While Google might not know it all, it does know enough to keep you engrossed for hours at stretch. It was during one such random googling escapade that we stumbled across Y Combinator. With a bit of prodding and poking, we got the picture. A Business Insider articled hailed the accelerator as one of the most successful programs for early stage startups where you rubbed shoulders with the likes of Zuckerberg and Musk. The article went on to elaborate that with a 1.5% chance of being selected, we fared a better chance of being accepted at Harvard. Y Combinator certainly had a liking for younger companies which were either in the ideation phase or were yet to scale themselves. With a working business model in 4 cities, we felt like padawans about to be branded too old to learn the ways of the force.
Chucking out the odds, we typed in our application out of sheer curiosity and the ball was past our court. It was not before a couple of months that we heard from Y.C. again. Expecting a polite rejection, we were baffled by an invitation for an interview. What convinced the guys at Mountain View remains a mystery. Unable to spare resources, we decided that while the rest stayed in India and attended the interview over Skype, one would head out in person, just in case Y.C. didn’t think we were prudish.
A 10,000 mile trip for a 10 minute interview seemed daunting at the face, but our worries were put to rest by the amicable atmosphere at the office in Mountain View. The interview was over before we knew it and though it seemed difficult to go about business as usual, we had to face the long wait for the judgment day. To our astonishment, we received the thumbs up eventually and the euphoria spread to our office back in India within seconds.
However, in the ensuing days we realized the significance of the opportunity we had at hands. Not more than 6 Indian companies had been selected by Y Combinator since its inception in 2005. For the uninitiated, Y.C. boasts of alums which have lived on to be trendsetters in their own domains. Airbnb, Dropbox and Reddit are few of the companies molded by Y.C. in the past. As we embark on yet another journey, we sincerely hope that our experience and time with some of the best entrepreneurs the world has seen teaches us a thing or two.
Till then…. Drive It Like You Own It!!!
