
23:52it in a future application is heavily
23:55weighted in your favor you see what I'm
23:57saying for folks that apply and don't
23:58get in and then they address the
23:59feedback from the interviewers the next
24:01time they apply wow does that help we
24:03really keep track of this stuff I
24:04promise we do and for folks that really
24:06internalize it and address the feedback
24:08that helps in closing
24:11um applying to Y combinator is simple
24:13it's well documented it's a pretty good
24:17applying to IC is a tiny time commitment
24:20with uncapped upside that could change
24:22everything for you and your startup so
24:25it's high Roi and then I just want to
24:27encourage everyone out there to nurture
24:29this mentality of creating luck which
24:31means putting yourself out there over
24:33and over and over again bring this to
24:35all aspects of your startups because
24:37it's a great lesson that's it thanks so
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