Reading those pieces and taking the advice seriously are entirely different things. For instance I knew two non-technical founders with a company who were outsourcing their app and had no users and were shocked they didn't get an interview. On paper and in person they are both very bright, had attended elite schools and done a lot of interesting things in their lives. But I think that was actually their downfall, they suspected they had enough good things going for them in general that they ignored a lot of very specific advice from YC.
My bet is the companies that don't get interviews are a lot more like my friends who just didn't pay attention than a sea of corner cases. It's actually really hard to meet the criteria that YC asks for. If you follow their advice you need the following things:
- At least 2 founders who know each other well, preferably have worked together before or known each other for years
- Have found your domain problem through personal experience
- Are good hackers
- Have already put together a decent product/have some semblance of a reasonable start
It can almost sound simple but that's really really hard. And I say that as someone who has spent the last couple years talking with my friends about whether they would be interested in being co-founders for startup ideas and searching for problems in my own experience that would make for scalable ideas. I go out and talk to companies and I don't see much of what YC explicitly asks for. It's not far fetched to imagine they interview nearly 100% of the teams that fit the profile above.
> It can almost sound simple but that's really really hard.
It really _is_ hard. No way is it easy
> I say that as someone who has spent the last couple years talking with my friends about whether they would be interested in being co-founders for startup ideas and searching for problems in my own experience that would make for scalable ideas.
That is the biggest problem in getting it going. You have to be able to convince others to share your vision. But isn't it easier to do with long-time friends than that guy you met last summer? When you know someone for long enough, you will have the confidence that you'll stick together through the friendly breezes and the wild storms
> Are good hackers
That is a requirement for a good reason. The founders are the only guys initially who give a sh*t about the product. Say a customer makes a support call, being able to quickly respond and fix the bug can mean life or death. You need at least one hacker who can do this. Better if every founder is one.
> I go out and talk to companies and I don't see much of what YC explicitly asks for.
YC in no way has the magic portion. They just have a set of things they believe are positive indicators, which are mostly right, but not fulfulling one/all of these no way means you can't build a successful startup
> It's not far fetched to imagine they interview nearly 100% of the teams that fit the profile above.
That's not surprising, is it? If 70% of the slots were filled with applicants that fulfilled 100% criteria, then they might loosen some of the criteria (like single founder teams, idea stage etc), but with the momentum that YC's gotten, I bet 100% of the slots get filled with startups that fulfill 100% of their criteria (and more, those corner cases). So obviously, they'll stick to their criteria (which has been working for them)
My bet is the companies that don't get interviews are a lot more like my friends who just didn't pay attention than a sea of corner cases. It's actually really hard to meet the criteria that YC asks for. If you follow their advice you need the following things:
- At least 2 founders who know each other well, preferably have worked together before or known each other for years
- Have found your domain problem through personal experience
- Are good hackers
- Have already put together a decent product/have some semblance of a reasonable start
It can almost sound simple but that's really really hard. And I say that as someone who has spent the last couple years talking with my friends about whether they would be interested in being co-founders for startup ideas and searching for problems in my own experience that would make for scalable ideas. I go out and talk to companies and I don't see much of what YC explicitly asks for. It's not far fetched to imagine they interview nearly 100% of the teams that fit the profile above.