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Hey it's Friday and I always wanted to ask: what do the people at YC think about bringing back some kind of smaller-scale investment for a larger number of appl

Hey it's Friday and I always wanted to ask: what do the people at YC think about bringing back some kind of smaller-scale investment for a larger number of applicants? There was a time in my life after I graduated in college in '99, after the dot bomb, before the housing bomb, before YC, when I could have made just about any app/website in 6 months for $10,000. I wasn't driven by money, I just needed basic living expenses for enough runway to get ahead before someone snagged me back into working another day job to make ends meet. To me, microlending to this vast pool of untapped potential was the basic premise of YC and what I found so revolutionary about it. Would you consider breaking one of your $150,000 investments into 10 or 15 smaller investments? Why or why not? Thanks!

Retric 8y ago
I suspect it costs them ~10,000$ to hand out XX,000$. If nothing else they want some due diligence to avoid harming their brand. On top of that 10,000¥ in 2019 does not go as far.
- notadog 8y ago
  > I suspect it costs them ~10,000$ to hand out XX,000$. If nothing else they want some due diligence to avoid harming their brand. On top of that 10,000¥ in 2019 does not go as far. 10,000 yen is only $87.96, so I expect not. :P
mwseibel 8y ago
That is what we are doing in Startup School - https://blog.ycombinator.com/announcing-startup-school-2018/ https://blog.ycombinator.com/announcing-startup-school-2018/
- lettergram 8y ago
  I was half regretting doing last years startup school (as opposed to this one) -_- At the same time, those AWS credits went a long way for me -- I'm sure that grant could go very far for others. Kudos for doing it! Honestly, the most valuable aspect of startup school is the feedback from your peers. Half of my group I still stay in contact with (even intro'd them to a few customers). I guess, it's similar to YC; the networking effects. I do think the money would be better upfront, as opposed to at the end. However, I guess there's no bar on entry and it's "free" so, I can see the reason to wait.

Retric 8y ago

I suspect it costs them ~10,000$ to hand out XX,000$. If nothing else they want some due diligence to avoid harming their brand. On top of that 10,000¥ in 2019 does not go as far.

notadog 8y ago
> I suspect it costs them ~10,000$ to hand out XX,000$. If nothing else they want some due diligence to avoid harming their brand. On top of that 10,000¥ in 2019 does not go as far. 10,000 yen is only $87.96, so I expect not. :P

mwseibel 8y ago

That is what we are doing in Startup School - https://blog.ycombinator.com/announcing-startup-school-2018/ https://blog.ycombinator.com/announcing-startup-school-2018/

lettergram 8y ago
I was half regretting doing last years startup school (as opposed to this one) -_- At the same time, those AWS credits went a long way for me -- I'm sure that grant could go very far for others. Kudos for doing it! Honestly, the most valuable aspect of startup school is the feedback from your peers. Half of my group I still stay in contact with (even intro'd them to a few customers). I guess, it's similar to YC; the networking effects. I do think the money would be better upfront, as opposed to at the end. However, I guess there's no bar on entry and it's "free" so, I can see the reason to wait.