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You budget for a tiny team, getting paid minimum wage and hoping that you can stretch it to a further injection of funds. Most startups who get to YC or HAX al
by smackeyacky 6y ago
You budget for a tiny team, getting paid minimum wage and hoping that you can stretch it to a further injection of funds. Most startups who get to YC or HAX already have a demonstrable MVP and the 125k should get you to customers, a further investment or some kind of industry or government grant. Occasionally you can talk the incubator into a couple more convertible notes if you need to get over an obvious hump.
Getting to YC or similar is a bit of a ticking time bomb and deliberately so. You aren't funding a cool lifestyle, you are building a sustainable businesd that repays the investment.
- slap_shot 6y ago> You aren't funding a cool lifestyle, you are building a sustainable businesd that repays the investment. I'd bet that 99% of YC companies do not generate the free cash flow to repay the investment during their three months in YC. YC does not want you want repay the investment. YC wants you to raise a highest valuation you can as quickly as you can.
- pcthrowaway 6y agoPaying minimum wage is counterproductive unless you're a founder or have founder-sized equity. You should pay at least a living wage, even to equity-holders, and would still need to find talented people willing to take a pay cut in return for significant equity.