Want to start a startup? Meet all the YC partners in Boston – Apr 20th

[stewpy]

We only hire Americans from elite universities, but please come along and waste your time!

[dang]

Definitely not true! How did you get that impression?

I wouldn't be here if it were—my cofounder Scott and I made it to YC from way outside elite circles, US or otherwise. It's really important not to go for these demoralizing assumptions, lest they become self-fulfilling prophesies.

Here's some better information: if you can build, can make something people want, and are willing to be coached in the way that YC coaches founders, you have as good a chance as anyone at getting funded by YC. (And certainly a far better chance at not being overlooked for prejudicial reasons such as 'not from elite university'.)

You may not be wrong in general—it's clear that class divides are increasingly organized around educational divides—but IMO this is less true of YC than society at large and it's a big part of YC's business for it to remain so.

Edit: while I'm at it, something I wish more people would know is that if you apply to YC and get rejected, you should keep applying. Most YC startups didn't get in on their first try. If you do apply more than once, the key thing is to demonstrate progress since your previous application.

So: don't give up, and definitely don't give up before you start!

[tptacek]

No Americans from elite universities here at Fly.io (W20).

[haneul]

I went to a state school (UNC Chapel Hill). Sure, the odds are better at Stanford, but I’m not the only one in my class at UNC who ended up doing YC.

[maxverse]

Am I reading this correctly - anyone can apply to Startup School, but only students can do the in-person interviews?

[sandslash]

Yes. As part of our annual college outreach tour, we're holding in-person interviews for students at this stop.

[neilv]

Any chance it'll also be streamed live?

I'm in Boston, but guessing 13 speakers is a long time to be in an event space with a lot of students bused in from various schools. (1-on-1 or few-on-few can be better in-person, but remote works a lot better for talks.)

Also, Covid is going around the schools right now, and not everyone would let having Covid preclude a networking opportunity like this. Which would be a reason in favor of streaming (i.e., lower the incentive to make a lot of people sick). And also a reason some people would opt to watch the stream.

[sandslash]

We're working with the venue to stream it. At the very least, we will be recording the entire event and uploading it to YouTube!

[rabbits77]

“We’ll be chartering buses to travel to and from schools around the Northeast. Sign up early if you’d like a seat on one of the buses.“

Will they be doing that “roll call” song too? https://www.tiktok.com/@theoffice/video/7254560650909928750?...

[neilv]

Instead of your own name, you do your startup's elevator pitch in that format.

[beastman82]

Why do founders need to be in school?

[yashap]

It’s worth noting that the main online “startup school” course doesn’t have this limitation, neither does the core YC program. I’m guessing this specific event is just very targeted at a particular market - Boston area student startup founders. Talks that are very targeted towards student founders, trying to make connections between similar age/location entrepreneurs, trying to build ties to YC within a close knit group so that they’re all more likely to apply to YC later, etc.

With that being said, I have zero association with YC, I could be wrong about any/all of that. But to me it just looks like a single event that’s trying to be really specific and focused with their market. It’s very common for meetups to have a very specific target market. It IS more uncommon to outright ban ppl outside the target market, but YC is so popular that if they didn’t, they’d probably get a tonne of non-student, non-Boston-area ppl attending a meetup whose content is focused on Boston area students.

[nodoodles]

Why do we need to meet YC partners to start a startup?

[ivan888]

It seems like even the Startup School signup is limited to students. I applied anyway, and will comment again if I receive a response

[Bostonian]

'We’re conducting in-person interviews for the Summer 2024 batch for current undergraduate or graduate students at universities in the northeastern US.'

Why are recent BA/BS, MS, and PhD graduates excluded?

[throwaway2016a]

Looks like it's a special opportunity for students to interview early and not excluding non-students from interviewing through the normal process. Maybe they are concerned the interviews may be overrun with professional founders and they only have 1 day?

[dang]

College outreach has been part of YC's recruiting efforts for years. It doesn't mean others are excluded. Certainly everyone who wants to should apply for Startup School!

[ramijames]

Or those of us with no degrees and decades of experience?

I'm in Boston.

[MontgomeryPi2]

Maybe an end-around? Here are some Harvard summer courses... https://courses.dce.harvard.edu/?srcdb=202403&summer_school=.... (a long time ago now, I landed a job this way because I said I was "studying at Harvard")

[graiz]

Why assume that they are excluded?

[cm2012]

Should be a fun event with that date in Boston!

[levocardia]

Will videos of the talks be recorded and posted to YouTube? I have really enjoyed the recordings of the older Startup School talks.

[sandslash]

Yes! It'll be recorded and put onto YouTube afterwards.

[fakedang]

And thus YC becomes a traditional company, let alone VC, with these campus placements from top schools. What happened to PG's mantras and vacillations about "The Reddits", and how they hired inexperienced founders from non target schools?

[aio2]

Is it only for university students? Would love to go there.

[sandslash]

Nope, anyone can apply to attend the Startup School event.

[anshumankmr]

Is there gonna be something similar in Bengaluru?

[spxneo]

Why run a startup when you can run a business with bank loans to leverage your technical capital, comrades! Wake up from the perils of being yet another cannon fodder, for it is your time and time is our most valuable thing! Our kingdom is near, strike!

[canadiantim]

Funny they decided to do it on 420.

[canadiantim]

Jeez, some of the voters in this thread should prly imbibe when they go to this meetup on 420

[joshxyz]

blaze it