Tell HN: When to apply to Y Combinator (YC S22 alum advice)
Disclaimer: I'm a big YC fan. I became one before I got accepted to YC, even before I applied for the first time.

TL; DR. If you're a first-time founder looking to build a one-billion-dollar (or more) fast-growing company - there is no better way to start than to get accepted to YC. If you have other life plans (which is absolutely fine), YC isn't for you by design.

I wrote this post with the HackerNews crowd in mind. My entrepreneurial path started on HN, and I felt distraught seeing the HN audience take YC as a magic pill to succeed in any life choice. It's just not, and it's not trying to be.

Dang's post received many negative replies about YC, and many of those don't make much sense: YC is not to help you build any company you want. YC is to help you build something really, really ambitious. That's how VC works.

Me and YC

The best thing I ever did as a startup founder was to accept that, most likely, YC (PG, Michael Seibel & Dalton Caldwell, in particular) know better how to start a startup. So, I just listened to their advice, which can be easily found online. And tried my best to follow it:

* we launched fast

* we started talking to users

* we tried to make a few customers really, really happy

* we only focused on what really matters - sales and revenue

And yes, we didn't even make it to the interview phase the first two times, but it didn't stop us from starting NewsCatcher. Being in YC gives you an unfair advantage, but it is certainly not the only way to begin your startup journey.

We applied to YC four times with the same idea, were interviewed twice, and were invited twice (yes, with the same idea). We had to decline the invite once because NewsCatcher had already accepted an invite to the TinySeed S21 batch.

Three not-so-obvious reasons to apply to YC

-- No one raises Seed rounds like YC

I spent just two days fundraising. Investors come inbound. Some top-tier investors even proposed to invest without a meeting: they had to do the homework, not me.
Yes, we got to YC with $300k ARR and had $450k ARR by Demo Day. But many of our batchmates were raising more money at higher valuations pre-revenue.
VC investors value YC at 2-3x compared to the market average/median valuations because YC companies perform much better on average.

-- You keep control; once you are accepted to YC, you can do whatever you want

YC Partners only advise you. They don't tell you what to do.
I remember talking to one of my batchmates. He had been building an open-source solution. He didn't talk to any customers, he wasn't getting any revenue, he was writing code.
He knew better, and he was right. He raised a lot of money at excellent terms, and today, his product is loved by hackers.

-- YOU are getting accepted, not your startup

If YC thinks you're a great founder, you will be accepted by YC with a "bad" idea, but not vice versa.
Also, your startup will more likely fail than succeed. But you'll be a YC alum forever.

Final notes

Whenever you want to build a startup and are told something like: "You should not apply to YC," please just open your browser, type ycombinator.com, and read the numbers.

Nothing else in this world has the same stats over 5,000 funded companies.

Then, ask this person, "What is your alternative?"
The answer is usually, "I have a great course for $375 that will help you build a small, profitable business."

Great answer, Daniel. That's precisely what I freacking need to build a company with $200M+ ARR. Thanks so much.

Also, where are those YC alums with $1B+ exits complaining about YC?

Last, why do founders with successful exits do YC again?