Quick note on how you’ll get into YC / raise fundraising.

I visualize YC, and most investment opportunities, as a see-saw. That see-saw has traction on one side and relationship with founder on the other. They de-risk each other. If you’ve got massive traction, that de-risks (in an investor’s eyes) the risk of not knowing the founder. Alternatively, if you’ve sold a company already, the “relationship” with that founder (even if there’s no personal relationship) is “they make money” and that’s good. You’ll get money with zero traction.

This isn’t rocket science. But, if you’ve got neither a relationship with YC nor eye-popping traction (most founders applying to YC), you’ve got no shot. So, you need a plan. And you’re far more likely to create a relationship than to get crazy traction. Relationships are hard, but eye-popping traction is harder.

Two thoughts on relationships:

• The way we form relationships is known. If someone says they’ll do something, and then they do that thing, over and over, there will be a strong relationship based on trust. It doesn’t matter how big the thing is, just that it’s done. Whatever we’re told a lot becomes the truth (for better or worse).
• If you want relationships to take some of the burden off traction, you need to create the scenario from the above bullet. You need gatekeepers to see you continually do what you’ll say you’ll do. That means they’ll need to care enough to watch.

For YC, or anything where you need someone to trust the package of “you + your traction” more than 1,000 other very qualified options, your best use of time is figuring out a plan to establish that trust over the next 3–6–9 months. You probably won’t be able to differentiate on traction alone. And a bi-weekly email that says “let’s grab a coffee and catch up” as a relationship Hail Mary won’t work either. Holler if you want help thinking through this.

As tempting as it is, don’t be the “toss in an app” person if you really want something.