No, you don’t need prior success to apply (it’s specifically targeted at people without prior startups), but it is highly selective. A suggestion that I’ve heard and think seems reasonable is to spend 6-12 months trying to build up enough of a company to be accepted to YC (or another top incubator), and then shut down the business if you don’t get in.
Note that I’m using YCombinator here as a convenience sample – it’s not the right choice for everyone (I didn’t go through it with either of my companies, and think that was the correct decision in both cases).
No, you don’t need prior success to apply (it’s specifically targeted at people without prior startups), but it is highly selective. A suggestion that I’ve heard and think seems reasonable is to spend 6-12 months trying to build up enough of a company to be accepted to YC (or another top incubator), and then shut down the business if you don’t get in.
Note that I’m using YCombinator here as a convenience sample – it’s not the right choice for everyone (I didn’t go through it with either of my companies, and think that was the correct decision in both cases).