[neonbat]

A lot of the rejected companies are confused as to why they didn't get into YC or are behaving as if it's some great mystery. Looking at some of their websites though it kind of seems like they just didn't read Paul's essays. If I can't visit your website and immediately understand your business that is a red flag. People are always fancy-fying and abstracting the descriptions of their businesses. Most of the businesses websites I see applying to YC are less of "We sell apples. Use our product. Get you some apples." and more of "We create high level fruit distribution mechanisms. Currently we are supporting Apples in our network. We plan to support other fruits in the future. We're gonna REVOLUTIONIZE the way you acquire fruit." If I was at YC I would be looking for people who physically described what their company does; I see a lack of that in the rejected companies.

[richardbrevig]

I love your apple/fruit example. This is a major problem I see in many startups, their unique value proposition is absolutely confusing. It's hard to get right, but is a very important step for a web business these days.

[actraub]

+1