Hi all- we were recently rejected from the Ycombinator batch and I was curious what are some startups that were rejected by YC that are doing well.
Let's make a list to help motivate everyone in the same boat as ours.
Cause after all VCs, YC etc doesn't matter as long as your customers love your product isn't it?
What Are Some Startups Rejected by Ycombinator That Are Doing Well?
byu/impetuouschestnut inEntrepreneur
Posted by impetuouschestnut
3 Comments
Ah no. VCs and YC works on power law, which means they only care about 1 company in each batch returning 100x their investment covering up all the other losses. This means they are playing the numbers game and a rejection should not mean anything for you personally. Just keep building and talking to customers. Many YC startups have applied multiple times before they got in as well.
That said, I have been maintaining a list of YC rejected startups that are doing well here: [Google Sheet – YC Rejected Startups](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wLcDyYruIuBVfvqO1ad-cfRilraC2bqvMfdMZviBvpM/edit?usp=sharing)
If you are one and is fairly successful atm, dm me or leave a comment there. I will add you to the list 🙂
sendgrid is the famous one.
SendGrid – Email delivery platform acquired by Twilio for $2 billion in 2019.
Udemy – Online learning platform valued at over $3 billion.
Unacademy – Indian edtech company valued at over $3 billion.
Veed.io – Online video editing platform that has raised over $35 million.
Buffer – Social media management platform that has raised over $20 million.
Calm – Meditation app valued at over $1 billion.
Clearbit – B2B data intelligence company that has raised over $17 million.
Chartboost – Mobile game monetization platform acquired by Zynga for $250 million.
LightSail Energy – Energy storage startup that raised over $70 million from investors like Peter Thiel and Bill Gates.
Couchbase – NoSQL database company that went public in 2021 at a $1.2 billion valuation