Your question is nonsense. I'll assume for a moment that you are presently a "good software developer contractor" and you currently gross "$10k" a month. Give

Your question is nonsense. I'll assume for a moment that you are presently a "good software developer contractor" and you currently gross "$10k" a month. Given that, $10k a month is your opportunity cost for doing something else, for instance, doing a startup. That fact has little to do with your question "is ycombinator worth 5% of my biz for ~$15k"? If you want to do a startup, then you'll be giving up your $10k a month to build something that scales beyond your time. I recommend doing this, if you have the risk-tolerance for doing a startup. IFF you decide to do a startup, THEN you have to decide how to fund it. YCombinator offers your team ~$20k for 5% of the company to kick off your startup efforts. Plus, they offer you the "prestige and access" you'll get due to YCombinator. The alternative is bootstrapping, or "normal" funding channels. From what I know about YCombinator, it's definitely an outstanding opportunity if you can get your idea accepted. If you're young and inexperienced and mobile, do it. Alan