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Ask HN: Why Y Combinator? Why not Y Combinator?

14 points by yeukhon 10y ago

Even though Y Combinator is so famous among the venture capitals, I wouldn't be surprise to hear founders turning down Y Combinator's offer. So why Y Combinator? And why not Y Combinator?

runesoerensen 10y ago
YC's take: http://www.ycombinator.com/why/ http://www.ycombinator.com/why/ Related HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11127804 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11127804
brianwawok 10y ago
Well incubators are really cool for a younger person with no family and kind of not good for older people with houses and families. I would be interested in hearing about anyone 35+ with a family and house who made YC work. So that would be my guess on a large segment of the population that dont persue incubators. And if you dont apply obviously you wont have an offer to accept or reject.
- tedmiston 10y ago
  I personally know people who have done this in other accelerators, like AngelPad or The Brandery. There are people just like that in precious YC batches too. It's not impossible and definitely involves sacrifices over the short term (~9–12 weeks). Saying that anyone who has kids or a house couldn't practically do an accelerator is an attitude overgeneralized from the outside. Similar comments were made when Marissa Mayer has a baby. I think you'd be surprised to watch what highly motivated and talented entrepreneurs can pull off.
untilHellbanned 10y ago
It's good for young people same as college. The value is in credentialing (and notch in belt confidence building). You learn most professional lessons while doing your job which has little to nothing to do with YC per se.
tedmiston 10y ago
Any incubator or accelerator being the right fit is really dependent on the company. None are right for every company, and as you may know, incubators and early stage accelerators have exploded in growth over the past couple years (there are so many now, and not all are worth your time). Vetting that any one has worthwhile resources for you is important. Mainly you're thinking of longterm benefits like the network they provide and not shorter term ones like how much cash they exchange for 3–10% of your company. The best way to get advice about any accelerator is to talk to founders who have already gone through it about their experience. You can easily find YC companies and early- to mid-stage founders are more likely to reply to your emails. Though a referral from a mutual connection would be best, you can reach any YC co with the founders@ email. By the way -- this advice is about improving your odds in applying to YC, once you're at the offer stage it's a different question. I don't know many founders that would turn down the YC offer after being accepted.
brudgers 10y ago
Among the reasons not to do Ycombinator would be a desire for a business that isn't built on the startup model, where "startup" is used in the specific sense it's used among Venture Capitalists and not the more generic sense of "new business". Some people want a business that lets them focus performing the service rather than running the business, e.g. a consultancy, a workshop, etc. A chef might open a restaurant so that they can create a menu and stand in front of a stove and talk to diners enjoying the work of their hands. That's different from opening a restaurant in hopes of franchising it so as to become a restaurant industry executive.
auganov 10y ago
Well the right question is why would one pick a different incubator over YC. There's a multitude of great reasons for not going with an incubator at all. Or going with an angel that you really love. I'm sure some might pick NYU over Columbia but it's rather rare. I doubt there's many that turn down YC for another incubator. When they do the reasons are probably pretty specific to the company's/founders' situation.

14 points by yeukhon 10y ago

Even though Y Combinator is so famous among the venture capitals, I wouldn't be surprise to hear founders turning down Y Combinator's offer. So why Y Combinator? And why not Y Combinator?

runesoerensen 10y ago

YC's take: http://www.ycombinator.com/why/ http://www.ycombinator.com/why/ Related HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11127804 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11127804

brianwawok 10y ago

Well incubators are really cool for a younger person with no family and kind of not good for older people with houses and families. I would be interested in hearing about anyone 35+ with a family and house who made YC work. So that would be my guess on a large segment of the population that dont persue incubators. And if you dont apply obviously you wont have an offer to accept or reject.

tedmiston 10y ago
I personally know people who have done this in other accelerators, like AngelPad or The Brandery. There are people just like that in precious YC batches too. It's not impossible and definitely involves sacrifices over the short term (~9–12 weeks). Saying that anyone who has kids or a house couldn't practically do an accelerator is an attitude overgeneralized from the outside. Similar comments were made when Marissa Mayer has a baby. I think you'd be surprised to watch what highly motivated and talented entrepreneurs can pull off.

untilHellbanned 10y ago

It's good for young people same as college. The value is in credentialing (and notch in belt confidence building). You learn most professional lessons while doing your job which has little to nothing to do with YC per se.

tedmiston 10y ago

Any incubator or accelerator being the right fit is really dependent on the company. None are right for every company, and as you may know, incubators and early stage accelerators have exploded in growth over the past couple years (there are so many now, and not all are worth your time). Vetting that any one has worthwhile resources for you is important. Mainly you're thinking of longterm benefits like the network they provide and not shorter term ones like how much cash they exchange for 3–10% of your company. The best way to get advice about any accelerator is to talk to founders who have already gone through it about their experience. You can easily find YC companies and early- to mid-stage founders are more likely to reply to your emails. Though a referral from a mutual connection would be best, you can reach any YC co with the founders@ email. By the way -- this advice is about improving your odds in applying to YC, once you're at the offer stage it's a different question. I don't know many founders that would turn down the YC offer after being accepted.

brudgers 10y ago

Among the reasons not to do Ycombinator would be a desire for a business that isn't built on the startup model, where "startup" is used in the specific sense it's used among Venture Capitalists and not the more generic sense of "new business". Some people want a business that lets them focus performing the service rather than running the business, e.g. a consultancy, a workshop, etc. A chef might open a restaurant so that they can create a menu and stand in front of a stove and talk to diners enjoying the work of their hands. That's different from opening a restaurant in hopes of franchising it so as to become a restaurant industry executive.

auganov 10y ago

Well the right question is why would one pick a different incubator over YC. There's a multitude of great reasons for not going with an incubator at all. Or going with an angel that you really love. I'm sure some might pick NYU over Columbia but it's rather rare. I doubt there's many that turn down YC for another incubator. When they do the reasons are probably pretty specific to the company's/founders' situation.