Item — HN Reader

Isn't this also an admission that the application process is a bit broken?

I think a lot of people would be open to submitting their application to others first, to help flesh out the weakpoints. On the menu bar, can we have "new", "threads", ..., and "YC applications"?

1 comments

Yes, of course. All application processes are. But we're working hard to improve it. We tweak the process in some way almost every cycle.

The idea of having everyone look at one another's application sounds like a minefield, though. Plus I don't want to clutter up HN with YC stuff. Only a minority of the users of this site are even interested in startups.

I realized after I wrote that about twenty reasons why it's a bad idea. But I think some sort of Q&A could be invaluable, especially given the brevity the answers have to conform to and that knowing the right words is something that comes after a lot of baking with the idea. Without it, preference goes to ideas that can be conveyed clearly and simply at the expense of more complex ones.

Would it be possible for the applicant to chose those HN users and YC alumni who have requested to view it? (With full comment threads and voting.)