[mzbridget]

You were turned down by one program? You sound really bitter and I can see why they turned you down - you're not ready to be an entrepreneur. As a person running a start up, you're going to get turned down A LOT. So what if YC or TS or any incubator/fund is accepting 1%? You try. You try again. You keep trying. As a woman founder, I face much tougher numbers. I don't stop because the numbers are stacked against me! I keep trying. I figure out ways to monetize without funding. I get feedback on how to be better. When someone tells me an aspect of my product is crap I consider it and improve. I don't write out rants about how someone else was to blame. And yes - YOU NEED MARKET VALIDATION. If you can't prove that people will use your product, why would someone invest in you. This isn't 1998.

[grkballer44]

Sorry If I may have came off as an ass with the post. The point I was trying to make is that I truly didnt get any feedback on my product, besides the point of lack of market validation. IN my executive statement I sent a link to my beta, which he didnt visit until I was on the phone with him. Market validation is important, but I feel that id you have a functional beta as well as a concept or plan the least you can so is go through it b4 saying lack of market validation is the end all be all.

[mzbridget]

I rarely see a VC or incubator read the entire statement or much less click through to a beta. They care about numbers. You could have the next Google or FB but if you can't show that people will (or are) using it then what's the point? For me, I had to do an alpha test w/75 users and I have hundreds in my private beta and have tons of articles and market research to show traction and I still get questions about "enough traction". Just think about it from the VC perspective: "How much am I going to get back on my return" That's ALL they care about. That's all they should care about. Plus, its not up to them to give you feedback. You need to get people on your product and ask them for feedback, iterate based on their feedback and then start shopping it around to people in your space and get their feedback. After that, you go to investors.

[frankwong]

Thanks for a WACK-IN-THE-HEAD response. Reading the original post got me into this "World Sucks" funk. But you are right, what is wrong should always be remedied first from within. A bit of self evaluation before blaming others is a good motto to live by.

[mzbridget]

Dude, I totally get your rant. Hey, we've all been there. Please don't take anything personally or you're in for a huge depression. Just take it as constructive criticism and keep plugging away. I've had some harshness come to me and at first it sucked and I dwelled on it. Then I realized that hey, maybe I'm applying to the wrong programs or maybe I'm not focused on core competencies. Just keep the feedback as such - its feedback. The world doesn't suck if you don't let it.