For example, I'm required to post a video of myself/group talking about the project. I'm not posting a damn video. Fine - I get that you want to be able to see the product/s up close with the passion of the founders, etc. But, hell - the project I'm working on is dirty, "hard", far from glamorous and isn't very presentable - especially on camera where my strong anxieties come out. Though, because of my personality I'm effectively disqualified, despite all else.
If I'm missing something I'd very much like to me corrected.
They're also looking for you be willing to step outside your comfort zone. As a founder you'll constantly have to do things that don't come naturally to you -- talking to investors or customers, interviewing employees, and even firing employees. The fact that you're not willing to make a 1-min video of yourself is a negative signal that you won't be able to step up and do those hard tasks that make you uncomfortable. Being a founder takes more than just being able to build the best technology.
I do think that there could be a middle ground, though. An explanation of the video requirements within arm's reach would be nice. I didn't see anything relevant on the FAQ when I looked.
I understand what it shows as a signal. It's a shitty signal.
Not trying to sound too negative here, but it's a legitimate problem that needs to be addressed. The general heuristic these days is to follow charisma, which in my experience has led to mediocrity, disaster and only everything that comes between. It's the exact impression I got from YC after that process.
Fine. But if you want VC money, give them some credit and assume that they can decide for themselves whether or not your lack of charisma will be a factor in your business. Presumably, some of them are good at their jobs and can correctly make that determination.
Furthermore, to refute your entire claim, there have been many articles suggesting that VCs actually exhibit a selection bias towards social awkwardness, since so many socially awkward people have been terribly successful recently. You're assuming that they're looking for highly charismatic salespeople (and maybe for some companies they are), but what facts support your claim?
What makes you think it's a problem with social awkwardness. There's nothing awkward about it, unfortunately. I'm sure I'm not the only one dissuaded by the requirement to post a video. Phone call, skype, in-person, morse code would be better.
I'm not exactly saying that they're actively looking for charismatic people. I'm saying that requiring a video artificially creates a preventable bias towards those much more comfortable in front of a camera.
I'm using "social awkwardness" (perhaps incorrectly) as an antonym of charisma. If things are biased in favor of charismatic people, then presumably they're biased against uncharismatic people.
> I'm sure I'm not the only one dissuaded by the requirement to post a video. Phone call, skype, in-person, morse code would be better.
You're probably not the only one, but personally, a phone or Skype call causes me more social anxiety since I'm on the spot and have less control over the presentation. So, yes, a video biases towards people who are comfortable on camera, just as a phone call biases towards people who are comfortable on the phone.
You're thinking of the problem only from your own perspective. Can you imagine difference in logistics between watching 1,000 one-minute videos versus organizing 1,000 one-minute Skype calls?
>> The general heuristic these days is to follow charisma ... It's the exact impression I got from YC after that process.
> I'm not exactly saying that they're actively looking for charismatic people.
Ok.
It's a complicated problem that unfortunately has very little visibility. The only reason I post these thoughts is to hopefully help raise visibility on folk similar to me so that those who aren't similar can have a little extra understanding.
Another way to look at my posts is, "Let's be slightly more accommodating, less rigid and less nitpicky to the dissimilar." Because that's where a lot of hidden things lay..
What would you think is a better proposition for investment?
1. Someone who can do all that, partnered (or to later hire) someone who does deep technical dives.
2. Someone who must necessarily hire sales, management, and PR in order to get to step #2 of any business plan: make money.
Even so their bar is low. They're not looking for generalist experts, merely people who are at least willing to participate in all parts of the trade---including making video proposals, and giving press conferences.
You need to persuade people to invest.
You need to persuade people to work for you, good people especially, in the early stages when maybe you can't pay as much as other people or you can't promise a stable career path.
You need to persuade customers to buy your product, or if you don't sell it directly you have to convince store fronts, manufacturers, and the whole gamut that they're taking a justified risk on you.
And yes, when you go onto the Ycombinator forums to complain about their approval process you need to persuade readers that you have a point.
Having social anxiety, or a distinct lack of charisma will interfere with all of these.
Really, all I'd like to see is some sort of other avenue through YC that doesn't necessarily require a video to be posted since that adds to a particular sort of bias.
Sure, I understand that my expectations of how a company looks so early on might be skewed and they have only about 3 minutes, but all the speeches were so templated (stressing ridiculously overhyped market values etc.) that I thought they were really uninspiring. Might be the fault of the VCs who are just looking to randomly jump on the next potentially successful ship endorsed by YC, but I honestly got tired of hearing about the next app that will change the world of X within 10 minutes.
As you mentioned, some of these products have been genuinely amazing and winning lottery tickets that on average bring huge profits to YC, so we should probably look at it more pragmatically rather than expecting them to make the future better.
Don't pretend that Silicon Valley is not superficial in many regards. Yes, some of those silly, fluff apps have gone on to make money and that's your metric so you defend it.
But for many people, Silicon Valley embodies a different principle, like the one found at Xerox PARC, of people trying to make the future better and not just drive a nicer car.