8 ms·

FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

81 points by wesleyzhao 14y ago

wisp 14y ago
Not that I care, but now the whole world know you got suspended for selling weed. This information cannot be good for you or your company, considering your family-oriented userbase
- wesleyzhao 14y ago
  Hi Wisp. This is Wesley - you might be right. It's something I did a long time ago and in the past. I have changed and people that know me know that. It may be something that will turn some heads, but I like to live very honestly and transparently. I hope people won't read too much in to it and only see how much I've grown.
  - cwe 14y ago
    I'm glad to see people being more frank about this. As more people like you come forward, hopefully the stigma around it will fade. I've admitted it when appropriate, but been very hesitant to do so, even though I think the experience was incredibly valuable and shaped who I am.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - voodoomagicman 14y ago
      As someone w/ drug use in my past, I believe very strongly that the stigma around it is deserved. I would think very hard about hiring or investing in someone who used marijuana, or who decided to sell marijuana (a bet with a big risk for very little reward), or who thought that using drugs was cool enough to include it on an application. Speaking from experience, marijuana is addictive, saps ambition, and makes it difficult to think hard and think logically. Anyone who has tried to code or do math while high knows exactly what I am talking about. Wesley, obviously you have grown and been very successful since. I wish you only more success, and you are already far ahead of where I was at 19 (still smoking too much pot).
      - cwe 14y ago
        Your experience may have been different, but it is less addictive than alcohol, caffeine, or chocolate. http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm
        voodoomagicman 14y ago
        Totally, and I am definitely addicted to caffeine. Luckily this only improves my work :) The difference is that I think very few people would say "Let's remove the stigma from alchoholism."
      - geuis 14y ago
        Weed is not addictive. I'll grant most of your other points about it being difficult to think for some people like me and you. However I have known and know many who are as productive, if not more, because of or despite their substance of choice. For me, I really don't give a damn what kinds of drugs people take beyond heroin, crack, meth, and others that have a clear history of detrimental effects on the individual. As long as you are rock solid and reliable, that's all that matters.
        voodoomagicman 14y ago
        It IS addictive. It can't cause withdrawal symptoms, but absolutely is addictive, like gambling or sex or any other activity that triggers your reward system. I know I felt addicted to pot, failed to quit smoking many times after making the decision to, and kept smoking daily for a year after I had stopped enjoying it. If not addiction, what would you call that? If you can be sure that someone is reliable, then you are right, there is no reason to have a problem with their drug use. When you are hiring someone or making the decision to invest money with them, you rarely know enough to be sure. Using drugs is a HUGE red flag there, and should say think twice before hiring this person / giving them money.
      - wesleyzhao 14y ago
        Thanks so much for the compliments and support! I really appreciate it.
  - justjimmy 14y ago
    I think it's a nice interesting fact and it'll make a great conversation/story. Especially for those that you will work with on a constant basis, since they'll be the ones that will spend the time to know and work with you. But just be wary of the info that you present to the general public and your users.
- paul 14y ago
  It shows that he's entrepreneurial :)
- startupcto 14y ago
  I know. Now that I know that for a fact, it does say much about the founder of a website that I'm supposed to trust the privacy of my family and data wouldn't be sold because the site is dying, no one wants to pay for the product and ads isn't bringing any much to keep the site going.
joe_bloggs 14y ago
Thanks for the red robin tip!
- wesleyzhao 14y ago
  It's great! Just got off a vegetarian-spree. Gonna go back to claiming those free burgers :)
SoftwarePatent 14y ago
Congratulations! Your age might give you trouble--people will feel embarrassed to work for such young people, and people in general might not take you seriously. Good luck!
- gyardley 14y ago
  Zuckerberg seems to have done okay. People who are concerned with the age of their boss are a little too concerned with status / authority / hierarchy to be at an early-stage startup.
- jvrossb 14y ago
  I hear there's this other guy who tried to start a social network... Zuckersomething... was pretty young too. I think things worked out pretty alright for him. They'll be fine :) If anything, they are best positioned to appreciated exactly how Facebook doesn't work for families.
rdl 14y ago
Too bad YC got rid of the "if you were an animal, what would you be, and why" question, which was on the Dropbox-era application.
- pg 14y ago
  We never asked that. The question you're probably thinking of is: Tell us in one or two sentences something about each founder that shows he or she is an "animal," in the sense described in How to Start a Startup.
  - kn0thing 14y ago
    I loved that question.
    - littlegiantcap 14y ago
      Out of curiosity what did you say?
      - dwynings 14y ago
        "Animals? We're a freaking zoo. Andy: When Paul described the type of person whom he believes is an animal at his "How to Start a Startup" talk, Andy was the first person of whom I (Steve) thought. Steve: Steve regularly works extra hours at his current programming job, even when over-time isn't an option (i.e. working for free) to fix nagging bugs. At school, Steve often works late nights with Computer Science friends helping them get assignments working. Alexis: See current schedule. When it comes to design, Alexis literally won't rest until every pixel is aligned-- sleep deprivation is the status quo and when it comes to working in general, coffee makes sure he's the last one to go to sleep at night and the first one up in the morning." http://alexisohanian.com/our-y-combinator-summer-05-application-what-w http://alexisohanian.com/our-y-combinator-summer-05-applicat...
- wesleyzhao 14y ago
  We'd be either a slow loris or a meerkat. Because we are uber cute.
ckas 14y ago
The weed thing didn't seem to add much to the app at all (and could have been quite negative), but good to keep the theme going in the pitch video: "It's spreading like a weed"..."It's already been extremely sticky"
- wesleyzhao 14y ago
  Funny haha. Thanks for the comment :)
ntmartin 14y ago
Congrats on getting accepted and thanks for being so candid about your application. I have a couple of questions however: Did you face any problems having disclosed you scrapped a competitors site for potential clients/leads? Did all the founders think that was an acceptable method for building a base? How did you derive the potential turnover figures and was the model and revenue discussed in depth at the interview? Finally, how did you guys decide that FamilyLeaf was the right direction? Best of luck to you all with the company.
- wesleyzhao 14y ago
  No problem, it was our pleasure! Let me address your questions one-on-one. 1. We didn't have any problems disclosing that. In fact, (as you can tell by this little stunt) we are very open about it. We thought it was acceptable. But we also are fallible. 2. Turnover figures? We talked about it at the interview, definitely. 3. We were extremely passionate about it. And less so about AthleteNet. That was the number 1 thing. The other smaller but still very valuable factors included the market size, social impact, and potential for faster scaling. Feel free to email me if you have any more questions! wesley@familyleaf.com
stevenj 14y ago
Direct link to the app (PDF): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19699329/FamilyLeaf_YC_application.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19699329/FamilyLeaf_YC_application.p... P.S. Wow, small world. I went to the same high school as you guys. Good luck with FamilyLeaf, I'm now a big fan!
- wesleyzhao 14y ago
  Dude! Interlake?? We should catch up! founders@familyleaf.com We're also now a big fan of you!
  - stevenj 14y ago
    Ya, the good ol' Saints! Though, I graduated in '04. (I read in your YC app that you were from Bellevue so I Googled you and saw that you went to IHS. :)
    - wesleyzhao 14y ago
      Can't find your contact info anywhere!
Smirnoff 14y ago
Thanks for putting up the application. I could clearly see how you guys aren't afraid to "break some laws" i.e. data scrapping, getting free food, and even weed selling!
- wesleyzhao 14y ago
  Thanks! Some of the risks we've taken have definitely paid off, and the ones that we haven't we don't regret taking.
guynamedloren 14y ago
I hate to be that guy... but I'm not impressed by this application. At all. I am aware that YC is looking for adventurous founders who aren't afraid to bend the rules in their favor - or break them outright. I can appreciate that. These guys were clearly aware of that and it seems like they developed their responses accordingly. They deliberately showed their mischievous side to game the system. And then they released their yc application to further game the (pr) system. I guess this is a big part of what startups are about, so well played. I'm interested to see where this company goes. Edit : should have said thanks in advance for the downvotes. Criticism is not accepted on hn these days.
- fatihdonmez 14y ago
  don't hate the player, try to love it.
  - guynamedloren 14y ago
    I don't hate the players. These particular players just do not come off as candid, is all.
    - fatihdonmez 14y ago
      it's true but that's what they should do.. After these guys, I guess our responses on application are too naive and honest :)

81 points by wesleyzhao 14y ago

wisp 14y ago

Not that I care, but now the whole world know you got suspended for selling weed. This information cannot be good for you or your company, considering your family-oriented userbase

wesleyzhao 14y ago
Hi Wisp. This is Wesley - you might be right. It's something I did a long time ago and in the past. I have changed and people that know me know that. It may be something that will turn some heads, but I like to live very honestly and transparently. I hope people won't read too much in to it and only see how much I've grown.
- cwe 14y ago
  I'm glad to see people being more frank about this. As more people like you come forward, hopefully the stigma around it will fade. I've admitted it when appropriate, but been very hesitant to do so, even though I think the experience was incredibly valuable and shaped who I am.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - voodoomagicman 14y ago
    As someone w/ drug use in my past, I believe very strongly that the stigma around it is deserved. I would think very hard about hiring or investing in someone who used marijuana, or who decided to sell marijuana (a bet with a big risk for very little reward), or who thought that using drugs was cool enough to include it on an application. Speaking from experience, marijuana is addictive, saps ambition, and makes it difficult to think hard and think logically. Anyone who has tried to code or do math while high knows exactly what I am talking about. Wesley, obviously you have grown and been very successful since. I wish you only more success, and you are already far ahead of where I was at 19 (still smoking too much pot).
    - cwe 14y ago
      Your experience may have been different, but it is less addictive than alcohol, caffeine, or chocolate. http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm
      - voodoomagicman 14y ago
        Totally, and I am definitely addicted to caffeine. Luckily this only improves my work :) The difference is that I think very few people would say "Let's remove the stigma from alchoholism."
    - geuis 14y ago
      Weed is not addictive. I'll grant most of your other points about it being difficult to think for some people like me and you. However I have known and know many who are as productive, if not more, because of or despite their substance of choice. For me, I really don't give a damn what kinds of drugs people take beyond heroin, crack, meth, and others that have a clear history of detrimental effects on the individual. As long as you are rock solid and reliable, that's all that matters.
      - voodoomagicman 14y ago
        It IS addictive. It can't cause withdrawal symptoms, but absolutely is addictive, like gambling or sex or any other activity that triggers your reward system. I know I felt addicted to pot, failed to quit smoking many times after making the decision to, and kept smoking daily for a year after I had stopped enjoying it. If not addiction, what would you call that? If you can be sure that someone is reliable, then you are right, there is no reason to have a problem with their drug use. When you are hiring someone or making the decision to invest money with them, you rarely know enough to be sure. Using drugs is a HUGE red flag there, and should say think twice before hiring this person / giving them money.
    - wesleyzhao 14y ago
      Thanks so much for the compliments and support! I really appreciate it.
- justjimmy 14y ago
  I think it's a nice interesting fact and it'll make a great conversation/story. Especially for those that you will work with on a constant basis, since they'll be the ones that will spend the time to know and work with you. But just be wary of the info that you present to the general public and your users.
paul 14y ago
It shows that he's entrepreneurial :)
startupcto 14y ago
I know. Now that I know that for a fact, it does say much about the founder of a website that I'm supposed to trust the privacy of my family and data wouldn't be sold because the site is dying, no one wants to pay for the product and ads isn't bringing any much to keep the site going.

joe_bloggs 14y ago

Thanks for the red robin tip!

wesleyzhao 14y ago
It's great! Just got off a vegetarian-spree. Gonna go back to claiming those free burgers :)

SoftwarePatent 14y ago

Congratulations! Your age might give you trouble--people will feel embarrassed to work for such young people, and people in general might not take you seriously. Good luck!

gyardley 14y ago
Zuckerberg seems to have done okay. People who are concerned with the age of their boss are a little too concerned with status / authority / hierarchy to be at an early-stage startup.
jvrossb 14y ago
I hear there's this other guy who tried to start a social network... Zuckersomething... was pretty young too. I think things worked out pretty alright for him. They'll be fine :) If anything, they are best positioned to appreciated exactly how Facebook doesn't work for families.

rdl 14y ago

Too bad YC got rid of the "if you were an animal, what would you be, and why" question, which was on the Dropbox-era application.

pg 14y ago
We never asked that. The question you're probably thinking of is: Tell us in one or two sentences something about each founder that shows he or she is an "animal," in the sense described in How to Start a Startup.
- kn0thing 14y ago
  I loved that question.
  - littlegiantcap 14y ago
    Out of curiosity what did you say?
    - dwynings 14y ago
      "Animals? We're a freaking zoo. Andy: When Paul described the type of person whom he believes is an animal at his "How to Start a Startup" talk, Andy was the first person of whom I (Steve) thought. Steve: Steve regularly works extra hours at his current programming job, even when over-time isn't an option (i.e. working for free) to fix nagging bugs. At school, Steve often works late nights with Computer Science friends helping them get assignments working. Alexis: See current schedule. When it comes to design, Alexis literally won't rest until every pixel is aligned-- sleep deprivation is the status quo and when it comes to working in general, coffee makes sure he's the last one to go to sleep at night and the first one up in the morning." http://alexisohanian.com/our-y-combinator-summer-05-application-what-w http://alexisohanian.com/our-y-combinator-summer-05-applicat...
wesleyzhao 14y ago
We'd be either a slow loris or a meerkat. Because we are uber cute.

ckas 14y ago

The weed thing didn't seem to add much to the app at all (and could have been quite negative), but good to keep the theme going in the pitch video: "It's spreading like a weed"..."It's already been extremely sticky"

wesleyzhao 14y ago
Funny haha. Thanks for the comment :)

ntmartin 14y ago

Congrats on getting accepted and thanks for being so candid about your application. I have a couple of questions however: Did you face any problems having disclosed you scrapped a competitors site for potential clients/leads? Did all the founders think that was an acceptable method for building a base? How did you derive the potential turnover figures and was the model and revenue discussed in depth at the interview? Finally, how did you guys decide that FamilyLeaf was the right direction? Best of luck to you all with the company.

wesleyzhao 14y ago
No problem, it was our pleasure! Let me address your questions one-on-one. 1. We didn't have any problems disclosing that. In fact, (as you can tell by this little stunt) we are very open about it. We thought it was acceptable. But we also are fallible. 2. Turnover figures? We talked about it at the interview, definitely. 3. We were extremely passionate about it. And less so about AthleteNet. That was the number 1 thing. The other smaller but still very valuable factors included the market size, social impact, and potential for faster scaling. Feel free to email me if you have any more questions! wesley@familyleaf.com

stevenj 14y ago

Direct link to the app (PDF): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19699329/FamilyLeaf_YC_application.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19699329/FamilyLeaf_YC_application.p... P.S. Wow, small world. I went to the same high school as you guys. Good luck with FamilyLeaf, I'm now a big fan!

wesleyzhao 14y ago
Dude! Interlake?? We should catch up! founders@familyleaf.com We're also now a big fan of you!
- stevenj 14y ago
  Ya, the good ol' Saints! Though, I graduated in '04. (I read in your YC app that you were from Bellevue so I Googled you and saw that you went to IHS. :)
  - wesleyzhao 14y ago
    Can't find your contact info anywhere!

Smirnoff 14y ago

Thanks for putting up the application. I could clearly see how you guys aren't afraid to "break some laws" i.e. data scrapping, getting free food, and even weed selling!

wesleyzhao 14y ago
Thanks! Some of the risks we've taken have definitely paid off, and the ones that we haven't we don't regret taking.

guynamedloren 14y ago

I hate to be that guy... but I'm not impressed by this application. At all. I am aware that YC is looking for adventurous founders who aren't afraid to bend the rules in their favor - or break them outright. I can appreciate that. These guys were clearly aware of that and it seems like they developed their responses accordingly. They deliberately showed their mischievous side to game the system. And then they released their yc application to further game the (pr) system. I guess this is a big part of what startups are about, so well played. I'm interested to see where this company goes. Edit : should have said thanks in advance for the downvotes. Criticism is not accepted on hn these days.

fatihdonmez 14y ago
don't hate the player, try to love it.
- guynamedloren 14y ago
  I don't hate the players. These particular players just do not come off as candid, is all.
  - fatihdonmez 14y ago
    it's true but that's what they should do.. After these guys, I guess our responses on application are too naive and honest :)