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Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

ycombinator.com

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Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#81

Post by mdda »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #73
chucknthem wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that? convincing banks to give you money will be much harder, at a high interest rate, and you have to give the money back whether you're successful or not.

If your company sells for any appreciable amount of money, the "interest" you pay YC will be astronomically larger than any loan anyone would give you.

But the value of YourCompany today is (for any 'big idea') something like P(small)*Size(idea).

The trick of accepting the dilution of YC is to make estimates of whether the idea could 7% become larger/better. Or (more easy to understand) whether the effect of YC on all the components of P(small) could accumulate to more than 7% of P(small).

If your probability of success increases as a function of your investors, for instance, YC easily earns its 7% just due to pure signalling effect. If you're looking to get better hires, then the YC seal-of-approval could easily elevate you into the 'A-Class' of hires that everyone insists makes the difference. Of course, there are a lot of other factors : but scoring a total of +7% on them overall is all that should determine whether to choose a place with YC (supposing that you've been accepted).

Just my 2c.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#82

Post by jarek »

pclark wrote: post #70
jarek wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're running a startup I really cannot think of a singular reason as to why you wouldn't apply. Nitpicking: No interest in moving to the Bay Area would seem to be one.

I question what reasons someone would have to be unwilling to move to the Bay Area for 3 months given the amount of founders that claim that YC was the tipping point for their companies.

Your business being based on strong personal relationships with people/businesses local to you is the first one off the top of my head. Strong geographical ties (family, etc) of the founders/employees is second.

YC probably wouldn't be interested in funding such a startup, and rightly so for them. But there's loads of startups that aren't YC's niche, all of them swept away by your statement I quoted.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#83

Post by ramanujam »

Mc_Big_G wrote: post #56

My potential co-founder is currently here (S.F.) on an H1B visa and it will be a year or two before he receives a green card. Does this rule him out as a co-founder? We've been investigating the options but so far a definitive answer has eluded us. I'm hoping someone here has dealt with this situation before and can enlighten us.

H1B is tied to a single company and if your potential co-founder switches to your newly formed company he has to get his H1B transfered. There are also many implications with regards to the green card process as it is tied to the sponsoring company. In short, talk to a lawyer before getting started!

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#84

Post by RockyMcNuts »

If anyone's in NY and wants to work on social news aggregation with a view toward applying for summer, check out my profile and drop a line.

(possibly quickly before this desperate plea for cofounders gets rightfully buried or I delete it out of sheer embarrassment LOL)

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#85

Post by ebaysucks »

EGreg wrote: post #79
pclark wrote: post #35

One of the things I have heard a lot of founders say when asked if they are considering doing YC is that they are already "down the road" with their company - as in, they have already launched, or have customers, or investor attention. I know dozens of startups that went through YC at this stage, and they will all reiterate how beneficial YC was for them. If you're running a startup I really cannot think of a singula…

I'm not sure if we should apply. We already did three times and were rejected. It kind of put us off psychologically, because we really felt we matched what YCombinator says they look for. This is from last year: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2426118 Since then, we have raised a little over $100k in our first round, increased our team, and got 20,000 people using us daily out of 200k (lifetime) installs. We app…

Have you discussed with your investors how they feel about you selling 2-10% of total equity at a valuation of at best 20% of what they are offering?

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#86

Post by michael_nielsen »

Would YC ever fund a not-for-profit startup, as a form of philanthropy?

Part of the reason I ask is that for-profit and not-for-profit organizations have different kinds of leverage, and for some activities not-for-profits have big advantages. It's striking that some major success stories like Khan Academy and Wikipedia are not-for-profit.

I imagine that having a YC-like model applied to not-for-profits might produce some remarkable new startups, maybe even entirely new types of startup.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#87

Post by mindcrime »

kerryusry wrote: post #12

There are lots of people with great ideas and products out there who are not able to just up and quit jobs and move somewhere for months on end. It would be nice to see an option for people like this. Not everyone is single college student, what about established tech professionals with houses and mortgages, or even a family.

This is exactly one good reason for the emergence of additional geo-centric incubators / accelerators. I know that, in my own case, it would probably be a tough sell for my co-founders to up and move to CA for three months, since they are both married and have additional commitments that I don't.

But, luckily, there is Triangle Startup Factory, which has just re-opened and has funding for at least a few cycles over the next couple of years. This works because we could stay here if we are accepted.

Anyway, the point being, YC isn't the only game in town, especially if "town" is somewhere other than the Valley. Of course not every town has an incubator, but hopefully more will continue to emerge over time and spread the opportunity around a bit...

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#88

Post by pclark »

ebaysucks wrote: post #85
EGreg wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if we should apply. We already did three times and were rejected. It kind of put us off psychologically, because we really felt we matched what YCombinator says they look for. This is from last year: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2426118 Since then, we have raised a little over $100k in our first round, increased our team, and got 20,000 people using us daily out of 200k (lifetime) installs. We app…

Have you discussed with your investors how they feel about you selling 2-10% of total equity at a valuation of at best 20% of what they are offering?

Hopefully their investors are savvy enough to understand that the YC experience would more than justify any of those details.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#89

Post by mindcrime »

pclark wrote: post #70
jarek wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're running a startup I really cannot think of a singular reason as to why you wouldn't apply. Nitpicking: No interest in moving to the Bay Area would seem to be one.

I question what reasons someone would have to be unwilling to move to the Bay Area for 3 months given the amount of founders that claim that YC was the tipping point for their companies.

I question what reasons someone would have to be unwilling to move to the Bay Area for 3 months given the amount of founders that claim that YC was the tipping point for their companies.

OK, just to give one example... my co-founder is married, and her husband is in graduate school. So either he'd have to interrupt his education to come with her, or he'd have to accept her running off to the opposite side of the country for three months, chasing a dream that he might or might not be fully sold on. We honestly haven't had the discussion yet, but my gut feeling is that this would be a very hard sell. And YC make it clear that they expect all (or at least a majority) of the co-founders to make the trip.

Also, we have a local incubator (Triangle Startup Factory) that is (potentially) an option for us, which would not require any relocation at all.

Given that, it's not exactly a "no brainer" to apply to YC. I'm not saying we won't do it (either now or in a future cycle) but it's not necessarily an easy decision.

Re: Applications open for Y Combinator's summer 2012 funding cycle

#90

Post by sneak »

mindcrime wrote: post #89
pclark wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I question what reasons someone would have to be unwilling to move to the Bay Area for 3 months given the amount of founders that claim that YC was the tipping point for their companies.

I question what reasons someone would have to be unwilling to move to the Bay Area for 3 months given the amount of founders that claim that YC was the tipping point for their companies. OK, just to give one example... my co-founder is married, and her husband is in graduate school. So either he'd have to interrupt his education to come with her, or he'd have to accept her running off to the opposite side of the coun…

All of life is trade-offs.

Aside from that, though: Who can't live alone for 90 days? Seriously? When Virgin America NYC/SFOs are sub-$200 roundtrip?

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