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Is Y Combinator worth the money?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#171

Post by Forgeties79 »

itsoktocry wrote: post #36
hassy wrote: post #25

Did YC S21 which was an all remote batch. my 2c. YC is 100% what you make of it. It's not a lean back experience. I did not meet most of the companies in my batch but I've gotten to know many founders through YC that I would not have otherwise. Founders that have been source of advice and support. Network of clients - yep don't go into YC expecting to sell to other YC cos. It is easier to get warm intros through the…

> Some of the advice I did not take and did the opposite and it was the right decision. And some advice that I did not take was exactly right, but I only saw it in retrospect months later. Sometimes their advice is right, and sometimes it's wrong? That doesn't sound particularly valuable. > Fundraising - being a YC company definitely opens doors, and also helps protects you from bad actors who have to think twice bef…

Does it really need to be stated that you can learn a ton from advice you don’t directly take? It could be relevant later, get you to think up a different solution, help you understand a competitor’s business model or decisions, improve your understanding of the industry you’re in, etc.

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#172

Post by JohnFen »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #165
hassy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main thing about the advice comes immediately before the bit you’re zooming in on. Want to talk to people who have seen hundreds of companies deal with what you’re dealing? YC is great for that.

> Want to talk to people who have seen hundreds of companies deal with what you’re dealing? YC is great for that. The way I read your post, saying you "can get" very valuable advice immediately followed by saying some advice was wrong undermines that "can" pretty solidly. I'm not just looking at that sentence in isolation. Could we get an estimate of how much of the advice was right, weighted by how non-obvious each…

> The way I read your post, saying you "can get" very valuable advice immediately followed by saying some advice was wrong undermines that "can" pretty solidly.

I disagree. Getting advice from subject matter experts is almost always of great value. The chances of that advice being on-target for you are never 100%, but that doesn't mean the advice is without value. It just means that it's not infallible.

In the end, as with literally everything about running a business -- VC backed or not -- you need to take in all of the quality information you can get and decide what's important/relevant and what's not.

Having access to more information is a Good Thing, even if some particular bit of information isn't helpful.

Also, while access to subject matter experts is one of the benefits of a group like YC, it's not necessarily the most important. Even if that's not useful to you, the other benefits may very well be.

Disclaimer -- I'm personally not interested in doing VC-backed ventures. For me, the juice isn't worth the squeeze, so I'm not asserting that YC is some sort of panacea that is valuable to everyone. But it is obviously of great value to some. Part of what an entrepreneur needs to learn how to do is how to determine what is of value to your startup and what is not. Every venture is different, and has different needs.

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#173

Post by dang »

rhtgrg wrote: post #49
ahstilde wrote: post #17

I did YC in W21 in NYC. I was not allowed to meet people in large groups until April (after the batch). I disagree with each and every one of these ratings and conclusions. Firstly, the comparison should be "Is the alternative to YC worth it?" For many companies, the alternative is raising nothing and bootstrapping, or raising at significantly lower valuations. Additionally, I believe founders approach YC the wrong w…

YC will absolutely coddle you if you manage to become one of their “darling” startups, just like any other incubator or VC firm. That’s the type of thing that you have to earn, and if you earn it you don’t need it.

It's true that the business is governed by power laws at every level and you can't ignore those and succeed. I hope that doesn't prevent people from still being decent to each other.

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#174

Post by dang »

the_cat_kittles wrote: post #105
rhtgrg wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC will absolutely coddle you if you manage to become one of their “darling” startups, just like any other incubator or VC firm. That’s the type of thing that you have to earn, and if you earn it you don’t need it.

its almost like... and i know this is crazy... they are just money vampires?!

That seems a little extreme!

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#175

Post by [deleted] »

dtagames wrote: post #3

Interesting quote: Even when it came to fundraising, all the YC’s advice came down not to how to raise smarter and more, but to the fact that everyone needs to follow their simple framework, not try to shine too much, not try to choose the right words, wash off all the makeup, put on a gray uniform, and present dry facts—how much money customers already paid you, what the size of the market, if you count all the unit…

[deleted]

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#176

Post by JohnFen »

sp332 wrote: post #51
chimineycricket wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't expect them to be oracles though, right? Even the most experienced can give not-good-enough business advice, they don't do it on purpose I imagine.

Sure, but the question in the thread is whether it's worth the money.

And the answer, as with all "is it worth the money" questions, is "it depends".

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#177

Post by tschesnok »

Wow. In the footnote they mention they shut down right after demo day? Perhaps I'm old school but I always had a huge feeling of indebtedness to my investors.

So here they lose all the money within 3 months and write a scathing review to boot?

Is it not a two way street?

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#178

Post by samstave »

pclark wrote: post #11

This stood out to me: > In their picture of the world, you, the founders, should only build a product and talk to customers, everything else is superfluous and waste of time. Hiring is waste of time, paid advertising is waste of time, content is waste of time, talking to investors is waste of time, getting media coverage is waste of time. IMHO YC doesn’t want you to “build” a product they want you to “grow” a product…

@Dang,

Why the F are we having this conversation on HN and it not a seminal discussion happening with, at and of YC?

Why do we need "trench knowledge" as opposed to YC actually holding an open forum on such?

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#179

Post by b7r6 »

There is nothing wrong with being the category-defining early-stage investment company, and doing it as a for-profit business that's optimized for good financial outcomes.

I think what some of the insiders (like the OP) and semi-adjacent outsiders (like me) might be feeling a little queasy about is that YC began with a pretty clearly stated goal (in addition to making money) around disrupting the unproductive importance of high-status networks and signaling like elite university educations and to a lot of us (even people who didn't apply like me) that was really inspiring. And to at least some degree, YC is now a high-status network that signals well.

There's nothing uniquely bad about it, it's kind of the default throughout human history, and they are completely transparent about being a for-profit company, but it's also ok to be a little sad that it's not quite as idealistic as it used to be.

Re: Is Y Combinator worth the money?

#180

Post by seshagiric »

hassy wrote: post #25

Did YC S21 which was an all remote batch. my 2c. YC is 100% what you make of it. It's not a lean back experience. I did not meet most of the companies in my batch but I've gotten to know many founders through YC that I would not have otherwise. Founders that have been source of advice and support. Network of clients - yep don't go into YC expecting to sell to other YC cos. It is easier to get warm intros through the…

I could not help but notice the similarity with another popular question "Is MBA worth $100K+" and the equally similar answer "MBA is what you make of it".
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