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,

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.