Funding Application

Some of the questions which are a part of the YCombinator's application for funding are worth answering for anyone thinking of a startup. So what I am doing here is filling up the application even if we might not be eligible. The questions seem to be real thought provoking and I will not have answers to all the questions.

• What is your company going to make?
• Please tell us in one or two sentences something about each founder that shows a high level of ability.
• What's new about what you're doing?
• What do you understand about your business that other companies in it just don't get?
• What are people forced to do now because what you plan to make doesn't exist yet?
• How will you make money?
• Who are your competitors, and who might become competitors? Who do you fear most?
• How long have the founders known one another and how did you meet?
• What tools will you use to build your project?
• How long will it take before you have a prototype? A beta? A version you can charge for?
• Which companies would be most likely to buy you?
• If one wanted to buy you three months in (March 2007), what's the lowest offer you'd take?
• Why would your project be hard for someone else to duplicate?
• Do you have any ideas you consider patentable?
• What might go wrong? (This is a test of imagination, not confidence.)
• If you'll have any major expenses beyond the living costs of your founders, Internet access, and servers, what will they be?
• Are any of the founders covered by noncompetes or intellectual property agreements that overlap with your project? Will any be working as employees or consultants for anyone else?
• Was any of your code written by someone who is not one of your founders? If so, how can you safely use it? (Open source is ok of course.)
• Please tell us something surprising or amusing that one of you has discovered. (The answer need not be related to your project.)

[Answers in the comment section]