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What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

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Re: What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

#21

Post by far33d »

RyanGWU82 wrote: post #14
far33d wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Moving costs" for anyone inside the US is sure to be less than $1000.

How can you say that with such certainty? I moved from Washington, DC to the Bay Area last fall, and my costs were significantly higher than $1000. Even if I cut all the corners, a hypothetical move to Boston would still cost me thousands of dollars. If I was doing YC for a summer, I wouldn't need to move . I could just fly there with a couple of suitcases and a laptop, but I'd need some way to cover my existing apar…

My point was all you need to do YC is a plane ticket and your bags, maybe buy a bed and a desk when you get there.

Re: What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

#22

Post by rms »

dpapathanasiou wrote: post #6

New York Angels ( http://newyorkangels.com/) has a similar application (unlike YC, there's no deadline, and they'll accept an applicant at any time, but they charge a fee). I haven't gone through the process myself, but I saw their pitch at a NYC tech panel a few months ago.

Their application is submitting a business plan and it costs $150. It just seems that they're unlikely to fund the people they charge $150. Instead, they'll fund organic referrals.

Re: What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

#23

Post by RyanGWU82 »

far33d wrote: post #21
RyanGWU82 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you say that with such certainty? I moved from Washington, DC to the Bay Area last fall, and my costs were significantly higher than $1000. Even if I cut all the corners, a hypothetical move to Boston would still cost me thousands of dollars. If I was doing YC for a summer, I wouldn't need to move . I could just fly there with a couple of suitcases and a laptop, but I'd need some way to cover my existing apar…

My point was all you need to do YC is a plane ticket and your bags, maybe buy a bed and a desk when you get there.

Fair enough. I probably took your comment a bit too literally. $1000 is not enough to move cross-country, but it probably is enough to relocate for three months. :)

Re: What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

#24

Post by samb »

pg wrote: post #15
samb wrote: post #10

The alternative is to convince YC that proximity isn't the most important thing. (It is an important thing, I understand, but it's not the most important thing.) It'll take a very compelling story.

You can't convince us of that. Anyone who's been funded by YC knows that what we do, we have to do in person. We once tried funding a group that didn't move. When they flew in for demo day, they looked like the plant that hadn't gotten the Miracle-Gro. The upside of that rather expensive experiment was that it showed us how much YC helps people.

do you think that a virtual YC environment could be designed to provide the same rich experience that you get in person? or is it simply impossible? just a point of curiosity on my part.

Re: What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

#25

Post by dpapathanasiou »

rms wrote: post #22
dpapathanasiou wrote: post #6

New York Angels ( http://newyorkangels.com/) has a similar application (unlike YC, there's no deadline, and they'll accept an applicant at any time, but they charge a fee). I haven't gone through the process myself, but I saw their pitch at a NYC tech panel a few months ago.

Their application is submitting a business plan and it costs $150. It just seems that they're unlikely to fund the people they charge $150. Instead, they'll fund organic referrals.

Well, if you attend enough tech events in NYC, you'll probably meet most of the angels individually, and can forego the fee (that's one of the reasons I haven't applied myself).

Investors are looking for deals, and it isn't too difficult to network into an initial meeting.

The one nice thing about the application (like YC) is that it forces you to define your project succinctly.

Also like YC, getting funded is no guarantee of success.

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