7 ms·

Just a bit of heads up in case you would like to join from Europe and don't have plans to be there "on the ground" - DON"T DO IT. I did it last year and it was

Just a bit of heads up in case you would like to join from Europe and don't have plans to be there "on the ground" - DON"T DO IT. I did it last year and it was all heavily focused on "lets catch our next billion dollar unicorn" for our investors. People that don't live for idea "lets move to dream country USA" just waste time while participating. Additionally, Y decided several times to "change the rules" just for the sake of it. They basically can not handle amount of people that have a dream to start something and it all ends up to: 1.) put them in groups, 2.) let them report "progress" to us 3.) let them watch videos. Granted, there some interesting materials but all of them you can ALREADY find online or in startup/scaleup books that we are all reading and recommending. My 2c, take it how ever you wanted. For me it was waste of time and quite of bit of irritation around Y. However, met some great folks that were also trying to start something in my group.

sandslash 7y ago
We're sorry that your experience with Startup School last year wasn't great. That was not our intention, and hopefully you'll give us another shot. You're definitely right that we were scrambling in the last minute to build software and adjust the program to better cater to the large number of companies in 2018. As Kyle also mentioned in this thread, we spent a lot of time listening to the community and have made quite a few new changes and improvements for 2019 to better support the program at this scale and improve the experience for founders. We'll also be taking Startup School on the road to meet SUS founders across the globe and will have YC alumni and partners participating in the Forum to help advise.
futhey 7y ago
Of course OP's experience is valid, but I just want to say, this was not my experience and not the experience of many founders I know who participated. Last year thousands upon thousands of folks were accidentally accepted into the program, and some things had to change along the way to accommodate that. A syllabus designed for a couple hundred people isn't going to scale to 15,000 without some tweaks. There's not really a downside to joining startup school. You can leave at any time, if it's not beneficial to your company. If you're early-stage and looking for a cohort of peers to help you make more progress than you would on your own, I would recommend giving Startup School a shot. It costs nothing, the minimum time commitment is almost zero, and it looks like there's going to be a great community of folks in this batch.
- mark_was_here 7y ago
  I'm glad to hear that you had different experience and that you learned a lot! Wish you lots of success with your startup. However with this I don't agree: > "There's not really a downside to joining startup school. You can leave at any time, if it's not beneficial to your company." Downside is: It is a big time sink and I would recommend using that time instead to focus on one only thing that matters -> YOUR IDEA
Vanderson 7y ago
Yep, your points 1-3 were exactly what I thought was going to be a waste of time as well. But what I have found about all good processes, they simply aren't magic. No business got made simply by watching videos or talking on the internet with some strangers. I found SuS to be more like a framework or a guide for my own work, not an end result in itself. I applied what I learned, not expecting to get much for free, and it was invaluable for me. Did you participate in ever group meeting? I took notes, asked the other people questions, and this was both instructive and encouraging. Did you watch every video? I did, and learned stuff from hardware businesses I never would have learned just watching videos on software focused discussions. Most of all, almost everyone speaking really seemed to walk the talk, not just have good theories. The last video (that I recall) was about health, physical and mental, and it was enlightening. I hope you consider trying again, and look at it from a different perspective. Yep, they like their unicorns, and I suspect my business will never get funding, but that's not why I participate, it's useful for me to change my perspective. Maybe take on some of the traits of highly successful businesses and apply it to my own.
- mark_was_here 7y ago
  Thanks for finding time to write this reply, I really appreciate that. I'm glad to hear that process was useful for you and that you learned a lot. Just to answer your questions, yes I did watched all videos (also every single one from previous years) and I also participated in every single group meeting. That is the part I liked from my first note where I said I met some smart people and had nice chats. However, all that I could do (and will continue to do) with random startup groups in my city. and/or online I just don't see any value from Y in that entire process. I was hoping they will at least help in some way to jump start my dream but like I mentioned they focus only on top profit promising startups and especially ones that are US based or willing to move to US because of it.
  - Vanderson 7y ago
    If I had a local group to meet with, then I would be more inclined to do that. And I would likely find more use/support from a local group. It's good you have this option. One odd thing I got out of group meetings was seeing partly where people failed to live up to their own goals. (a bit of a warning to myself) If what someone is looking for is actual funding, I completely agree that SuS is a waste of time for about 95% (or more?) of the people joining it.
moneywoes 7y ago
>Granted, there some interesting materials but all of them you can ALREADY find online or in startup/scaleup books that we are all reading and recommending. What books are these? The lean startup being one I assume?

sandslash 7y ago

We're sorry that your experience with Startup School last year wasn't great. That was not our intention, and hopefully you'll give us another shot. You're definitely right that we were scrambling in the last minute to build software and adjust the program to better cater to the large number of companies in 2018. As Kyle also mentioned in this thread, we spent a lot of time listening to the community and have made quite a few new changes and improvements for 2019 to better support the program at this scale and improve the experience for founders. We'll also be taking Startup School on the road to meet SUS founders across the globe and will have YC alumni and partners participating in the Forum to help advise.

futhey 7y ago

Of course OP's experience is valid, but I just want to say, this was not my experience and not the experience of many founders I know who participated. Last year thousands upon thousands of folks were accidentally accepted into the program, and some things had to change along the way to accommodate that. A syllabus designed for a couple hundred people isn't going to scale to 15,000 without some tweaks. There's not really a downside to joining startup school. You can leave at any time, if it's not beneficial to your company. If you're early-stage and looking for a cohort of peers to help you make more progress than you would on your own, I would recommend giving Startup School a shot. It costs nothing, the minimum time commitment is almost zero, and it looks like there's going to be a great community of folks in this batch.

mark_was_here 7y ago
I'm glad to hear that you had different experience and that you learned a lot! Wish you lots of success with your startup. However with this I don't agree: > "There's not really a downside to joining startup school. You can leave at any time, if it's not beneficial to your company." Downside is: It is a big time sink and I would recommend using that time instead to focus on one only thing that matters -> YOUR IDEA

Vanderson 7y ago

Yep, your points 1-3 were exactly what I thought was going to be a waste of time as well. But what I have found about all good processes, they simply aren't magic. No business got made simply by watching videos or talking on the internet with some strangers. I found SuS to be more like a framework or a guide for my own work, not an end result in itself. I applied what I learned, not expecting to get much for free, and it was invaluable for me. Did you participate in ever group meeting? I took notes, asked the other people questions, and this was both instructive and encouraging. Did you watch every video? I did, and learned stuff from hardware businesses I never would have learned just watching videos on software focused discussions. Most of all, almost everyone speaking really seemed to walk the talk, not just have good theories. The last video (that I recall) was about health, physical and mental, and it was enlightening. I hope you consider trying again, and look at it from a different perspective. Yep, they like their unicorns, and I suspect my business will never get funding, but that's not why I participate, it's useful for me to change my perspective. Maybe take on some of the traits of highly successful businesses and apply it to my own.

mark_was_here 7y ago
Thanks for finding time to write this reply, I really appreciate that. I'm glad to hear that process was useful for you and that you learned a lot. Just to answer your questions, yes I did watched all videos (also every single one from previous years) and I also participated in every single group meeting. That is the part I liked from my first note where I said I met some smart people and had nice chats. However, all that I could do (and will continue to do) with random startup groups in my city. and/or online I just don't see any value from Y in that entire process. I was hoping they will at least help in some way to jump start my dream but like I mentioned they focus only on top profit promising startups and especially ones that are US based or willing to move to US because of it.
- Vanderson 7y ago
  If I had a local group to meet with, then I would be more inclined to do that. And I would likely find more use/support from a local group. It's good you have this option. One odd thing I got out of group meetings was seeing partly where people failed to live up to their own goals. (a bit of a warning to myself) If what someone is looking for is actual funding, I completely agree that SuS is a waste of time for about 95% (or more?) of the people joining it.

moneywoes 7y ago

>Granted, there some interesting materials but all of them you can ALREADY find online or in startup/scaleup books that we are all reading and recommending. What books are these? The lean startup being one I assume?