Ask HN: Open discussion on the type of VC you really need
1 comments
you have an excuse to move to SF for summer founding a startup.
Why would you even consider giving up after being rejected from YC? Isn't that telling the world you're not sold on your idea?
Why would you even consider giving up after being rejected from YC? Isn't that telling the world you're not sold on your idea?
I believe in the product. And although I have been involved in startups previously, I've either worked for one or haven't been in a position to found one as serious as this. My personal risk is greater and I naturally question it more.
And you are right, I can still move to SF :).
How about you? Have you already founded a startup? With or without YC or anyone else for that matter? And why?
And you are right, I can still move to SF :).
How about you? Have you already founded a startup? With or without YC or anyone else for that matter? And why?
How about me. I'm founding a startup with a friend, we've been bootstrapped for 6 months.
We applied for YC, but didn't get in.
We dont need YC -- but it would have been great. We had other offers on the table (good offers, they wanted us to go thru YC and they'd invest with/during/after) -- those offers still stand post rejection so we're going to close very soon. Some of those investors are pretty big names in the tech world, so we're really excited.
If I was to informally tell you the roadmap of our startup it'd be: (now) small round (~$50k) of funding, prove our worth and take a larger round (~$300k) in ~12 months, go from there.
I'm 21, my co-founder is 28. We're young, we haven't done startups before -- we understand its a huge risk, so we're trying to break it down so everyone wins.
I like to think in a year we'll be in exactly the same position as if we had taken YC. We'll see, I really want to email them saying "we just closed Series A, wish we could have worked together, no hard feelings and I'd still love to buy you guys beers"
We applied for YC, but didn't get in.
We dont need YC -- but it would have been great. We had other offers on the table (good offers, they wanted us to go thru YC and they'd invest with/during/after) -- those offers still stand post rejection so we're going to close very soon. Some of those investors are pretty big names in the tech world, so we're really excited.
If I was to informally tell you the roadmap of our startup it'd be: (now) small round (~$50k) of funding, prove our worth and take a larger round (~$300k) in ~12 months, go from there.
I'm 21, my co-founder is 28. We're young, we haven't done startups before -- we understand its a huge risk, so we're trying to break it down so everyone wins.
I like to think in a year we'll be in exactly the same position as if we had taken YC. We'll see, I really want to email them saying "we just closed Series A, wish we could have worked together, no hard feelings and I'd still love to buy you guys beers"
After that e-mail, I spent a solid 24 hours trying to convince myself that our startup was a bad idea. That way I could hit this first speed bump, walk away, and carry on with my meaningless 9-5 job in my cubicle. Fortunately, I was able to dissuade myself from that option. So why didn't YC see it the same way? What do they know that I don't?
After some soul searching, I think it is the other way around. They don't know what I do know, thus they know it is outside their expertise and not in their best interest. Here's my reasoning: Our startup is 50% based on the technology and 100% based on making the right political connections (Yes, it totals 150%). So even with their proven success guiding the product development correctly, it only affects 50% of the outcome. They can only control half, and we only gain half. It may very well be a poor match.
The application forced us to be aggressive, meet a deadline, and build a reasonably functional demo. I say that is successful in itself. It has also forced us to evaluate what types of investors and contacts we need to be successful. In these reasons alone, I believe YC has helped us as much or more than if we were picked to be funded. My only regret is that I don't have an excuse to move to SF for the summer.
Thoughts?