3 ms·

I was accepted in Paris FI program for this summer, however I didn't pay the fee yet because I was also invited for an interview at YC in 10 days. I must decide

by jpatte 17y ago

I was accepted in Paris FI program for this summer, however I didn't pay the fee yet because I was also invited for an interview at YC in 10 days. I must decide today if I enter the FI program or not, knowing that YC is clearly my best choice but I can't wait for their answer. I could follow the FI program until May, however if (cross fingers) I'm accepted at YC I won't be able to follow the FI program until the end. I do have the 800$, do you think it's worth using it for at least 2 months at FI?

vdibart 17y ago
My first question would be why you consider YC to be your best choice. No offense intended to the host of this forum, but there's a lot of reasons that might not be true. Clearly YC gets better press, but as with FI it's not for everyone. A lot depends on the stage of your idea/company. My gut reaction to the underlying question is that you should focus on figuring out which program is better for your situation and devote yourself to it. Having been through the FI experience I personally find the idea of using it as a fallback or filler a bit insulting, but Institute doesn't make that distinction.
- jpatte 17y ago
  Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. But as you said yourself, just because I think YC is a better choice for me does not mean it's true, and it's certainly does not mean it is true for everyone and YC > FI. So I'm not sure why you feel this way... Thanks for your advices, I will consider both programs carefully. One of the aspects which make me prefer YC so far (as an European) is the "Silicon Valley adventure", I just don't want to miss this chance :) So again I'm not saying YC is better than FI, I was just wondering if it's worth the money if I don't go to the end of the program. And honestly I think it is, I just wanted to have some input to assess my decision.
  - vdibart 17y ago
    Not taking it personally, no worries. Just want to make sure the FI doesn't get disrespected. Realize I might not be in the right place for that though :) I certainly don't understand YC as well as I do FI, but I would think a lot of it comes down to how far along you are with your company. FI might be more valuable if you're less advanced - have a great idea, maybe a prototype but not a ton else. YC is probably more suited for companies that are further along. YC grads can feel free to correct me on that. Whichever you choose I'd make sure you really, fully, totally, unequivocally understand as much about the details of the program as you can. As others have mentioned here and elsewhere, there are bound to be surprises no matter which program you enter. The goal is to minimize the impact of those surprises.
    - pg 17y ago
      YC is probably more suited for companies that are further along. No; we've funded groups that had been launched for a year and others that didn't even have an idea yet. Our threshold is simply whether the founders are ready to work full time on the company.
      - vdibart 17y ago
        Thanks for the clarification pg. I would think that it'd be pretty uncommon to be accepted at the pre-idea stage though, no? I mean, seed funding for literally nothing more than a good team is pretty tough to come by. For FI that's actually pretty common (at least in my experience).
        pg 17y ago
        It's quite common with us. A lot of the companies we fund do something different than they applied with.
rdl 17y ago
I did FI Bay Area Winter 2009 (but dropped out midway through because I had to go to the middle east for dayjob, and couldn't quit dayjob without seriously screwing over a coworker). I may do FI again (they let you go on to the next session if you drop out), and I would definitely suggest FI to anyone looking for that kind of program. Adeo is great, and many of the mentors are awesome. As a direct comparison for launching a product, YC is better than FI because it's full-time vs. part time, but FI is great. However, getting into FI and going along for 2 months might make it more attractive to stay, having invested those 2 months. FI is also a little more about the business, YC is more about the product -- FI would actually be even better as a follow-on to a YC semester. I would probably go ahead and do FI as a learning experience, then evaluate when YC responds to you whether you should drop out or not. (answer would probably be yes, but this is the first semester for FI Paris and it might be amazing) If you wanted to actually relocate to the bay area, YC or FI Bay Area would probably be more valuable than FI Paris, since the mentors/angels in the Paris program are probably going to be European. That would be my biggest factor in deciding.

by jpatte 17y ago

vdibart 17y ago

My first question would be why you consider YC to be your best choice. No offense intended to the host of this forum, but there's a lot of reasons that might not be true. Clearly YC gets better press, but as with FI it's not for everyone. A lot depends on the stage of your idea/company. My gut reaction to the underlying question is that you should focus on figuring out which program is better for your situation and devote yourself to it. Having been through the FI experience I personally find the idea of using it as a fallback or filler a bit insulting, but Institute doesn't make that distinction.

jpatte 17y ago
Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. But as you said yourself, just because I think YC is a better choice for me does not mean it's true, and it's certainly does not mean it is true for everyone and YC > FI. So I'm not sure why you feel this way... Thanks for your advices, I will consider both programs carefully. One of the aspects which make me prefer YC so far (as an European) is the "Silicon Valley adventure", I just don't want to miss this chance :) So again I'm not saying YC is better than FI, I was just wondering if it's worth the money if I don't go to the end of the program. And honestly I think it is, I just wanted to have some input to assess my decision.
- vdibart 17y ago
  Not taking it personally, no worries. Just want to make sure the FI doesn't get disrespected. Realize I might not be in the right place for that though :) I certainly don't understand YC as well as I do FI, but I would think a lot of it comes down to how far along you are with your company. FI might be more valuable if you're less advanced - have a great idea, maybe a prototype but not a ton else. YC is probably more suited for companies that are further along. YC grads can feel free to correct me on that. Whichever you choose I'd make sure you really, fully, totally, unequivocally understand as much about the details of the program as you can. As others have mentioned here and elsewhere, there are bound to be surprises no matter which program you enter. The goal is to minimize the impact of those surprises.
  - pg 17y ago
    YC is probably more suited for companies that are further along. No; we've funded groups that had been launched for a year and others that didn't even have an idea yet. Our threshold is simply whether the founders are ready to work full time on the company.
    - vdibart 17y ago
      Thanks for the clarification pg. I would think that it'd be pretty uncommon to be accepted at the pre-idea stage though, no? I mean, seed funding for literally nothing more than a good team is pretty tough to come by. For FI that's actually pretty common (at least in my experience).
      - pg 17y ago
        It's quite common with us. A lot of the companies we fund do something different than they applied with.

rdl 17y ago

I did FI Bay Area Winter 2009 (but dropped out midway through because I had to go to the middle east for dayjob, and couldn't quit dayjob without seriously screwing over a coworker). I may do FI again (they let you go on to the next session if you drop out), and I would definitely suggest FI to anyone looking for that kind of program. Adeo is great, and many of the mentors are awesome. As a direct comparison for launching a product, YC is better than FI because it's full-time vs. part time, but FI is great. However, getting into FI and going along for 2 months might make it more attractive to stay, having invested those 2 months. FI is also a little more about the business, YC is more about the product -- FI would actually be even better as a follow-on to a YC semester. I would probably go ahead and do FI as a learning experience, then evaluate when YC responds to you whether you should drop out or not. (answer would probably be yes, but this is the first semester for FI Paris and it might be amazing) If you wanted to actually relocate to the bay area, YC or FI Bay Area would probably be more valuable than FI Paris, since the mentors/angels in the Paris program are probably going to be European. That would be my biggest factor in deciding.