S22, solo founder, open-source infra + internal tools (windmill.dev).
As the other ones in this thread have mentionned, YC is what you make out of it. For the fundraising alone, it allowed me to raise - a non US solo founder - at very comfortable terms and on the financial aspect alone it would have been worth it. But most importantly, the hardest part to start a company in my opinion is to keep being motivated.
I was under the impression that surely a successful startup wouldn't have to go to any struggle and that founders were a special - genius-like - kind of breed. Being in YC opened my eyes:
- everyone struggle, relax and keep working
- the great people of this world are smart, but not crazy smart. They are crazy pragmatic, and crazy motivated, which you can be TOO
- YC founders are nice people, and they make for great friends to keep. Those people are the only one that will understand truly what you're going through.
YC was a transformational experience for me and I would recommend it to all.
EDIT: To give a more balanced view, YC was also stressful, and the expectations were the same, solo founder or not. Be prepared for an intense ride.
Thanks so much for posting this, I really appreciated it. I can't say enough how much this point aligns with my experience:
- the great people of this world are smart, but not crazy smart. They are crazy pragmatic, and crazy motivated, which you can be TOO
One of the things I've seen about successful entrepreneurs is that they have the ability to just push, push, push, even when everything is hitting the fan. I've realized about myself that that's just not the way I work - in super stressful/chaotic situations, some people have the ability to just cut out the noise and focus. I'm not like that, my nervous system just gets too hyped up.
So, over time, while I've been disappointed that I don't have some of these skills I wish I had, I've found that I can be very valuable in other roles, and those can be lucrative or at least "lucrative enough" for me.
Same batch, not a solo founder. But I agree with his opinions about the experience. Transformative, positive, difficult, and it is what you make out of it.
These are good points! Especially for founders who don't have any founder-group in the first place, YC may be a source to create one.
These things are really important, just that in comparison I saw alternatives which can help with it better (being in a small in-person group, for example)
As the other ones in this thread have mentionned, YC is what you make out of it. For the fundraising alone, it allowed me to raise - a non US solo founder - at very comfortable terms and on the financial aspect alone it would have been worth it. But most importantly, the hardest part to start a company in my opinion is to keep being motivated.
I was under the impression that surely a successful startup wouldn't have to go to any struggle and that founders were a special - genius-like - kind of breed. Being in YC opened my eyes:
- everyone struggle, relax and keep working
- the great people of this world are smart, but not crazy smart. They are crazy pragmatic, and crazy motivated, which you can be TOO
- YC founders are nice people, and they make for great friends to keep. Those people are the only one that will understand truly what you're going through.
YC was a transformational experience for me and I would recommend it to all.
EDIT: To give a more balanced view, YC was also stressful, and the expectations were the same, solo founder or not. Be prepared for an intense ride.