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They don't financially back the 10k startups, it's just an online course where you get discounts on various online services. Granted the online courses are sup

They don't financially back the 10k startups, it's just an online course where you get discounts on various online services. Granted the online courses are supposedly very valuable, but the lack of face to face with YC's network and lack of available funding makes it hard to see how they can get away with the claim that they are "backing" 10k startups. Edit: 200 people related to YC have volunteered to "mentor" the 10k companies. Let's assume 2 founders per company, that's 1 mentor for every 100 founders. And the course is 10 weeks long, so assuming the volunteers spend 40 hours a week for 10 weeks mentoring the founders (which they likely wont), that works out to be 4 hours per founder over the entire course. Yeah, not the same as "backing" a company.

yoloswagins 9y ago
In such large groups, engagement drops off really fast. If half the companies drop out each week, that's 200 mentors towards 625 companies, which isn't that great, but not too bad.
- dngerousminds87 9y ago
  Plus, this is all happening online
xbmcuser 9y ago
They might not back the whole 10000 startups but would probably invest in 5-10% of the ones they feel are really good.
lettergram 9y ago
Being in startup school, I can say it's definitely useful, and having a mentor point out when ideas are bad or ways to improve is helpful. What's more helpful, is that you're placed in a group of say 20 other companies all trying to produce something, some are making money, some have literally nothing. You can learn from one another, share ideas, test out each others products, etc. One thing most people trying to start a company don't have is a support network of highly motivated people doing the same thing. I know I personally do, but many of my fellow startup school colleagues do not. That's what's helpful: The startup school group office hours (or therapy sessions). The second most valuable portion of startup school, is that they force you to be accountable. If I say I'm doing X, they want to see it. They expect results, and they push you to share. The finally, and perhaps most valuable portion of startup school, is the fact you can network. I'd argue this is different than group office hours. There are many companies that have synergies, for example my project: https://projectpiglet.com/ https://projectpiglet.com/ can help identify trends, or "experts", which other teams could use. There are other examples, but it's definitely been useful. That being said, it is not YC proper. You don't get funds, many of the founders don't actually have an LLC or C-Corps. Many are in school, or (like myself) have full-time jobs working 50 hours a week. Although not being able to work on the project full-time sucks, I've definitely made progress through startup school. We would have had less without it, the ideas from the team have bubbled up and the support pushes us to do better. I would recommend it, and definitely don't think it's "backing 10k startups", however it is helping in a significant way.
- mozumder 9y ago
  Networking only works if you're with a relevant audience. It's probably not useful to participate in a fashion industry networking event if you're a startup selling EDA software. In any case, as long as it's not asking for an ownership stake, I don't see the problem with it.

yoloswagins 9y ago

In such large groups, engagement drops off really fast. If half the companies drop out each week, that's 200 mentors towards 625 companies, which isn't that great, but not too bad.

dngerousminds87 9y ago
Plus, this is all happening online

xbmcuser 9y ago

They might not back the whole 10000 startups but would probably invest in 5-10% of the ones they feel are really good.

lettergram 9y ago

Being in startup school, I can say it's definitely useful, and having a mentor point out when ideas are bad or ways to improve is helpful. What's more helpful, is that you're placed in a group of say 20 other companies all trying to produce something, some are making money, some have literally nothing. You can learn from one another, share ideas, test out each others products, etc. One thing most people trying to start a company don't have is a support network of highly motivated people doing the same thing. I know I personally do, but many of my fellow startup school colleagues do not. That's what's helpful: The startup school group office hours (or therapy sessions). The second most valuable portion of startup school, is that they force you to be accountable. If I say I'm doing X, they want to see it. They expect results, and they push you to share. The finally, and perhaps most valuable portion of startup school, is the fact you can network. I'd argue this is different than group office hours. There are many companies that have synergies, for example my project: https://projectpiglet.com/ https://projectpiglet.com/ can help identify trends, or "experts", which other teams could use. There are other examples, but it's definitely been useful. That being said, it is not YC proper. You don't get funds, many of the founders don't actually have an LLC or C-Corps. Many are in school, or (like myself) have full-time jobs working 50 hours a week. Although not being able to work on the project full-time sucks, I've definitely made progress through startup school. We would have had less without it, the ideas from the team have bubbled up and the support pushes us to do better. I would recommend it, and definitely don't think it's "backing 10k startups", however it is helping in a significant way.

mozumder 9y ago
Networking only works if you're with a relevant audience. It's probably not useful to participate in a fashion industry networking event if you're a startup selling EDA software. In any case, as long as it's not asking for an ownership stake, I don't see the problem with it.