Paul Dornier’s Post

🚀 We're thrilled to share that we've applied to join the esteemed ranks of Y Combinator's Summer24 (S24) batch. 💡 For those who might not be familiar, Y Combinator (YC) is not just any startup accelerator—it's a powerhouse that transforms fledgling startups into successful enterprises. You can hear from several of the startups that went through the YC experience last summer (S23) in the video below. With a ~1.5% acceptance rate, we know it’s not easy, but that’s exactly why it’s worth doing. We believe GrandConnect will add significantly to this summer’s S24 batch. Our team is ready to dive in! 🔗 GrandConnect's Aspiration: As part of GrandConnect, user insights and feedback have been instrumental in shaping our platform. Joining YC would amplify our ability to build something truly desired by people at scale, surrounded by like-minded innovators, investors, and an incredible support system. We are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to interview with YC and are optimistic for a positive outcome. Your continued support means the world to us, and we promise to keep you updated every step of the way. 👉Stay Connected: We value every bit of encouragement and insight from our community as we take this significant step! Watch how 50 founders share why they applied to Y Combinator: https://lnkd.in/gHfSJCMz #YCombinator #YC #GrandConnect #LegacyPreservation #CommunitySupport 

🤩 Super excited to have applied to Y Combinator this week! 🕺🏻 Can't wait to join the next batch of startup dreamers who are going to change the world! ✍🏽 The application process was super interesting: loads of questions to make you rethink your whole business, and dig deep into the fundamentals of your idea and process. 🦁 Can't wait to take introstars to the next level with the help of the Y Combinator dreamteam! Stay tuned for the next steps!

Y Combinator was a force to be reckoned with for almost the entirety of my time at Fast Company, and while it was always present -- generating characters, innovative companies, etc -- FC hadn't dug into how it operates and the power of its formidable network since 2015. Until today. Ainsley Harris did a masterful job trying to understand the leading tech accelerator and how it really has become the decentralized corporate giant that had been its founder's ambition. [Hat tip as well to Anne Latini and Mike Schnaidt for the brilliant art direction.] Y Combinator has turned "building" into a job and becoming a company founder into a career. But what is that actually like? Is the YC network only getting stronger as it grows? Are there risks to its dominance in Silicon Valley (and increasingly, the world)? For the tens of thousands of founders who apply to YC every six months for its vaunted batches, you have to read this story before you do. https://lnkd.in/e9HxHvxD

Today is Y Combinator demo day. A day we tried hard to be part of. But failed. Let me explain... In 2019, we made it to the YC final interview stage and got rejected (because we didn't have any paying customers yet). So we pulled some all-nighters, added a paid plan, got our first paying customers, and went back two days later and asked them to reconsider. They still rejected us. That hurt. A lot. But it turns out it was the best thing that ever happened to VEED.IO. A year later, we grew to $1M ARR, bootstrapped. 1 year later, we crossed $6M ARR, raised $35M from Sequoia Capital (and have doubled ARR each year since.) This month, we just crossed 100k concurrent paid users, with our revenue growth accelerating YoY. For everyone who never made it into YC / got the opportunity to pitch at demo day, remember to: Focus on your customers. Focus on growing your business. Pretty much everything else will fall into place.

I don't post often but figured I'd reflect on my Y Combinator experience with Tusk (YC W24) now that Demo Day is over. Focus + speed of execution is the biggest thing that YC has helped us incorporate into our company's DNA. Helps that our incredible batchmates are moving really fast toward ambitious goals too. We're operating at the same (if not, higher) level of customer-centricity and urgency going forward. I also take away with me thoughtful, fun convos with friends and batchmates. Couple of nuggets that stuck: TJ mentioning how us founders should be treating ourselves like Olympic athletes and seeking out coaches where needed. Wei-Wei mentioning that his trick to being decisive was saying "peanut brain" and then just doing the thing at hand (!). Grateful to our Group Partners Harj, Emmett, Diana, and Nicolas for pushing us to be great while providing hard, important truths. Sohil and I often joke that our partners are basically startup LLMs – only it's not a joke and actually true.

TLDR; if your users absolutely love your product, don't be discouraged if every investor turns you down. Even if the best investors on the planet turn you down. As a former video producer and early VEED.IO user (2020), I had a strong conviction VEED.IO was going to be huge one day. Ironically, I discovered VEED by accident. When the pandemic hit, it forced OneSixOne Ventures to cancel our in-person events so we shifted our focus to launching a virtual accelerator modeled after YC. While browsing Y Combinator's Hacker News trying to understand their selection criteria, I stumbled upon a post from Sabba Keynejad talking about how they were rejected. In the thread, there were several people saying negative / harsh things and basically stating VEED deserved to be rejected. Since at the time I was still running Rootex, the video production agency I had started while in college, I had used both Final Cut Pro and Premier Pro to edit client videos. So after reading a bit of the thread I went to their website and tried out their product and I was absolutely mind-blown! What would've normally taken me 2 hours to create using both Adobe AfterEffects and Premier Pro took me 3 minutes on VEED. I immediately texted several video producer friends telling them they needed to try the product. I then kept reading more about their story and I recall them mentioning they had been working on this for years and had completely run out of money. Many other investors had also rejected them and they were forced to work other gigs just to make ends meet. And yet, despite not having a marketing budget they were growing rapidly through word of mouth. My next thought was- how can I invest in this company? I even messaged Sabba to set up a call to learn more and try to figure out a way to invest or at least connect him to other investors, but at the time I had no network of investors, no capital and no knowledge around how to set up an SPV to invest in a startup. In early 2022, an article came out in TechCrunch about Sequoia Capital investing $35m into Veed. It was the first capital they'd ever raised and they were generating around $6m/year while being profitable. Today, VEED has 100,000 paying customers and is generating an estimated $50m in annual revenue. Congrats Sabba Keynejad and the VEED.IO team on an incredible journey! Onwards and upwards 🚀

Founders are you looking to join Y Combinator, the renowned startup accelerator based in California, And looking for a perfect strategy to ace your YC application? Well,I get asked this question a lot, and today, I’m here to share some golden insights with you. Here’s what you need to know: Keep it Simple: YC values clarity and accessibility. Use straightforward language in your application to ensure it resonates with their global community. Ditch the jargon and opt for clear, concise explanations. Craft a Compelling Narrative: Your story matters. Share the journey of how you and your co-founders came together, when you embarked on this venture, and don’t shy away from discussing the setbacks you’ve faced. Highlight how you tested your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with a specific number of customers and the invaluable insights gained from them. Numbers Speak Volumes: While revenue figures can bolster your application, they’re not a necessity. If you have them, great! If not, fret not. Focus on showcasing growth potential and key performance indicators relevant to your stage. Highlight Value Proposition: It’s not just about the features of your product; it’s about the value it brings. Emphasize how your solution is superior to existing alternatives or how it addresses a pressing need, potentially saving customers valuable time or resources. Deadline to apply is April 22 and will start in SF, from July 2024. Apply for YC from here: https://lnkd.in/ggXSifhQ

Founders - as the deadline for Y Combinator's Summer '24 batch is nearing, I'm excited to announce that we're hosting 'MagicBall Insights: Crafting the Perfect YC Application - Insights from Former YC Founders.' 🚀 This virtual event will feature an in-depth panel discussion with ex-YC founders, followed by a session where they'll review your applications one-on-one. Join us on April 10th to: - Learn best practices from former YC founders. - Get actionable tips to craft the perfect application. - Understand common mistakes most founders make. - And learn how you can increase your chances of being accepted into YC. RSVP on the link in the comments👇 See y'all on April 10th! 🙌 P.S. Make sure to share this post with founders whom you know are applying to YC soon! 🎉 Nikhil Kapur Siddharth Verma Geetika Mehta Anand Krishna Chinmay Bharti Amartya Jha Neel Balar Rohan Sood Vellanki Sriharsha Kiran Babu Aditya Chebbi Cherish Santoshi Nihal Kashinath Paul Ravindranath G Anuj Duggal

I still watch most of Y Combinator's videos in my pastime. Most people who have done YC or follow YC closely have heard that a lot of the advice they give is “common sense” or “simple advice”. It’s totally true - there’s no magical advice out there - and I realize the only thing that makes a difference is executing on the simple advice. For me I’ve noticed that it helps when I hear the same things over and over again, from different mediums, until I internalize it. Over the past weekend I was listening to YC’s new video on doing things that don’t scale. That it’s important to optimize for learning when you’re doing the 0 to 1 and eventually you earn the right to deal with scalability issues and tech debt. It’s funny to think back on some of the things we were doing that don’t scale: 👉 We had to share a Google sheet with our first few customers so they could list out all the tables they wanted us to sync.  👉 We then had a UI where customers could add tables, but all it did was send us a Slack message to actually kick that off in the backend. For the most part we did this fast enough so it would seem automated. What’s some really simple advice you’ve received that you value a lot? #ycombinator

Being able to Pitch an Idea is as important for founders as it is for intrapreneurs and business leaders. This session that Rohan Sood and team are organizing I am sure would have several great insights for all as YC's application is the top notch pitch format you could look up to. Do register and be part of the session to learn key insights.