> with a few exceptions (you have PMF, second-time founder with exit under belt, obvious deep industry/technical knowledge), you have to know someone
I don't think this is true at all. Me and my co-founder had zero connections (being from Denmark, as far from the Valley as you can get), no previous startup experience, only an early pre-prototype (just barely above idea stage) of our product and obviously zero revenue (so no PMF whatsoever). I would hope that it came across that we had deep technical knowledge, but really how much can you communicate that in a 10 min interview?
We got accepted, and we were far from the only ones in our batch like that, so it is clearly possible to get into YC just on the quality of your idea and how well you can communicate it.
i don't think i'm explaining this well. I apologize for that.
i looked at your company. you and your cofounder had deep technical expertise in an area that was white-hot at the time (obviously not a perfect comp, but that was the year zynga ipo'ed on the strength of mobile gaming). so i am not surprised at all that you got into YC without any connections. im sure there are many deeply technical founders in "hot" areas such as AI, robotics, etc that are currently getting into YC without connections.
note: again, not a perfect comp, but they probably looked at you and thought that this has dropbox-like potential. also, perhaps you will disagree that the space was "white hot" based on your own personal experiences -- my rebuttal to this would be YC was probably ahead of the curve, as it usually is, as that space definitely became white hot if not around that time period, then shortly thereafter.
my point is that there are thousands of founders that apply every year to YC, who do not have PMF, prior exits, or obviously industry/technical knowledge in "hot" areas -- out of these folks, the ones that get in, i am guessing, had really good connections.
i honestly don't think i'm saying anything that outlandish. VCs don't even try to hide that you need to be connected with a "warm" intro to get their attention -- they make that publicly known. while there are always exceptions such as you and your cofounder, i don't think YC (which is for intents and purposes a VC with a better business model, a 3 month founder bootcamp, and afaict no LPs) is any different.
I don't think this is true at all. Me and my co-founder had zero connections (being from Denmark, as far from the Valley as you can get), no previous startup experience, only an early pre-prototype (just barely above idea stage) of our product and obviously zero revenue (so no PMF whatsoever). I would hope that it came across that we had deep technical knowledge, but really how much can you communicate that in a 10 min interview?
We got accepted, and we were far from the only ones in our batch like that, so it is clearly possible to get into YC just on the quality of your idea and how well you can communicate it.