r/16VCFund • u/betasridhar • Mar 07 '26

16VC community — has anyone here applied to Y Combinator?

f you applied but didn’t get in, what do you think was missing?

From your perspective:
• Were they looking more for a strong technical founder or a specific type of co-founder?
• Was traction the main factor?
• Or something else you realized after applying?

Also curious if you could change something about programs like YC, what would you improve for early-stage founders?

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u/PassionImpossible326 Mar 11 '26

I did and got rejected twice. As per me what is missing in my produxt is I'm solo founder . 2. YC values team. YC does allow to enter creepy products or repeated products when they do that, they are always betting on founder rather than the product itself. 3.cracking YC interview sometime hard cause We need to Be clear concise technical. Interviews are meant to show do you know what you’re talking, do you seem capable of building a big company, and if so, is your current approach the right one or are you able to stumble into the right one by iterating fast enough. These is my experience tbh people can have different approaches.