1/ Now that @ycombinator applications are open I decided to share the YC app for Mixpanel we wrote over a decade ago. We were 20. Hadn't had much real work exp. Didn't go to a MIT/Stanford. Only 5 mo into building the product. Here's the application: bit.ly/2Kjmv26
2/ When I decided to apply, I wasn't sure if I was going to join @ycombinator. You see, YC was fairly new. I was worried about giving up 6-8% of equity so early on. There were no big successes yet so I wasn't sure what it'd be like. Also, the recession hit...could we raise $$$?
3/ Eventually we thought: (1) it'll help us formalize & write down our thoughts, (2) if we get to the interview, that's a good litmus test of the idea, (3) it's a good way to formalize the step of becoming real co-founders. We didn't know if we'd get to interview anyway.
4/ I remember having fun trying to write things down. I tried to analyze Paul Graham's writing style to force ourselves to be succinct/clear. It tooks us 2 weeks & we were the 1st batch to have to do a 1 min video. We must've done 10 takes due to all the laughing each time.
5/ If you read our YC application I hope you realize a few things: (1) We didn't write a stellar application. We were pretty raw at the time. (2) The idea we had was also still evolving & raw. (3) We weren't particularly clever/impressive at face value.
6/ If you're applying to YC, here are some tips for founders applying:
7/ Your application should strive for clarity & succinctness over complex acronyms & verbosity. App reviewers have 1000s of apps to read. It's important to get to the point in a way they can understand. Be in their 👟.
8/ Focus on the problem you're solving & why you understand it so well versus the possibilities of a given technology. It will be much harder to answer the questions genuinely if you're building a technology in pursuit of a problem.
9/ Not everyone needs or can do this but it helped a lot in our experience: showing what you've built through a demo makes it easier to explain your product. The next questions people ask will be deeper & more engaged.
10/ From @mwseibel (CEO of YC): "When doing your video, focus your time talking about what you are building, why, and how it's progressing. Don't spend most of it on personal bios. The intro should be 10 seconds."
11/ Finally, don't pour all your optimism into whether your idea is good or not based on whether you get accepted into YC. They miss great ideas too. Keep working hard. Do the work to have conviction so you can keep progressing. There will be other options later. You got this. 💪
In case you missed it, here's a thread on how I thought about acquiring our first 100 customers:
