I think it's super-cool that you're applying to YC and not dissuaded by the gender- or age-related stereotypes. Power to you! A few constructive remarks:
* If you've got a blog about your startup, you should link to your startup! There's not a single word about your startup on your blog itself. As a reader, I want to know what you're actually working on --- this is especially true in the tech-scene.
* When blogging, try to be professional. I saw a number of spelling/grammar mistakes in your two first blog posts. Keep in mind that you and your co-founder are (presumably) CEOs of your startup, so there is a veneer of professionalism to maintain: I rarely read a blog post by a CEO that uses "lol". If in doubt, write clearly and correctly rather than casually.
These are great suggestions. Thanks! My co-founder, Marlene, is going to kill me for attempting to publish without her "editing". She was an executive in communications at HP. This is our first blog experiment and between typing 85 words a minute and lack of sleep, I neglected to go back through and give it a good edit. Again, I sincerely appreciate your suggestions. Any additional advice?
The MVP (minimum viable product) is usually a landing page with a description of what you'll be doing and a box where people can enter in their email to stay up to date.
You've got a great story to tell, and if friendly journalists or developers want to hear more of it, they have no way to do that now.
Thank you so much for your suggestion. I've been completely focused on our business plan and learning about all the different elements that are needed to build the site. It's only been the past couple of days that I've realized that I need to start telling people about it. Hence the blog. I will look into this tomorrow. Thanks again!
Your story is really nice and your motivation is well stated in your blog post: "...the fragmented condition and outdated technologies of the commercial real estate industry continued to frustrate me.....I decided to find a better solution"
I feel your story stands out with that one sentence - it would have been better to lead with that. I also feel the emphasis on your age and role as a single parent takes away from your central motivation when you lead with those points.
Recently I started stating people's ages in binary, then everyone sounds old.
I'm 100000 years old, my father is 1000100, while my nephew is 1000 and my niece is 101. Oh yeah, Mark Zuckerberg is 11110 years old, but he doesn't look it.
Whatever your startup is, may I wish it the best of luck.
* If you've got a blog about your startup, you should link to your startup! There's not a single word about your startup on your blog itself. As a reader, I want to know what you're actually working on --- this is especially true in the tech-scene.
* When blogging, try to be professional. I saw a number of spelling/grammar mistakes in your two first blog posts. Keep in mind that you and your co-founder are (presumably) CEOs of your startup, so there is a veneer of professionalism to maintain: I rarely read a blog post by a CEO that uses "lol". If in doubt, write clearly and correctly rather than casually.
Good luck on your startup!