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Y Combinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches

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Re: Y Combinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches

#71

Post by jmw »

Harj wrote: post #42

The problem with this is that I can't see the people involved. Who are the investors? What are their backgrounds? Why are they going to increase my chances of success? Replicating the YC seed funding model is fair game. What I find irritating (and btw I'm very keen to see more European start ups funded so I'm not outright attacking you for the sake of it) is that people replicate the easy parts without putting the ef…

One of the hardest parts of a "seed investor" is having actual successful experience in an early stage company (See PG, Trevor, and RTM in ViaWeb-Yahoo Store), and being able to use that experience when mentoring a young company.

Having talked with all kinds of investors it's amazing how much more you can respect and understand the advice of someone who's been in your place before - and how much more relevant they can make it through their own experiences.

Re: Y Combinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches

#72

Post by jmw »

BitGeek wrote: post #30
SwellJoe wrote: post #21

What's wrong with this sentence: "YCombinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches!" Hint: It's not in the first, second, third or sixth word. You're missing at least 50% of the value of Y Combinator by being outside of a startup center, probably more. Can a successful startup happen outside of the Valley? Sure...but you're definitely hurting the chances of success by a significant degree.

If %50 of the value of YC is the fact that they require startups to locate in Boston or SF, then any startup who doesn't get into YC can get %60 of the benefit by simply relocating. Seriously, I hope that %50 of the "benefit" of YC is not moveing to an expensive location where every resource you could need for a business is constrained. I've seen no evidence that locating outside of SF or MA reduces your chances of s…

The traditional claims for success/failure of companies inside/outside of the valley comes from Venture Capitalists who have years worth of statistics coming from their own investments.

The stats point to a change in percentage chance of success for any incremental distance from Palo Alto/Mountain View that a venture funded company is moved. (I don't know the numbers offhand - but it's significant, even down to whole percent numbers per 10 miles if I remember correctly)

From someone who's recently been talking to many people about the choice to live in Boston, Mountain View/Palo Alto, San Fran - or somewhere else, every person (investor/entrepreneur/historian) points to MV/PA.

Many people (and firms like Sequoia ...etc) won't invest unless you're in the valley.

Re: Y Combinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches

#73

Post by Harj »

create_account wrote: post #63
pg wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We did actually introduce Kiko to angels who invested in them. And Kiko didn't sell because they were out of money, but because their users were draining away.

But why weren't you able to introduce them to prospective buyers once they'd decided to sell? Isn't that where a well-connected investment firm adds value?

There's a difference between adding value and doing things for you.

Believe it or not, once you get into YC you still have to put your own work into your start up and not expect YC to magically work everything out for you...

Re: Y Combinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches

#74

Post by weel »

enki wrote: post #28
Benja wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A general question and a specific one: Who are you? Metalab has an extensive website, but who's behind YEurope? You know that the funding is only a small part of what YC provides -- you won't be able to live up to pg, rtm et al, which is expected, but right now you don't say anything about yourself, so why should a prospective applicant value your connections and advice? And: One of the things YC does is that it sets…

hello benja, i'm paul and i'm the one who mainly started this. your reservations are absolutely justified. who am i to think i can do this? i haven't had any huge successes to show yet, and i really didn't want to launch like this. i had big plans of launching with my own money, and then i'd have prepared some nice texts telling my success story. as things went, we are launching early. i'm certainly in a different le…

Many European countries have minimum capitalization requirements for limited companies, as well as high transaction costs (you've basically got to pay the notaries' cartel their monopoly rent) and background checks. Holland got rid of an EUR 18k (!) minimum cap requirement a few years ago, after a court decision made clear that it was perfectly legal to incorporate in England instead. Even now, the transaction costs associated with starting a Dutch BV are easily twice what you pay for an English Ltd., and reporting requirements are more complicated too. The Chamber of Commerce, a QUANGO that is supposed to advise new companies and which doubles as the registry of companies, likes to claim that a Ltd tends to have a harder time raising capital than a BV, presumably because it sounds weird and foreign; but I suspect that the fact that you pay a low fee to Companies House in London instead of a high fee to your local Chamber of Commerce is also part of the reason why they discourage jurisdiction shopping.

Re: Y Combinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches

#75

Post by davidw »

fmu wrote: post #62
davidw wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having recently relocated to Innsbruck (from Padova, Italy, and originally from Oregon in the US), I'm curious about utilizing an LLP from the UK. I'd be really interested to hear if anyone has more information on that, because as things stand, starting a company in countries like Austria or Italy is absurdly expensive.

the company form you would typically choose is actually the Ltd. rather than a partnership; there is really nothing special to it, you can self-incorporate online for a few hundred EUR and will only need a mail forwarding agent having gone the AG (company by shares) route before i would agree the legal expenses associated with the traditional legal forms are insane, plus you need a significant minimum amount of found…

My wife's post doc. I tried to send you some email, but didn't see an answer. I'm at davidw -[at]- dedasys.com

Re: Y Combinator Clone in Vienna, Austria launches

#76

Post by BitGeek »

jmw wrote: post #72
BitGeek wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If %50 of the value of YC is the fact that they require startups to locate in Boston or SF, then any startup who doesn't get into YC can get %60 of the benefit by simply relocating. Seriously, I hope that %50 of the "benefit" of YC is not moveing to an expensive location where every resource you could need for a business is constrained. I've seen no evidence that locating outside of SF or MA reduces your chances of s…

The traditional claims for success/failure of companies inside/outside of the valley comes from Venture Capitalists who have years worth of statistics coming from their own investments. The stats point to a change in percentage chance of success for any incremental distance from Palo Alto/Mountain View that a venture funded company is moved. (I don't know the numbers offhand - but it's significant, even down to whole…

You're giving me rumor and second hand inuendo and no stats. You say you can't remember them offhand, but I don't think you ever heard any-- that weren't made up on the spot.

The fact of the matter is, there are many very successful startups in Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, etc. etc. etc.

People in the BAY AREA think that the BAY AREA is necessary for success for a startup.

But they are not taking from any kind of a scientific knowledge.

Its just provincial arrogance.

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