I think this is a point in favor of the parent, actually. As you said, you described solutions, and the "problems" found by inverting them are not really things that people would say. To some degree, the founders thought "this product would be awesome if it existed" not "I'm solving a painkiller-level problem here"
For example:
- Facebook: "it is hard to connect to young people at my school" (what do you mean? I'll just go to the campus bar)
- Apple: "I want to get into home computers but I don't know how to solder" (ok, let's start a soldering school?)
- Amazon: "I don't want to leave the house to buy books" (???)
Hypothetically | hiring designers and engineers | fully remote
[TLDR: I’m a YC alum who has raised $7m for this idea, inspired by taking care of my sick mom. You’d be the first hire.]
If you're sick, nobody really knows what you should to do get healthy. Your doctor gives generic advice and rarely follows up, and you're left to Google and hearsay to figure out the best diet, exercise, and drugs to get better. Today, you have to just try things and see if they work.
Our app lets anyone run experiments on themselves to figure out what actually works. People use us to find the optimal dose of a drug, determine the impact of a habit, or figure out whether a supplement does anything.
The product comes from Zain's own experience caring for his sick mom. Our users' pain points are literally painful: chronic pain, sleep issues, brain fog, flare-ups, and more. We have a chance to use design & engineering to help people going through the toughest moments of their lives.
As we scale, we are building the world's first continuously-learning knowledge base on human health, and unlocking a revolution in precision medicine for everyone on the planet.
Our two founders helped build Forward Health and Clubhouse. We've raised $7m from top investors in Silicon Valley: Khosla Ventures, Bling Capital, South Park Commons, SciFi VC, plus 35 angel investors including the founders of 23andMe, PayPal, Counsyl, Cancer Commons, Opendoor, and more.
We're in an interesting spot. On one hand, we have a huge roster of engaged advisors and a ton of runway. On the other hand, we're pre-product and the team is just the two of us. This is a rare opportunity to be on the founding team of a high-growth startup and learn the skills to start your own thing someday.
Did you know Airbnb has a full ban on parties? If you're a neighbor and you find a party, you can call Airbnb and have it dealt with: https://www.airbnb.com/neighbors
I graduated from Beach High School about 18 years ago. Without going into detail too much, the public school system failed me, and Beach High School was the stepping stone that allowed me to go to college. I would be living a very different life right now if Beach High School didn't exist.
They haven’t submitted to the FDA for emergency use authorization yet because their trials aren’t done yet. Their trials started well after Pfizer/Moderna and are longer than J&J. They’re expected to apply in the next 3-4wks.
I was in S20 and also W10, so I did a remote batch and a non-remote batch ten years apart. Overall, it was indeed more work to get to know your batchmates, and the serendipity was gone a little. However, on the flip side, all the structured pieces were very on-point -- e.g. weekly talks, written materials, office hours, and advice.
With few exceptions, I would recommend YC to anyone on the fence.
We're growing insanely quickly -- both in size and in revenue. In fact, we're on track to be the fastest company to $1bn in yearly revenue run rate (faster than Google, FB, Airbnb, & Uber), but we need your help.
Technologies we work with: Rails, React, React Native, PostGIS, Python, AWS, Webpack, Phoenix (Elixir), Kubernetes, Docker.
We also have quite a few YC alum who work here (like myself!). It's a great place to meet your future cofounder :)
Shoot me an email and I'll get you fast-tracked: zain@opendoor
We're growing insanely quickly -- both in size and in revenue. In fact, we're on track to be the fastest company to $1bn in revenue (faster than Google, FB, Airbnb, & Uber), but we need your help.
Technologies we work with: Rails, React, React Native, PostGIS, Python, AWS, Webpack, Phoenix (Elixir), Kubernetes, Docker.
We also have quite a few YC alum who work here. It's a great place to meet your future cofounder :)
Shoot me an email and I'll get you fast-tracked: zain@opendoor
Hey! Zain from Opendoor here. We actually just switched to using Kwikset 914 locks instead of the Schlage ones. API docs are basically nonexistent for both, but the Kwikset is a lot easier to reverse-engineer than the Schlage! Feel free to email me if you have specific questions about either lock. zain@opendoor
We @ Lovely, http://livelovely.com, are looking for smart, relatively senior devs and designers to add immediate value by shaping our awesome growth story. We are located in SF, no remote, but we'll pay relocation expenses if you're not local and we've sponsored two H1Bs so far. You will help design and build the most beautiful Rental user/landlord portal in the US. We are a Python/Angularjs shop and we hire full stack polyglots who are savvy in a blended web/mobile environment.
I run engineering -- ex-YC, Django dev, been in the real estate space most of my life. I'd be happy to answer any of your questions: [email protected].
We @ Lovely, http://livelovely.com, are looking for smart, relatively senior devs and designers to add immediate value by shaping our awesome growth story.
No remote, but we'll pay relocation expenses if you're not local and we've sponsored two H1Bs so far. You will help design and build the most beautiful Rental user/landlord portal in the US. We are a Python/Angularjs shop and we hire full stack polyglots who are savvy in a blended web/mobile environment.
We're the prettiest entrant in a traditionally un-pretty industry: real estate. This is an entrenched industry that is overdue for some innovation, and it's a great opportunity to work on improving the difficult experience of finding a home. Your rent payment is probably the biggest bill you pay every month and we want disrupt the rental industry with a beautiful answer to CL problem.
We're a little under 30 people right now but we're growing as fast as we can find people.
I run engineering -- ex-YC, Django dev, been in the real estate space most of my life. I'd be happy to answer any of your questions: [email protected].
Lovely, San Francisco: http://livelovely.com. Looking for smart, relatively senior devs and designers. No remote, but we'll pay relocation expenses if you're not local and we've sponsored two H1Bs so far.
We're the prettiest entrant in a traditionally un-pretty industry: real estate. This is an entrenched industry that is overdue for some innovation, and it's a great opportunity to work on improving the difficult experience of finding a home. Your rent payment is probably the biggest bill you pay every month.
It's a great time to join because we've recently hit an inflection point, especially in SF where it's hard to find an apartment. We're on Lifehacker regularly, featured in last month's WIRED magazine, and 7x7 named us one of the top startups changing the world.
We're just over 20 people right now but we're growing as fast as we can find people. We just signed a lease for our first office by ourselves, a gorgeous 6000sqft building.
I run engineering -- ex-YC, Django dev, been in the real estate space most of my life. I'd be happy to answer any of your questions: [email protected].