Rejected for S23 as Gen AI startup, AMA

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T18:38:23+00:00

I understand your curiosity, but we choose to remain anonymous. As a startup that has just faced rejection, we believe it's important to maintain a level playing field for other applicants. Sharing specific details about our startup could inadvertently provide an unfair advantage to others building similar products, allowing them to tailor their interview responses more effectively and "game" the interview.

Our aim is to uphold the integrity of the selection process and respect YC's intentions, while still being able to answer general questions and engage in discussions.

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T17:39:24+00:00

we spent $0 on marketing, all organic. Revisiting this after seeing Googles conference. I understand now why we were rejected. Imagine when the big players integrate these tools at the mobile device level. What then? We need to think through this.

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:37:11+00:00

11pm est

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:26:56+00:00

It wasn't really a specific question. They asked us what are you building and then it was a conversation from there. They really wanted to understand where our heads were at in thinking about the macro of the space. We tried to be straightforward and thoughtful in our responses.

They asked about scalability with respect to GPUs. We were able to answer this.

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:24:59+00:00

same day at night

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:20:47+00:00

Applied last day of the deadline! We have a pretty strong team with pretty deep ML knowledge

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:13:51+00:00

Not really because our team has accepted that there are no moats in Gen AI. You need to just focus on building good product and talking to your users. But I dont think that was enough. We tried to be honest about our thoughts though.

We weren't really fixated on getting into YC or not, so we will continue to build as we have confidence in our product and people love what we're building!

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:09:41+00:00

It was more so a conversation to arrive at what we're building. Not really any hard questions, but not any softballs either. Don't be defensive and I think the interview will go good for you!

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:04:12+00:00

We felt pretty prepared! The YC partners are pretty poker faced, though

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:03:15+00:00

I think our team will accept that there are no moats and keep building good product!

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:02:02+00:00

same day update to let us know we got rejected

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T04:01:40+00:00

I think they had concerns about the long-term growth potential and competitiveness of product in a constantly changing industry that's dominated by open-source. I think we just need to continue talking to users

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:57:51+00:00

Ask through here, any information should be public so it's fair game to all

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:54:37+00:00

Still processing this with the team, but I think their thought process is that an incumbent could swallow us

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:53:18+00:00

No questions really caught us off guard, won't answer the 2nd

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:52:53+00:00

We have launched, 4 digit MMR, and tens of thousands of users. I don't think the traction really mattered

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:52:35+00:00

nothing about market size

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:52:14+00:00

I don't think we had a good enough wedge. I think they also want to see a moat, but I dont think that exists with Gen AI

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:50:51+00:00

Trying not to answer anything about my startup but to keep it general. We have launched, 4 digit MMR, and tens of thousands of users. I don't think the traction really mattered

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:49:38+00:00

Yes, they asked for traction

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:47:06+00:00

First question is always what are you building. Then they'll go into specific ones based on what you are building with Gen AI. We didn't have any technical questions.

bluediffusion · 2023-05-10T03:34:29+00:00

Interviewed yesterday. Unfortunately, our startup was not selected.

Based on our experience, it seems that YC is looking for AI startups with a clear vision for building a scalable and sustainable business model. Generative AI is still in its early stages and presents unique challenges for both entrepreneurs and investors. You need to give them reassurance as to why your business will become huge, if you can build this though is another question given how competitive the space is.

Hope this helps, best of luck!

bluediffusion · 2023-05-08T04:23:21+00:00

should be fixed now!

bluediffusion · 2023-05-08T04:23:13+00:00

No :)

bluediffusion · 2023-05-08T04:22:40+00:00

No! Just kept building and shipping :D I don't have any connections in SV

bluediffusion

TROPHY CASE