[hashmij]

The last two days have been an emotionally draining rollercoaster. On Nov. 13th, I checked my email about 10,000 times. This increased the anticipation, but after not hearing anything the whole day, I figured I got rejected and I was OK with it at that time. After all, I had anticipated this as the most likely outcome.

Then, I found out on HN that the interview notification got delayed by two days. This was followed up by a message from PG. It really sounded like he was interested in us! I thought to myself, "Why would a big shot like him have sent me such a question if he wasn't really interested in us???"

So, for the next day and a half I was daydreaming of getting into YC. We had then convinced ourselves, "We're getting an interview!"

Then, on Nov. 15, I checked my email another 10,000 times. The anticipation was unbearable. Then, when I got the rejection email, it hit me like someone punched me in the gut. It really hurt.

I feel like it would not have hurt so much if I hadn't have gotten my hopes up after the PG message.

I feel stupid since I should have known that a PG message is just that: a PG message. Why on earth did I over-interpret that?

Anyways, this really hurts...We took a day off to mourn, and then we'll get back up and keep pressing forward.

I wonder if I answered PG's question incorrectly...Did that have something to do with the rejection?

Anyways, at the end of the day, I still respect what PG and YC are doing. No point in being a sore loser. In my life, I've been rejected by a lot of places and accepted at others, and in the end, I am happy and grateful where I am now. You win some, you lose some.

[eduardordm]

I feel the same way as you. I won't be applying anymore: this was the first time I applied to an incubator. I built a startup before (that succeeded) and we got a lot of rejections, but thing is they were pretty much immediate. They didn't feel so bad, no anticipation was built, there were similar opportunities to try.

YC is unique, it gets emotional and the anticipation drains the very energy you need to succeed.

Good luck,

[accountoftheday]

The emotional drain came as a bit of a surprise to me, and I am not even invested much in this forum or the idea of making a career via YC. I too have built and exited startups previously (without the warm embrace of an incubator) and some rejections from dealing with investors do happen due to the nature of the game but I cannot remember it ever having felt hostile in the way submitting to a black hole and receiving an automated form letter response from it does.

[hashmij]

Thanks for your comment. Yeah, it really really sucked the wind out of me. It's not going to stop us from going forth, but it is a momentary pause to catch our breath and get back up from the floor.

[ohashi]

You get used to it. The first time I can empathize. I've been rejected 3 times now, I hardly noticed this time and forgot about it until I saw something on HN. You stop pinning any sort of hope on getting accepted and keep building/marketing/promoting/improving and life goes on :)