I don't think there's anything wrong with positive self-talk. A founder being confident about his or her ability to execute shouldn't make anyone else feel insecure.

Agree with you 100%. We are nothing without confidence that at first seems baseless.

Yeah, exactly. Fake it 'til you make it.

Worked for Caterina :)

http://www.caterina.net

“All the best things I did at Apple came from (a) not having money and

(b) not having done it before, ever. Every single thing that we came out with

that was really great, I’d never once done that thing in my life.”

-- Woz

When you're rejected, you can interpret it as this "says something about me" and take it personally, or you can interpret it as an opportunity someone else missed out on for whatever reason, (not a good match, not web 2.0 enough, who knows!) and move on. If you believe in your idea and yourself strongly, there's usually only one clear interpretation you should take. And yes, self confidence is generally a productive strategy.

As for my success, I built a shareware business that made me significantly more than my salary, as a single founder, while still working full time. It enabled me to leave my job and work for myself.

I hear you! And doesn't it feel great to be able to say you've done that? I'm in the same boat: been working for myself for 7 years, now just trying to duplicate that success on a (much) larger scale :)

We're far enough along, and we have enough buzz among companies testing our app already, that we're not worried at all. YC wasn't a make-or-break deal for us by any means. Good to hear it's not for you too. If you really believe in your idea, it shouldn't be for anyone on here.

I agree... but it would be nice to know if there was something that gave me (or anyone else) a black mark.

I think my idea is great.

It's more of a "can I do anything to improve". I believe in always trying to find ways to be better. If my idea was rejected because they thought it was too niche, I would want to know. If it's because I couldn't think of other things I've done, I'd like to know. etc, etc.

I agree, I'd have loved a reason as well--it would have justified the time spent on the application. Although I would love it, it's probably not practical and may just open them up to angry emails.

Awesome. Maybe I mistook your tone.

I agree that a positive, confident attitude is probably productive, but you made your point by turning the positivity against Y Combinator because you are upset that you were not accepted. Right?

I don't see where I turned anything against y combinator in my posts. Please clarify.