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Snapchat Pitch Competition

by jdkanani on 5/11/16, 7:10 PM with 47 comments

• by educar on 5/11/16, 11:50 PM

  This is silly. Sad to see that startups are being thought as some sort of game/entertainment. Nobody who is serious about building a company needs to actually go through all this.

  I cannot imagine YC's own employees will go through this process should they start a company of their own. I thought the previous experiment was borderline amusement but this has totally crossed the line.

  Has YC somehow convinced itself that it's all a lottery and there is no point trying to evaluate start ups using normal methods?

• by ewbokisBos0 on 5/11/16, 9:34 PM

  If there was one thing that I wish I had had drilled into me in college it would be regular expressions. If I could have had two things drilled into me I'd choose regexes and importance of likability.

  I've watched a lot of very talented people languish just because they weren't "likable" enough. Not because they were bad people, but because they weren't interested in blogging, networking at meet ups, getting thousands of Twitter followers, or in making an email any less terse than it absolutely needed to be.

  I've also seen people with terrible ideas or lackluster execution get massive amounts support because they approached likability as a skill and mastered it.

  I couldn't imagine doing this at the YCF stage.

  Effectively pitching over SnapChat requires a type of media training that most early stage founders won't have. It's hard to pitch in person, even harder to pitch when you're using a medium you've only used to send dumb stuff to your friends. I know I'm much better in person than I am on video so I don't even bother trying to raise money from firms that require a video upfront.

  Likability and presentation are massively important, but I'd rather spend my early days building a product that works well than anxiously grasping at likability on SnapChat. There are so many great writers and media people out there, build something great, then bring them in to help you sell it.

• by birken on 5/11/16, 8:26 PM

  Guys, this isn't about finding a new funnel for YC to attract new companies, this is about entertainment. Look at the success of the startup podcast [1], which is very high on the itunes charts and not coincidentally just featured a very entertaining story about the early years of Justin.tv. People not involved in startups are very interested in how the whole startup scene works, and this is just another way to give them a glimpse into it.

  Is this a good thing to do if you are a startup? Probably not. Any time you are spending preparing or participating in this event is time you aren't spending actually making your company better, not to mention how large a distraction it would be.

  1: https://gimletmedia.com/show/startup/

• by minimaxir on 5/11/16, 7:29 PM

  Apply HN, which was also an experiment from YC, just finished. The results were highly contested due to ambiguous rules and vote brigading.

  This experiment is doing the same thing, with a preselection process and communication medium with zero transparency. And the end result is a chance at an interview instead of guaranteed admission!

  This seems like an experiment that is quirky for the sake of being quirky. That is never good. (I had to research "Snapfam" since I've never heard of the term: the only influential account that uses the term is Justin).

• by JohnLamb on 5/12/16, 6:19 AM

  To those calling this "JUVENILE":

  Is it widely considered mature to leave a fortune 500 to start up a company with some friends??? Perhaps some of you have forgotten what this field is all about. Off the beaten path. I hate that the start up community is now being diluted by these gold rush khaki wearing know it alls that I knew back in the acct department...

  Lastly, and this goes for anyone or anything you're being critical of. Please state your accomplishments/accolades prior to your negative spiels so as to save us time.

• by argonaut on 5/12/16, 2:00 AM

  Let me go against the grain here and say: there's nothing wrong with this idea! Sounds like a fun way for several startups to get visibility (more power to them), Justin to broaden YC's visibility, and to encourage a few startups to be visually creative in a way that they wouldn't be able to on a normal application. YC doesn't have a quota for its current programs, so it's not zero-sum.

  There are tons of mature adults that use Snapchat for normal communication with friends.

  And the "lack of transparency" criticism is just looking for anything to criticize YC for. If anything, there's more transparency than the normal YC process because the runners-up are publicly known and exposed to community comments.

• by aresant on 5/11/16, 8:11 PM

  I understand the negative sentiment around these experiments from YC at some level.

  But YC lives & dies by the quality of their "funnel", so to speak.

  If they miss the next Airbnb because they overlook them or don't have a broad enough funnel in the first place that will cripple YC's ability to grow.

  These experiments are part of YC's inevitable scaling challenges that are analog to any successful startup -> your platform is tested & proven, your current growth engine is reliable but you want to keep going faster.

  So what do you do?

  Find new marketing channels, experiment with new products (line extension), test new "funnels" to drive through a higher ratio of succesful outcomes.

  Good on yah YC for eating the dogfood you're selling :)

  (1) http://paulgraham.com/airbnb.html

• by andymoe on 5/11/16, 8:47 PM

  Have the naysayers actually watched Justin on Snapchat? There is quality content and everyone could learn a thing or two from him about marketing and consistent content creation. This is basically how JTV got traction and press. Also, regular YC apps require a video anyway so this fits well with the model they are used to.

  Edit: Down votes have answered my question :O

• by alttab on 5/11/16, 8:26 PM

  The winner is the startup who can build a stable version of Snapchat that doesn't freeze, crash, or drain your phone on a regular basis.

• by Kela on 5/12/16, 5:05 AM

  I am just going to be pretty blunt.

  - For those who say that good founders should spend their time working on their startup and nothing gimmicky like this; If you get to appear on this snapchat and it takes your 6 hours to prepare for it (way too long in my opinion). Justin has over 7500 views per snap, that's 7500 people that learn about your startup and a couple thousand that may be directed to you website, it's them up to the credibility of your website/app to convert them to signups. What else would you do to gain an audience of 7500 ardent tech fans in those 6hrs? My project was once featured on his channels months ago and we got hundreds of new users because of that.

  - someone mentioned shitty ideas getting attention because of likable founders and good ideas not getting attention because of unlikebale founders. I'd say it's in the best interest to have a good idea and be likable, startups are a very competitive market, you should look for every edge you can have over the next guy. Not fair buts that's the way it is.

  - YCF provides lots of value for very early startups, it's only fair that they get some value back immediately considering it's a risky bet and their stake only converts at a $100 million event. If the value is entertainment that gets them more exposure (good for sourcing deals), I'd say it's a fair trade off.

  - For those who say it's a waste of time, I think that's pretty pessimistic. Any oppurtunity to get funded by a reputable entity is never a waste of time. You are a startup, you are unconventional. The odds are not in your favor, if you have to shine shoes to get the attention of what/who you want, I say do it. Lots of successful people have done so. It's the type of "I am too good to do this" hubris that makes some people frown on SV culture being cultivated in some founders

  I can go on, but I'd rather work on my startup or get some rest, that way I can free up time to apply. Good luck!

• by scotchio on 5/11/16, 8:15 PM

  No idea how this will go. But I used to watch his Snap stories. They're a pretty good balance of insight and various personal things he does. Overall, I kind of just enjoyed how positive and motivated he seemed to be. Seems like a genuinely good dude.

  If you didn't read the post, you can follow him [here](1). I definitely recommend checking it out at least. Nice to see the optimism when you're doing your batshit crazy start-up thing and need a bit of healthy validation.

  [1]: https://www.snapchat.com/add/justinkan

• by hmerzin on 5/13/16, 1:05 PM

  I'm going to start off by saying that I'm only 16 so in no world am I an expert on what I'm saying... I feel that what Justin is doing is a brilliant way to make receiving funding more approachable to small startups without them having to get up on stage in front of a couple hundred people or sit in a dull boardroom. If you think about it, putting someone on a stage at tech crunch disrupt isn't too different from what Justin is doing. TCD is just more nerve-racking. Does everyone suddenly hate that now? Speaking from first hand account, being a small start-up with a super young person in charge (I refer you to where I mentioned where I'm 16) it's pretty hard to be taken seriously and approach VCs. This makes the process a little more relaxed an a little less stressful for people like me. Also who's to say you can't have fun in some parts of your job? Tech is already total lala land anyway... What other industry has ping pong meetings and free Starbucks all the time? I really see no downside to this venture except for it being "unconventional" which we in the startup wornow all know to be pre-greatness. (I kinda loosely stole that pre-greatness part from silicon valley). Thanks for hearing me out. -harry

• by bennesvig on 5/12/16, 5:37 AM

  It's a fun idea. I'm looking forward to watching the pitches. Even the startups that don't win will get free publicity. I've downloaded apps because of Justin's ProductHunt reviews. I give it 5/5 Klausses.

• by justin on 5/12/16, 4:50 AM

  Responded to these comments on my Snap Story! :)

  @justinkan

• by Disruptive_Dave on 5/11/16, 9:16 PM

  As an ardent snapchat user, I can tell you that there's this upcoming swell from the VC world to be "cool" on the app, mostly driven by Justin and Mark Suster. FWIW, I think we all need a little more entertainment in our daily lives ("why so serious?"), though this probably isn't the best expression of that. Then again, aren't we supposed to "disrupt" and "innovate" and "do shit that scares you" and all that jazz?

• by 6stringmerc on 5/11/16, 7:48 PM

  I thought ApplyHN was an interesting experiment. Had some issues, of course, but at least fundamentally sound. Lessons could be learned, and if tried again, the process will likely improve.

  When I read through this summary of the concept, I was struggling to think of a word to describe my generally negative impression, and I think I finally found it: Juvenile. This souds so very, very juvenile. Good luck to whomever wants to go this route. Pass.

• by kkhire on 5/13/16, 1:19 AM

  it's hilarious to me how many people are upset with YC experimenting with snapchat. what are pitches about? explaining your startup/idea in a easy to understand manner.

  What do snaps do? force content to be valuable in a constrained amount of time, making it a great way to practice your elevator pitch. if it's not interesting, next snap.

  Will justin and co solely base their decision on the snap story? of course not. it's just a fun way to try something new.

• by gadders on 5/11/16, 8:30 PM

  Seriously? Does the VC world need such pointless gimmicks? Or is it a way to drive up SnapChat followers?

• by taytus on 5/11/16, 10:12 PM

  I always try to control myself about posting negative comments, but man... I'm getting tired of this glamorization about entrepreneurship, and sadly YC is having more and more responsibility on this.

• by taytus on 5/11/16, 10:38 PM

  You are a much nicer person than me. Under my eyes, this is just plain stupid.

• by alttab on 5/11/16, 8:24 PM

  "Let's use a frat-boy's penis-pic sharing app to fund the next Silicon Valley Unicorn!"

  </bubble>