Applications open for summer 2009 YC funding

Re:Applications open for summer 2009 YC funding by palish on Monday February 09, 2009 @04:40PM (#474209)

It seems like there will be a sharp decline in the number of applications because of the effort required to produce a video introducing the founders, even if it's a simple video. That is a Good Thing though because it will probably filter out most of the low-quality apps (a 13-year old single-founder applicant probably wouldn't take the time to make the video, for example).

On the other hand, if you ever wanted to Goatse PG, here's your chance.

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Re:Applications open for summer 2009 YC funding by menloparkbum on Monday February 09, 2009 @04:46PM (#474216)

?! Outside of setting world records for texting, pretty much the only thing 13 year olds do these days is post videos of themselves to the internet. The effort required to make a sub-minute intro video has almost reached zero.

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Re:Applications open for summer 2009 YC funding by palish on Monday February 09, 2009 @04:51PM (#474224)

I should've selected the example more carefully. If the first few seconds of the video is of a 13 year old, then the app can probably safely be discarded, so it's still a decent low-quality filter.

Also, if you put "almost zero" effort into your intro video, then it's going to suck. I don't know what YC is looking for in the video, but it seems like you'll have a higher chance of them funding you if they see that you have at least one naturally-charismatic founder, in addition to a very skilled technical one. The video can show your charisma, just like the application can show your technical skill.

It still seems like the total number of fully-completed applications will decrease because of the video. But again, that's a good thing.

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Re:Applications open for summer 2009 YC funding by ljlolel on Tuesday February 10, 2009 @12:58PM (#475557)

So you would've thrown out Aaron Swartz's young face? (Aaron co-founded of Reddit)

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Re:Applications open for summer 2009 YC funding by palish on Tuesday February 10, 2009 @03:29PM (#475879)

Thirteen year old: http://www.canbymn.org/dhoyme/Zach.MVC-004S.JPG

Seventeen year old: http://www.iamthewitness.com/Bollyn/RogerHolyfield.jpg

Eighteen year old Aaron Swartz in 2005: http://graphics.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Original_Photo/2007/09...

Also, I just realized that doing a Google image search for "thirteen year old boy" at a public coffee shop might not be such a good idea.

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