Well, it's been almost two weeks since my last post. As the year comes closer to a close I will figure out how to do this every day.

But the last two weeks, I was preparing and anticipating for a YC interview.

It's over now, and I was rejected, but I just wanted to get my initial thoughts on paper. It helps to just write it down and get it out. I want to put something together over the next few days as I get all my thoughts together, but here is how I'm feeling now:

This time, I don't feel the sting of rejection as much as last time. This time I got further in the process, too.

This time, I won't kill my startup because I was rejected. Technically, I don't need YC because I have really low costs and I can grow it organically.

Part of me applied because it's the 'cool kids'. If only I could get in and get that validation I want. I wanted to prove to YC, and my family, friends, etc that "I am legit" and I'm working on something smart.

But I know better than that. I never got into any Ivy league colleges, and I never got hired by any epic companies like Google or Facebook. I'm not smart like that. I don't hang out with Princeton elites and discuss growth strategy, politics, and modern art. Sometimes, I have fallen trap to wanting those things, and when I try to get them, and can't get them, I somehow wonder why.

I never deeply wanted them in the first place, or I wanted them on a very superficial level. And if I ever got them, I realized very quickly it's not for me, and leave.

I'm not saying YC is like that, but it's also a 'cool name' that you can impress people with. In 5 years, I want to be able to say "I built a great company" instead of "I did YC".

To me, that is one of the most cringiest things I've ever read about YC. 

How about being taken seriously for things you actually did? The people that I personally look up to built things from nothing, like Elon Musk, Pewdiepie, Kanye West, Joe Rogan, etc. They are often college dropouts, and worked harder than anyone else, taking years to be even recognized.

I definitely see the value in YC but I need to write this kind of stuff to remember my principles. Because it's not my life goal to get into YC, it's to build a great life.

This is just the beginning of my thoughts. I hope to write more tomorrow.

I don't think YC is bad (it's actually awesome), and the interview experience was amazing. More on that next time. 

But for now, I'm back to work on my business the day after I was rejected. That's certainly better than last time I was rejected.