Alternatives
Products that do what My post-YC-rejection start-up does
http://invincibilitee.com Me and my co-founder submitted an app for YC W11, with a web site that would help college graduates figure out what jobs they could get with their chosen degree. We got a rejection email, and already had this as a back-up idea in case we did get rejected. So in the month between rejection and today, we found a printer, found some graphic designers, and got enough done that we felt comfortable with it as a first iteration. I know there aren't so many non-web app startups on HN, but I thought y'all might like to see how 2 guys rebounded from YC rejection.
- 1FO
HN, I've been mostly lurking, semi-active on HN for over 4 years. For most of that time, I've been working on my startup, Learndot. I have always wanted to do a "Show HN" post, but I never thought it was ready. We've now finally launched web signup and using a freemium business model. I feel I can now post and offer something to the community (a new app to try out) and hopefully get good quality feedback. Here's the site: http://www.learndot.com Would appreciate any or all thoughts: From pricing/positioning, to design/performance. The app is written in Sproutcore and backed by an API written…
2013
- 2WD
Hey everyone! We spent the major part of the year preparing an idea we had for the YC application. At last minute, we decided not to go through with YC. I mean, we've had our fair shares of failed startups and this was one of those make it or break it scenarios. We took everything we've ever learned and strived to make an app that we were proud of. We spent so much effort into making this app that we couldn't bear stopping short and applying to Y Combinator. (Mind you, there's nothing wrong with YC.) We didn't want to apply to Y Combinator at the last minute because if we had really gone…
2012
- 3HI
I’ll put the tl;dr up front: I built my first web app with HN’s news.arc: http://hubski.com The long version (I can be verbose): Recently, I was in a startup that sputtered out. It was my seed idea, but my contribution was on the design/UI end. We applied to YC fall 2010, and were rejected (rightfully so, in retrospect). My previous coding experience entails a bit of Fortran from undergrad research, and building a couple of simple websites (Frontpage even. o-O). Anyway, I had tons of energy for the project, but lamented not being able to contribute to coding, where it was badly needed. After…
2011
- 4FS
I started a newsletter sending out daily startup ideas. After a year, I transitioned to weekly ideas with more in-depth details. I recently posted all of them to the website and made them searchable. Check it out and let me know what you think. By providing more than just an idea, my hope is to help someone start their next business. https://www.startupsfromthebottom.com/
2020
- 5FP
A little background. For the last 1.5 years I lost what could be considered an embarrassing amount of money hiring other people to work on a project that I thought had potential, I got some important people involved, had some great coders, but couldn't launch. The failure was depressing, rejection by YC didn't help.. I had to take a job, I didn't enjoy and I had a girlfriend who stood by me despite going into debt. But bouncing back over the last 45 days I've taught myself Rails some Jquery, and Javascript and built this www.hangout.io. It's empowering to build something myself because I'm…
2011
- 6ML
I made a post a few days ago asking if any software companies/start ups needed technical video tutorial writers and I had a few very interested and serious respondents email me. I've been looking for something to do with this domain hence I give myself a Christmas present.
2013 · helpknow.com
- 7UO
When I see what some HN members have done in a weekend on their projects, it makes it hard to confess that it has taken us 1 year to get to this stage. I kept trying to make things perfect, but finally I have seen the light - it will never be perfect and even in its current state, I see so much we need to improve, but it's something. Instead of delaying even more, I thought I would release it to the best critics out there - HN say hello to MyProperty.com Hope to hear your feedback, criticism, thoughts.
2011
- 8LC
So after 18months of working on my startup Leadngin.com we're finally ready to launch. Our first user was in fact Swombat with GrantTree who is still with us today. Many more HN users have since scaled their sales process with us! Let me know if you have any questions and be sure to point out anything we're doing wrong.
2014
- 9MF
I quit my job a month ago and have been heads down working on my startup. It's my first time working with Ruby or web development at all. I launched on the 7th - http://www.onefatpig.com Now I'm done with the easy part (code) and working on the substantially harder part (getting users). Any advice?
2011
- 10GA
I am announcing the private beta of my first web app (http://getfounder.com). The beta will launch in just one city, which will be determined by the number of entries on the location-aware sign up page. As this is my first public release, I'm looking to the HN community to offer me feedback on what I should/shouldn't be displaying on the homepage. I'd be grateful for any advice you had to offer. Thanks, and I hope to see some of you in the private beta! Colin
2011
- 11DE
We wanted a way to share what we had learned online (first expressed by what we had shared on twitter). So we built this. http://knowitapp.com/paulg http://knowitapp.com/foundersatwork http://knowitapp.com/paultoo http://knowitapp.com/garrytan http://knowitapp.com/gralston http://knowitapp.com/harjeet (Bonus: you can see your similarity if you login - and no we won't tweet from your account) What do you guys and gals think?
2012
- 12OS
We did a "Show HN post" 6 months back of our startup and we're very excited to show everyone how far we've come as well as the lessons we've learnt so far! It's been a roller-coaster so far and we think there's lot more of the same to come! We did apply for Ycombinator funding but got turned down :( But may re-apply soon :) For those that don't know, our startup is called Scirra and we make Construct 2 which is an HTML5 game engine (http://www.scirra.com). Our engine allows anyone to make HTML5 games without knowing any programming. It's only me and my brother working on this and we're based…
2012
- 13IT
I created http://devtest.net as a weekend project, and I'm pretty proud of it from a technical and UI standpoint. The problem is, I've built this by myself in a bit of a vacuum, to "scratch my own itch", and I don't know if this is useful to anyone other than me. I'm also not so hot on the business side and don't really know what I'm doing. Basically, I'm looking for some advice, now that I've actually launched, what now? One thing that this has shown me is that I'm capable of putting together a pretty decent web application on my own in my spare time. Should I stick with this idea, or…
2012
- 14IM
I'm writing a book which teaches Python/Django web app development for non-programmers, and fundraising on Kickstarter (passed minimum funding, 2 days left): http://hellowebapp.com https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1868398473/hello-web-app-intro-to-building-web-apps-with-djan It's basically the process I used to teach myself programming as a web designer a few years back, which I then launched a small web app (infant-version of WeddingInviteLove.com), which has grown into my bootstrapped startup which supports me full-time (WeddingLovely.com). Most…
2014
- 15YI
Please give me some feedback on my weekend/evening project http://ycpages.info YCPages is a CrunchBase sort of service just for YC funded companies. Company/founder details are pulled from CrunchBase using their API. I have checked founders info by looking their LinkedIn pages/Twitter etc. So i am confident 95% information available on YCPages are accurate. Next Steps, == Adding the Tech Stack info == Rankings from Alexa, Compete, Quantcast, etc If I can get the founders answer few of my question about their experience I will add them as well. Any feedback would be highly appreciated.…
2011
- 16MF
http://www.littlechits.com<br> This is my first web app; I built this on my own, over the past 4 months, using the Ruby on Rails Tutorial, a few other e-books, and a lot of help from the Stack Overflow community!<br>Feedback would be greatly appreciated, in particular: how can I make this more social?<br>Thanks,<br>Faisal
2012
- 17CCheergram▲15
http://cheergram.com Hey there everyone. I have been reading HN a bit here sans there but haven't ever submitted/commented before. (I am a stay at home mom) Anyway I had this idea a while back and had my husband help me build it. I tried to do most of the designs, though some are stock vectors. Anyway I'd love your feedback on anything that will help this business grow. Thanks so much.
2012
- 18LM
We're BETA testing our partnership portal at SeedLawyers and thought y'all might be interested in some FREEEeee... legal help. Just type "betatest" where it asks here --> https://seedlawyers.com/users/sign_up?profile_type=Founder to unlock an account with 500 credits that you can spend on calls with our lawyer members, legal questions, and DIY startup legal documents. Every bit of feedback counts :)
2018
- 19SH
This morning I've submitted our project to HN. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4099054 Got pretty helpful feedback. But that wasn't the only thing. 478 people requested invite out of 755. 63% conversion rate. Almost 9K unique visitor visited our website. At some point in the morning I was seeing 400+ active users on the website. Unbelievable. 35 people registered without telling them how to register. ( You cannot register directly, there is only a login form - but they figured out a way :) http://imgur.com/Kbf9J 6K people visited directly from Hacker News, 1K from Twitter ( I guess…
2012
- 20TO
LégalEd for the Masses Title links to actual app Here is the demo video to show you around the interface Self funded on scraps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIwsPz0mKAU
2025 · labs.sunami.ai
- 21DF
Hey all, We’ve applied to YC three times and got rejected each time. we’ll get there eventually! The main reasons for rejection were: being a solo founder (no co-founder), having no team, an MVP that wasn’t ready, or no traction in place. --- My expertise lies in building software products for startups, unicorn companies, and even governments. Throughout my years in software, I’ve had plenty of exposure to data products. I’ve faced recurring challenges like the lack of data, uncertainty around data handling, or even generating too much data and not knowing how to best utilize it to generate…
2025 · opendatabay.com
- 22SO
Hey HN, My co-founders and I have been working on a project for the last month or so, and we'd like to get your input on it. We wanted to hear your thoughts on what we're doing - so check out our landing page, and let us know what you think/understand. Does it sounds like something you guys would want to use? http://www.thesharedweb.com/alpha/intro We'll tell you guys more about exactly what we're doing as the conversation evolves, but we just wanted to see what the initial reaction is, and what you understand (i.e. are we describing it in a way that makes sense). Really excited to hear your…
2010 · thesharedweb.com
- 23LS
We built this using investor tools. I really wanted to know which startups to work for. Are we on the right track? PS - there's a paywall but if you want to explore more, just DM me your email and I'll give you free access in our db!
2023 · usemassive.com
- 24WR
Hi HN, We just launched YC Roaster, a free YC application review service run by Lobster Capital. If you’re applying to Y Combinator, you can submit your application and get written feedback from founders who’ve actually gone through YC and built real companies. How it works * You submit your YC application (PDF) * It’s reviewed by successful YC founders in our network * Everyone gets written feedback * If we think you have a strong shot, we offer a short 1-on-1 Zoom call Why are we doing this for free? Lobster Capital is a VC fund that exclusively invests in YC companies. We’ve reviewed…
Jan 2026 · ycroaster.com
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