[mazumdar]

I applied to YC six times over the last 2.5 years with the same idea - https://yathletics.com . Got rejected every time but interviewed with them twice. The first time I applied was before I launched our first product and had $0 in revenue. The last time I applied, our yearly revenue was almost $1M, and we're still just getting started.

The reason for rejection was same at both times - I didn't have a clear strategy of how to grow my company into a big business. (For those that don't know, YC gives you a pretty clear explanation of why they rejected you and what they want you to do better.)

We make products that our users absolutely love and have seen phenomenal growth, and YC understands that. But it seems like it's very important to them that you are able to clearly articulate what your business will look like in ten years when it's a billion dollar company.

I have no doubt that I will make my company into a billion dollar business. But I simply don't know how I will take over the world yet. I strategize what needs to be done over the next 1 year and focus only on that. Sure, it might not be a trait for successful founders, but I firmly believe that staying focused on building great products is key to my business. The vision for how I will turn this into a billion dollar company will gradually come with time.

[SkyMarshal]

This is not just a YC thing, it's par for the course for most SV VC's. Their MO is to spread lots of bets around, expecting 99% of those bets will go to 0, 0.9% may just break even, and 0.1% may be the next Google, Facebook, etc. and make back far more than all their other losses combined.

That's a bit of a simplification and exaggeration, but the general idea is that if you want to raise money in SV you need a plausible case for how your startup will either become a unicorn (>= $1B valuation) or disrupt some really big established thing. YC also has appears to have a preference for technological advances - "breakthrough technology" - over the status quo.

Looking at your website I would have the same question as YC - competent-looking execution and product design, which if continued could potentially make it to >= $1B market cap, but it appears your business model is, at best, attempting an incremental improvement over UnderArmor and the like. What big problem are you solving, or big established things are you disrupting? What new market or industry are you creating? What breakthrough technology are you deploying that enables you to execute better than entrenched competitors in a way they can't easily replicate?

My sense is that's more along the lines of what they're looking for.

[mazumdar]

This is a great comment, and I whole heartedly agree that the questions you are asking are along the lines of what most VC's will have in their heads.

I don't see my business as solving any real problems. But I believe you don't need to solve real problems to have a business. I can very well frame my business as one that solves a problem, but that would be marketing speak rather than reality. There are billion dollar companies that don't solve problems and that's esp. true in the apparel industry.

I'm not going to delve any further into my thinking of the 'problem solving' approach because there is a more important point that was possibly misunderstood in my original comment. A lot of the responses to my comment are based around the merits of the idea itself, but YC has been pretty clear that they fund people over ideas. The way I look at it, the idea is just a medium for them to get to know the founder(s). There is no such thing as a 'billion dollar idea'. Most billion dollar businesses did not become that way over a short period of time [1], esp. not in the apparel industry. Every company started with something small and what you do in your initial years is just the stepping stone of creating opportunities to become something bigger.

But back to the point - I believe YC uses your idea to understand the founder, and my point was that one of the traits they look for is the founders ability to clearly articulate what their business will look like in ten years. The emphasis here is on the founder's characteristics rather than the merit of the idea itself. So, while I agree with your thought process on what a VC looks for, I disagree that YC looks for the same thing. That's why they are an incubator rather than a VC firm.

On a less related note: I don't apply to YC for the sake of raising funding. My company generates enough revenues, and we have enough positive cash flow and great credit terms with vendors. The value addition I seek from YC is more to do with better figuring out the business rather than access to capital. The reason YC is the only investor I talk to is a very personal one: My company would not exist without HN. I don't have a background in engineering, but since I started reading HN 5 years ago, I really resonated with the community (although I never participated). Back in those days, there used to be more front page articles about startups and the community seemed more tight-knit. I started learning how to code through codeacademy and that was the inflection point that gave me the confidence that I can actually build things, which eventually resulted in me building YA. I worked with many YC companies and still do business with some of them. So, the real reason I apply to YC is because I've gotten a ton of value from it's community and naturally want to have a closer association to them and the partners that run the organization. The sad part is that as they grow bigger (which is better for the world), the appeal of being in the insider community gets smaller. I just hope I get to participate in a cycle before that feeling goes away all together.

[1] Companies like Uber & Airbnb are exceptions

[SkyMarshal]

Good observations, will keep that in mind too if I ever apply, and good luck!

[EToS]

A lot of companies with up to $30m potential are unlikely to get funding from what i've seen. Its not that their not worthy or bad ideas, its just VC's are gonna looking for a pie big enough to take their slice from, and to do that your ultimately looking out for the next company which will significantly shift the needle within a particular area.

[pcsanwald]

I'm a runner, and just ordered two pairs of socks! seems like a great business to me. I have no insight into what could/couldn't be a billion dollar business, but I'm also positive that not every successful company needs to be a billion dollar business.

[ams6110]

No disrespect to GP, but at a glance, it's a specialty online store. I'm sure it's great and doing well, but it's not a "take over the world" kind of breakthrough idea.

[enknamel]

I'd really like to hear a followup on how these socks compare to Thorlos and Balegas.

[pcsanwald]

I like the socks quite a lot. they are much thinner and more lightweight than balegas, but they fit my foot a bit better and they breathe really great.

If you like a thinner sock, these are the best I've tried.

[pcsanwald]

I'll report back! my preference is for Balegas over Thorlos, I feel that Thorlos quality has dropped off in recent years. I'm happy with Balegas, but go through them fairly quickly, as I run 200-250 miles/month.

[gist]

> We make products that our users absolutely love and have seen phenomenal growth, and YC understands that. But it seems like it's very important to them that you are able to clearly articulate what your business will look like in ten years when it's a billion dollar company.

In life in general the "talk a good game" part plays particular significance in people's decision making even if what is being said doesn't hold water. Of course if your idea is super special in some way or you have some other huge advantage that gets peoples attention that doesn't matter but that covers edge cases, not normals.

[vthallam]

Your journey sounds great and more power to you! I too kinda believe that you should build a great product first and figure out everything later, but this attitude wouldn't work if you are planning on to get funding, because that's the first question people ask :|

[nicholas73]

Do you have any blog posts about how you got started? I'm interested in how tech people can get started in more traditional businesses.

[mazumdar]

I don't but I plan to write about it soon. I've written some articles in the past that will give you some idea (links below), but I now have supplementary thoughts that I want to add to those articles to give a more complete picture.

https://medium.com/@arbabmazumdar/3-things-i-learnt-while-bo...

https://medium.com/the-crowdfunding-bible/how-i-raised-250-0...

[mankash666]

With a self-hosted on-line store, why are your prices still relatively high? Wouldn't you open up the market by lowering the MRP?