Pathetic is the perfect way to describe me.

Especially when you factor in that as an immigrant I had to leave America 3 times, once because I was diagnosed with cancer, and haven't legally been able to take salary from my own company in 2 years.

zmitri, i upvoted but sometimes words are needed - keep up the good work!

Hah, I guess it could be construed as pathetic. But we never looked at YC as the gatekeeper to whether we worked on our projects.

The best thing about startups is you don't need YC to make it happen. You need to work on something you and others find valuable that you're willing to work your ass off for.

Maybe others get in on their first try, and are clearly more able, capable, or validated than me, but that's not really how I gauge why I do things. Neither is getting rejected.

I'm the first to admit that I'm not nearly the smartest person to ever apply to YC. Hell I'm probably one of the dumbest. But there's no reason not to apply. The only downside is getting the rejection letter (and the free mixpanel credits). The upside, at least so far in my experience, has been well worth it.

You're getting downvoted for slagging someone, but the real reason your comment should be invisible grey is that very few people with your attitude succeed in business. Every company operator I know has a story to tell about handling months or even years of rejection.

Check their comment history. Haters gonna hate.

Wil Chung holds the record at 7 last I checked. I actually have a huge amount of respect for him for being so persistent. If I were an investor that'd be the thing I look for first.

You are making the assumption that simply because they applied 6 times means they must've been obsessed with getting into YC. That doesn't have to be the case - it's not hard to imagine someone trying various startups deciding that it's worth a shot each time.

Wtf is pathetic about that.

Try out 1000 of things, do a pivot, pitch investors here and there, apply YC every now and then. Nothing pathetic about that.

zmitri's reply is the only reason I'm not down-voting this.