3 ms·

We don’t think it’s fair to take equity from early-stage startups. Our goal is to help the world’s most promising entrepreneurs win, not to profit off their har

by jayzee 16y ago

We don’t think it’s fair to take equity from early-stage startups. Our goal is to help the world’s most promising entrepreneurs win, not to profit off their hard work. Period. What? Phrasing is very naive. Everybody wants something. They want people to help the world’s most promising entrepreneurs win in Boston. Taking money adds constraints. Insisting on a move to Boston adds constraints.

AndrewGCook 16y ago
Your point is very true. They hope to stimulate innovation in Boston through the competition, but the main goal is to stimulate innovation nationwide. One of the winning teams last year, RelayRides, recently opened a second location in California, so you're not limited to Boston. There really is no strings attached to the money if you win. You could go to Vegas and put it all on black if you wanted (although the judges would probably sense that was the plan you wouldn't make it through). P.S. I was on a winning MassChallenge team last year (Rentabilities)
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
  - PMHacker 16y ago
    You can get through even with 0 votes from general public and 0 endorsements BUT if you cannot sell you idea to people to make them vote for it on the web site chances are that you would not be able to sell it for money, think about entry form as kind of MVP for your startup.
    - jayzee 16y ago
      That does not fly for several reasons. Some ideas can be highly technical. Or have a niche market like control systems for nuclear reactors. Or can buck conventional thinking Copernicus would have a tough time getting those votes for example. I think that the reason they are doing it is to drive traffic and publicity to their cause. In the video they mention again and again how many twitter followers they have etc. Look, I don't want to be too critical. This is fantastic and kudos to them for doing a great job. It is just this one thing that seems silly other than that it sounds fantastic.
      - JohnHarthorne 16y ago
        Even technical/niche startups should be able to find 5 friends who will visit and vote for them. Last year we had finalists working on airborne wind turbines (altaeros energies) and on desalination systems powered entirely by renewable energy (Resolute Marine Energies) and many other technical/niche plays. The public doesn't need to understand the depths of the technology to decide if it's a good idea or if it's well expressed. Regarding driving traffic - sure, there is at least a minor "viral" impact from the system. Keep in mind, MassChallenge is a community. Driving traffic to our website helps the whole community, i.e. there are spillover benefits for other startups when one startup convinces their supporters to visit and browse the site. There's no profit at the center of the system -- so this isn't a selfish motive -- it's designed to benefit everyone. We are still a relatively young startup ourselves and continue to refine our approach ... so there is definitely room for improvement in areas. On balance, though, we are confident that our processes work. We'll continue to refine and definitely appreciate the feedback.
vineet 16y ago
MassChallenge does not require you moving to Boston - only for certain parts of the competition. They believe that if they can connect you to the right network (in Boston) you will want to stay.
- jayzee 16y ago
  Oh. Sorry for not getting that. I read the website and saw the video and it talked about job creation in Boston so I thought that there were those conditions. My bad.
- kbuttner 16y ago
  Nobody is required to move. To get value out of the program, we expect at least one founder to spend significant time in the accelerator during the summer. We aim to make it as frictionless as possible for startups to enter and win.
dshah 16y ago
They're not suggesting that it is free, just that it doesn't have the "usual" strings attached. To get cash, office space and a network without giving up any equity is a relatively remarkable thing.
- DesmondPieri 16y ago
  I was with one of last year's winners, RelayRides, and believe me there were no strings attached. Our founder decided to move the company to San Francisco and he was able to do that. Being part of MassChallenge was a HUGE win for us. It very much helped us raise the $4.5 million we got from top tier VCs on the west coast.
bmelton 16y ago
Adding constraints is not the same as profiting off of your work. The two concepts are not joined. Being in Boston doesn't do anything for them directly. Their indirect hope is that it will compel you to fall in love with the city, and perhaps increase the local economy there, but they don't get anything out of that, and it isn't a requirement.

by jayzee 16y ago

AndrewGCook 16y ago

Your point is very true. They hope to stimulate innovation in Boston through the competition, but the main goal is to stimulate innovation nationwide. One of the winning teams last year, RelayRides, recently opened a second location in California, so you're not limited to Boston. There really is no strings attached to the money if you win. You could go to Vegas and put it all on black if you wanted (although the judges would probably sense that was the plan you wouldn't make it through). P.S. I was on a winning MassChallenge team last year (Rentabilities)

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- PMHacker 16y ago
  You can get through even with 0 votes from general public and 0 endorsements BUT if you cannot sell you idea to people to make them vote for it on the web site chances are that you would not be able to sell it for money, think about entry form as kind of MVP for your startup.
  - jayzee 16y ago
    That does not fly for several reasons. Some ideas can be highly technical. Or have a niche market like control systems for nuclear reactors. Or can buck conventional thinking Copernicus would have a tough time getting those votes for example. I think that the reason they are doing it is to drive traffic and publicity to their cause. In the video they mention again and again how many twitter followers they have etc. Look, I don't want to be too critical. This is fantastic and kudos to them for doing a great job. It is just this one thing that seems silly other than that it sounds fantastic.
    - JohnHarthorne 16y ago
      Even technical/niche startups should be able to find 5 friends who will visit and vote for them. Last year we had finalists working on airborne wind turbines (altaeros energies) and on desalination systems powered entirely by renewable energy (Resolute Marine Energies) and many other technical/niche plays. The public doesn't need to understand the depths of the technology to decide if it's a good idea or if it's well expressed. Regarding driving traffic - sure, there is at least a minor "viral" impact from the system. Keep in mind, MassChallenge is a community. Driving traffic to our website helps the whole community, i.e. there are spillover benefits for other startups when one startup convinces their supporters to visit and browse the site. There's no profit at the center of the system -- so this isn't a selfish motive -- it's designed to benefit everyone. We are still a relatively young startup ourselves and continue to refine our approach ... so there is definitely room for improvement in areas. On balance, though, we are confident that our processes work. We'll continue to refine and definitely appreciate the feedback.

vineet 16y ago

MassChallenge does not require you moving to Boston - only for certain parts of the competition. They believe that if they can connect you to the right network (in Boston) you will want to stay.

jayzee 16y ago
Oh. Sorry for not getting that. I read the website and saw the video and it talked about job creation in Boston so I thought that there were those conditions. My bad.
kbuttner 16y ago
Nobody is required to move. To get value out of the program, we expect at least one founder to spend significant time in the accelerator during the summer. We aim to make it as frictionless as possible for startups to enter and win.

dshah 16y ago

They're not suggesting that it is free, just that it doesn't have the "usual" strings attached. To get cash, office space and a network without giving up any equity is a relatively remarkable thing.

DesmondPieri 16y ago
I was with one of last year's winners, RelayRides, and believe me there were no strings attached. Our founder decided to move the company to San Francisco and he was able to do that. Being part of MassChallenge was a HUGE win for us. It very much helped us raise the $4.5 million we got from top tier VCs on the west coast.

bmelton 16y ago

Adding constraints is not the same as profiting off of your work. The two concepts are not joined. Being in Boston doesn't do anything for them directly. Their indirect hope is that it will compel you to fall in love with the city, and perhaps increase the local economy there, but they don't get anything out of that, and it isn't a requirement.