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Items tagged ycombinator in Jul

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Launch HN Instructions (via) The instructions for YC companies that are posting their launch announcement on Hacker News are really interesting to read. “As founders, you’re used to talking to users, customers, and investors. HN readers are not any of those—what they are is peers, and using any of those styles with peers feels clueless and entitled. [...] To interest HN, write in a factual, personal, and modest way about what problem you solve, why it matters, how you solve it, and how you got there.” # 19th July 2021, 1:05 am

What is the biggest team to join Y Combinator?

Larger teams that apply for YC generally have to nominate 2-3 “founders”, mainly for logistical reasons: there simply isn’t enough room at the dinners for larger groups. The non-founders don’t get to go to all of the dinners, though they can come along to a few of them as guests of the founders.

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Are there any Twitter apps funded by Y Combinator?

http://lanyrd.com/ was originally a Twitter app (required Twitter for signin and social graph) back when we were funded by YC. We didn’t really think of ourselves as a “Twitter app” though, and I don’t think that aspect if the service was influential in getting accepted in to YC.

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Should you apply to Y Combinator if your initial users are not in the US?

Yes, for a few of reasons:

  1. Getting traction anywhere is a great sign that you can Build Something People Want, which is YC’s slogan. Having users who don’t fit in to the tech-heavy early adopter niche is an even more positive sign.
  2. YC are always experimenting with different combinations of startup concepts, markets and founders. If you are significantly different from other groups they have funded before that might actually help you in the application process.
  3. EVERY startup should fill out the YC application form, even if they have no intention if applying (you don’t have to submit it, you could even just print it out and answer the questions privately). It’s a very well designed application form, and answering the questions on it will teach you a lot of useful things about your startup and your team.
One more point: YC doesn’t require you to move to Silicon Valley permanently, aside from the 3 months of core YC activity. There are plenty of YC companies that end up outside of the Bay Area—our company is based in London (with several other YC companies), there are plenty in New York and I believe there are quite a few in other countries as well.

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Y Combinator Demo Day and Class of Summer 2013: Is it true that YC alumni are participating in the primary selection process during S13?

Yes—this has been happening for a few years now. Here’s Paul Graham’s announcement about it back in October 2009: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

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Y Combinator: Does YC accept applications from founders outside of states? How does it work?

Yes they do. I’m a YC founder from the UK, and there were a number of other international founders in my batch (including from Spain, Switzerland and Norway, off the top of my head).

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Does Y Combinator ever fund British startups?

Yes. Our startup http://lanyrd.com/ went through Y Combinator Winter 2011 (Jan to March this year) and we’re a pair of UK co-founders. We’re back in London now.

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