> Don’t let funding take your eye off the goal: making something people want. Everything else, including going through Y Combinator, is there to support that goal but is not the goal itself.
It would be interesting to see a chart plotting over time the number of applicants in each batch who have applied to YC multiple times. Based on the number of folks here on HN who have apparently applied multiple times, and for different concepts no less, it seems plausible that a not insignificant percentage of the applicant pool now consists of folks who, contrary to YC's own advice, are more focused on getting accepted into YC than building a real business.
I don't doubt this is true, but this shouldn't be what an incubator is about. It should be about taking a great idea and a talented team and helping them buid a great business when the founders are inexperienced in running a business.
Have you read the book From Good to Great? I've never applied, much less been accepted, but I imagine that YC helps you get the flywheel going that Jim Collins talks about.
It sounds like everybody that participates says they make more progress in the program than they would have otherwise in that amount of time.
But if you have a successful business then you probably don't NEED them. But they can still help.
Unless you are comparing YC against an actual term sheet in your hand with at least 2X better terms, that YC is overwhelmingly likely a good deal. There might be good reasons not to enter YC for some companies, but the 6% equity is rarely the determining one, even for companies with revenue and sustainable Ramen profits.
It would be interesting to see a chart plotting over time the number of applicants in each batch who have applied to YC multiple times. Based on the number of folks here on HN who have apparently applied multiple times, and for different concepts no less, it seems plausible that a not insignificant percentage of the applicant pool now consists of folks who, contrary to YC's own advice, are more focused on getting accepted into YC than building a real business.