Personally I'm less likely to apply to YC now - if there's one thing I hate it's giant heaps of money.
You wouldn't have to take the money.
Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
11–20 of 25 posts
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#12I've got a family, and need to pay rent. This makes a huge difference to the feasibility of the whole adventure. I'm sure I'm not alone.
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#13The $17k honestly is so small, that it's largely irrelevant. And pursuing it will just distract you, and waste your time.
For that small a price, I can fund the idea myself, and own the company 100%.
But that's the point of the incubator. Maybe it's good for a broke kid out of college. But any seasoned professional in his late 20s-30s, "should" have the sufficient funds to support himself, and fund his vision.
But as someone else has said, maybe the benefit of the program, is the mentorship that can help focus your ideas, and bring it to market.
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#14With the huge amount of publicity and increased likelihood that more older entrepreneurs will apply, the probability of acceptance for some teams may decrease so much as to reduce the average return on investment. $150k seriously opens the space to entrepreneurs with a family to support and may draw out people who were previously hesitant to turn down a 6 figure salary. If experience grants a significant advantage, the just-out-of-college startups may find their acceptance probability approaching 0 and jump ship for smaller, easier sources.
I still plan to apply for this round but shall monitor the kind of startups YC funds in the future to determine how the probabilities change. It depends on how the selectors respond to changes in the applicant demographics.
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#15I think a larger amount would definitely have convinced me to apply to YC, but 150K is waaaay more than I'd need. My issue is that I'm not 19 and I have a high cost of living--I don't fit either profile.
My real problem is that they, and other incubators to an even greater extent, have cultivated a hippy atmosphere where scraping by on peanuts is glorified and everyone drones on with a humorless "I'm not in it for the money." Pass.
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#16I don't want any money from YC. I would just want the advice and publicity that comes with it. If I could just get that, I would be a happy camper.
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#17I didn't see any suggestion that future YC rounds are guaranteed this, just this current round.
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#18I didn't see any suggestion that future YC rounds are guaranteed this, just this current round.
"And Milner/SV Angel say they intend to offer this for each Y Combinator startup in the future, too." from http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/28/yuri-milner-sv-angel-offer-... Not a guarantee though.
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#19Personally I'm less likely to apply to YC now - if there's one thing I hate it's giant heaps of money.
if you hate giant heaps of money, applying for any investment whatsoever seems like a bad idea
Re: Poll HN: Are you more likely to apply to YC now that you could get $150K?
#20I haven't seen any indications that Paul is suddenly going to start accepting older entrepreneurs. If you're over 35 ycombinator will never be an option.
Which only really opens an opportunity for someone else;<).