YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet • Hacker News Board

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#31

Post by TameAntelope » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 9:36 PM UTC

ampdepolymerase wrote: post #30

mdorazio wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely finding the right thing to make and then finding product-market fit are the same, but bootstrapping necessarily limits your choices to products/services that are profitable early on rather than after burning millions to capture market share. Bootstrapping also, in my opinion and experience, requires a lot more appreciation of accounting and finance on the part of founders, and a lot more questioning ("do I…

The problem is that YC-type opportunities are limited to those living in maybe 3 cities. Most places in the world do not have the funding opportunities. Shaping the narrative such that YC-style incubation is the "default" only benefits YC so they will have an increasingly large pool of applicants where they can pick the cream of the crop. This does not serve founders well as they would be wasting their time networkin…

I think this isn't as true as it used to be. Sure, SF and whatever the two others you were thinking of are massive, but there are smaller scenes in other places that also have funds available for incubation-type environments.

At the very least, understanding what the process is supposed to look like will help folks in those nascent scenes identify when something is amiss.

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#32

Post by petra » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 9:43 PM UTC

eloff wrote: post #7

dumbfoundded wrote: post #3

I'm not sure what the ideal % of people should actually start a company is. It certainly isn't for everyone. Perhaps a helpful topic would be "Should I actually be a founder?" or "Should I start a venture scale company or a lifestyle business?". I think many more people would be happy with the consistency and regularity of a small lifestyle business than pursing an opportunity that's billion or bust.

Given how many people are unemployed, I would say a problem in the USA (and probably all developed nations with few exceptions) today is that not enough people start companies. Too many employees, not enough employers. That said, most people are better suited to starting a small business than a venture financed business. And the former employ vastly more people.

Solving unemployment isn't that simple:Startups, especially recent startups often increase productivity, and that reduces the amount of jobs or wages.

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#33

Post by ampdepolymerase » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 9:43 PM UTC

TameAntelope wrote: post #31

ampdepolymerase wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that YC-type opportunities are limited to those living in maybe 3 cities. Most places in the world do not have the funding opportunities. Shaping the narrative such that YC-style incubation is the "default" only benefits YC so they will have an increasingly large pool of applicants where they can pick the cream of the crop. This does not serve founders well as they would be wasting their time networkin…

I think this isn't as true as it used to be. Sure, SF and whatever the two others you were thinking of are massive, but there are smaller scenes in other places that also have funds available for incubation-type environments. At the very least, understanding what the process is supposed to look like will help folks in those nascent scenes identify when something is amiss.

Half the value is in funding, the other half the network. You have an exponential decrease in opportunities elsewhere versus San Fran (and Seattle and NYC). Forcing, or at least strongly encouraging founders to seek out incubators as the One True Way will restrict, not increase opportunities for founders. What YC is doing is dressing up VC ideology as something that is universally founder-friendly. What's good for the capital owner isn't good for the founder when the founders do not have many options to choose from in the first place. In those situations it is better for the founder to keep more of their pie to themselves versus selling out to the only player in their very local, very small pond.

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#34

Post by yuskii » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 9:44 PM UTC

I'll think about applying...after my other interviews.

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#35

Post by etherio » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 10:11 PM UTC

This is really great! As a high school student I'm not very experienced with the startup ecosystem but it'll be really interesting to learn more.

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#36

Post by cvhashim » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 10:12 PM UTC

cglee wrote: post #16

IMO, there needs to be a bootstrapping track. Perhaps the bootstrapping track should even be the primary one. Of course YC won't do this, but IMHO, bootstrapping leads to the best chance for young people to quickly become millionaires.

- Indie Hackers

- Rob Walling podcast/blogs

- MicroConf

Are some useful resources to start with

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#37

Post by cglee » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

cvhashim wrote: post #36

cglee wrote: post #16

IMO, there needs to be a bootstrapping track. Perhaps the bootstrapping track should even be the primary one. Of course YC won't do this, but IMHO, bootstrapping leads to the best chance for young people to quickly become millionaires.

- Indie Hackers - Rob Walling podcast/blogs - MicroConf Are some useful resources to start with

Long-time MicroConf attendee (and one time sponsor). Still, YC has an outsized influence on young people and I'd like to see the bootstrap model expressed as a more obtainable path to one's first million.

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#38

Post by kevdev » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

Serious thank you for doing this!

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#39

Post by burlesona » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 10:24 PM UTC

cglee wrote: post #16

IMO, there needs to be a bootstrapping track. Perhaps the bootstrapping track should even be the primary one. Of course YC won't do this, but IMHO, bootstrapping leads to the best chance for young people to quickly become millionaires.

I did startup school's first cohort, and I would say it's equally useful for bootstrappers and VC-minded founders. What it is NOT useful for is side projects.

I think nurturing a side project into a full-time business is a whole different skill that's actually quite difficult and requires even more luck than bootstrapping or VC-startuping.

Re: YC Startup School for future founders who aren't quite ready to start yet

#40

Post by ngokevin » Fri, Oct 30, 2020, 10:37 PM UTC

cglee wrote: post #16

IMO, there needs to be a bootstrapping track. Perhaps the bootstrapping track should even be the primary one. Of course YC won't do this, but IMHO, bootstrapping leads to the best chance for young people to quickly become millionaires.

I'm currently bootstrapping as a YC alumni, and I'm going through YC Startup School. The curriculum is just as valuable for bootstrappers! It's all about validating a problem, getting users, planning your time, etc.

The core curriculum doesn't have anything about trying to get investors. There's one video about what YC looks for in a startup application, but even that's still useful for a bootstrapper (clarity of thought).