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Another thing is trust -- would you trust a knock-off to have that much experience and insight, when you can verify via PG's essays the insight they'll bring to

by lux 19y ago

Another thing is trust -- would you trust a knock-off to have that much experience and insight, when you can verify via PG's essays the insight they'll bring to the table? Hard sell if you ask me.

davidw 19y ago
Supposing you 1) dont' want to live in the Bay Area, or 2) weren't accepted to YC, or have some other issue with YC, having some other options isn't bad, even if they're not as good as the original. I don't get the need people seem to have to put these YC clones down. Yes, copying the application is lame (we'll see if the guy responds), but having more options is a good thing. If your idea (YC) is any good, people will try and replicate it, and that's what we're seeing here. The early-stage-seed whatever area is not some kind of network-effect amped winner-takes-all market where PG needs to grow things at an insane pace to grab market share. Far from it, he does well by his funded companies to dedicate his time to them, and not worry if people copy his idea.
- lux 19y ago
  I'm not putting the idea itself down at all. In my other comment I saw the likelihood of these types of investment companies increasing since YC proved the concept viable. This one here was blatant plagiarism though, which make it look like they didn't put the time into starting it properly, which means they're not likely to put due diligence into the companies they investing in. Trust is a big factor in accepting someone's money in exchange for part of your creation, and that doesn't instill it. Looks like they did apologize now though (haven't read it yet). Local is a definite plus, having to move to Boston or Cali can be a deal-breaker for some I'm sure. I'm waiting to hear when a Canadian equivalent pops up myself ;) They also had one other interesting idea I haven't seen before, which is that they ask companies to put up 5% to a pool that's shared among all the startups from that funding round. They figure that will encourage more collaboration and help, since everyone wins a little when anyone in the group wins. That was in their FAQ. I wonder how that will turn out for people in practice.

by lux 19y ago

Another thing is trust -- would you trust a knock-off to have that much experience and insight, when you can verify via PG's essays the insight they'll bring to the table? Hard sell if you ask me.

davidw 19y ago

Supposing you 1) dont' want to live in the Bay Area, or 2) weren't accepted to YC, or have some other issue with YC, having some other options isn't bad, even if they're not as good as the original. I don't get the need people seem to have to put these YC clones down. Yes, copying the application is lame (we'll see if the guy responds), but having more options is a good thing. If your idea (YC) is any good, people will try and replicate it, and that's what we're seeing here. The early-stage-seed whatever area is not some kind of network-effect amped winner-takes-all market where PG needs to grow things at an insane pace to grab market share. Far from it, he does well by his funded companies to dedicate his time to them, and not worry if people copy his idea.

lux 19y ago
I'm not putting the idea itself down at all. In my other comment I saw the likelihood of these types of investment companies increasing since YC proved the concept viable. This one here was blatant plagiarism though, which make it look like they didn't put the time into starting it properly, which means they're not likely to put due diligence into the companies they investing in. Trust is a big factor in accepting someone's money in exchange for part of your creation, and that doesn't instill it. Looks like they did apologize now though (haven't read it yet). Local is a definite plus, having to move to Boston or Cali can be a deal-breaker for some I'm sure. I'm waiting to hear when a Canadian equivalent pops up myself ;) They also had one other interesting idea I haven't seen before, which is that they ask companies to put up 5% to a pool that's shared among all the startups from that funding round. They figure that will encourage more collaboration and help, since everyone wins a little when anyone in the group wins. That was in their FAQ. I wonder how that will turn out for people in practice.