michaelZejoop

Regarding the video, on top of submitting on last day, I realized after about a week, with zero views, that I had mistakenly marked my video 'private' instead of 'unlisted'. In somewhat of a panic I [1] fixed the mistake and [2] contacted YCFellowship hoping it would help. I got a response, to the effect that they don't necessarily look at all videos and that should be taken as neither a good or bad sign.

After that, stats showed that there were 6 views, at least 4 of which could likely be attributed to the review team. The other 2 where from Finland and Israel.

My letter was the basic rejection; it was not either the 'top 300' or the 'more suited for a full session' type.

To me, personally and practically, mathematics became impactful, and even beautiful when I came to the realization that it was a universal modeling notation for comprehending our world. Math did not come easy to me, but as I persevered through my aerospace engineering degree I came to appreciate its importance to, and role in modeling. There is so much churn in systems modeling approaches such as SysML and UML et al, that I appreciate math as a modeling notation all the more. It remains pretty stable and elegant as it is. Thanks for the links; I'll check them out.

PS...re your mod note on the duplicate thread to this topic, which I mistakenly created - because the title/link is malformed I could not find a way to delete that thread. I'd like to comply, but could not, at least on mobile.

Thanks; this is a very helpful feedback and perfectly captures my own frustration with promoting Zejoop.

Maybe if I act on your summary recommendation ('focus...whole experience') with a better, professionally designed and effective landing page I'd make the process accessible enough for it to be evaluated on its merit rather than be dismissed merely for lack of understanding or interest.

To answer one of your other concerns, Zejoop is not native (yet) so there is no contact list integration (yet). In the interim you do have to enter email once for each new 'friend' you add - thereafter that friend remains in the Zejoop system, and you can invite by checkbox selection rather than text entry of address.

I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your input here. It is golden, and actionable! Thanks.

Sorry I could not add to the discussion; I'm more back-end, and not familiar with the problem space. I can delete my comment on your thread if you'd like, but I wanted to put on the effort to check out your demo.

Personally I'm having a hard time understanding the use case from the demo alone - at least not we'll enough to intelligently comment. That plus I'm not familiar with the problem domain.

I checked it out, and left a comment in the discussion area. Thanks for your comments here.

...that's a good suggestion - thanks!

Currently each invitation is sent via email and contains embedded accept/decline options. Growth will include txt/sms as an option, and later, as an app, likely push notification (not yet)... Server-side keeps tally of responses, and on the preset 'need-to-know-by' date, either confirms or cancels event, and notifies accordingly. Hope that helps... thanks for checking in... Michael (to clarify, friends are not sent directly to Zejoop site because it's not necessary that they opt-in just yet... they opt-in if they want to plan an event of their own)

Good point; it's responsive once past the landing page. Without a designer on board yet, I've focused on the backend... thanks for the comment - will fix (landing page in general needs work)

Thanks; you are right landing page (and copy needs work). In particular, I'm having a hard time communicating the value of the automatic confirmation/cancellation feature... appreciate your feedback

Zejoop is a Casual Event Planner that auto confirms/cancels based on preset thresholds and user response. Challenge is that this discriminator/value does not present until late in the planning cycle. Thanks.... Michael

My bad.... I apologize - I had just reviewed the 'Show HN' guidelines, but did not review the 'Ask HN' - it has not been a good day.

...update; so this is anecdotal, but I just searched #ycfellowship and discern that there were ~6500 applications for 20 slot. Wow - more sadness - more energy spent on submission, and no feedback. Very impressive stats for YC though.

As a currently "retired" (i.e., downsized) Aerospace Engineer, I have applied for the inaugural YCF batch with my home-grown, prototyped idea, zejoop.com. The Zejoop story is told in the blog at blog.zejoop.com.

Having applied twice, unsuccessfully, as a single-founder to YC "proper" sessions, I was highly enthused and excited to hear about the offer of such an opportunity. My happy reaction was tied mainly to the advice, evaluation, counsel and network-expanding aspects of the YCF program. This is because I think those very aspects are EXACTLY what I need to make sense of where I am at. Whether that means, carry-on, commit to a giant pivot, or even abandon this idea, I know I'd benefit from the YCF experience. I need these because I lack a well formed community where I live in Santa Clarita CA. Although possible communities to fill that role do exist (Santa Monica and Pasadena) they are just far enough away to make them impractical commute-wise, on a day-to-day basis.

Also since the Y Combinator stake is lower in terms of cash outlay, and in lesser demands (that'd I'd place) for time and attention, I thought I'd be a better match to YCF, and I might have an easier path forward to acceptance than one of the highly competitive YC sessions. Basically Zejoop, and I, as a single-founder, are seemingly lower risk, and easier to take a chance on.

The prospect that YC hopes to create a 100-fold increase in entrepreneurship was also exciting - again, Zejoop seemingly a lower risk with such a big pool. Since submitting however, I am disappointed that the first batch will likely be on the order of 20 fellowship offerings. Gah! Sadness... Back to square one, with giant slabs of applicants and only a few slots.

Since no feedback is given during the YC Sessions application process I have no clue whatsoever if I simply, and outright, have a bad idea, or if the single-founder status is the obstacle that has been holding me back. I fully realize, and I am willing to accept that success will likely require me to find a co-founder; my current community is simply not providing any such candidates. I'd take a co-founder if I could find a good one.

Regardless, the YCF sounds like a great idea and I hope it is successful (oh, and also, that I am accepted!). There are scores of thousands of people exactly like me who have been prematurely displaced from Aerospace/Defense. People who have good ideas, lots of experience and wisdom to share, and who need a productive outlet for their energy, skills and creativity.

Wish me luck, and I'll do the same for you!

Is there a use case for sleep interruptions due to bathroom trips for enlarged prostate? That would affect its utility (for some).

rejection letter