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$10m for 10k companies is way too less. It stacks up to one grand per company. Really? That less, they might as well not invest. Compared to startup Chile, they

by Achshar 14y ago

$10m for 10k companies is way too less. It stacks up to one grand per company. Really? That less, they might as well not invest. Compared to startup Chile, they give $40k as the article itself says. India is not a very costly country compared to Valley, but 50k rupee is nearly not enough, even to get the company going, let alone sustain it for a few months. And as far as I can tell, it is not even an incubator type programme.

6ren 14y ago
YC only gives $14,000 for one founder ($11,000 + $3000n) http://ycombinator.com/apply.html http://ycombinator.com/apply.html. Maybe it's a lean YC, plus India is cheaper than US (esp SV), as you say. EDIT I've heard YC funding gives about 3 months, so 1-1.5 months is 1/3-1/2 that. Of course, one expects to take a pay-cut when doing a startup - the test is not whether it's comparable to a job, but whether one can actually survive on it. (note I also said a "lean YC") BTW: I also find fascinating the idea of non-urban startups, since all you absolutely need is internet - rural living would be far cheaper (in US too).
- ankeshk 14y ago
  India is cheaper but not 14 times cheaper. $1000 doesn't go far in urban India. Its 2 weeks salary for awesome developers in India. One to one and a half months salary for ok to good developers.
  - nmdtyvb 14y ago
    USA GDP PPP: $49,601 India GDP PPP: $3,851 12.88 times cheaper Maybe it's not enough for "awesome developers" who can choose between jobs, but still it can provide young people (without families) enough money to pay for shelter and food for many months. Even in Poland (GDP PPP $20,334) it's enough to survive for 2 or 3 months.
- Achshar 14y ago
  If you are comparing YC to this then YC partners also give an option for 80k promissory note with no cap (IIRC) in the center of the biggest startup hub in the world. And $1k is relay not that much in a big city like Bangalore. Definitely not even enough for a company of (say) 3 for at least 3 months with just living and bare lean operation costs (broadband, rent, electricity, hosting).
Retric 14y ago
This is a promotion for Addwords and Google Apps not an investment. So, they get less money but don't have to worry about equity.
Eduardo3rd 14y ago
$1,000 and the ability to say "Backed by Google" might go a lot further than you would think. There are probably plenty of people who would be willing to do something as prestigious as YC for free, so I don't imagine it'll be impossible for Google to find several willing takers for their offer. They only need a tiny fraction of these companies to succeed for the program to be considered successful by traditional venture capital metrics , so there's not a lot to lose for Google here.
- bosky101 14y ago
  Just To give some perspective to the $1000... it costs: - < $1/month for a .in domain - $20/month for an unlimited 250kbps internet connection - $20-$100 a month, should cover phone bills for startups that need to make a lot of calls - $200-$400 for a studio apartment ( my first startup had 3 startup teams sharing rent for a 3 bedroom apartment where we shared food/bills/wifi/etc ) - $250 for 30 pizza's a month, $150/month for 3 subways/day for a month OR ~$100/month if you spend $2 per meal - $200/month for the cheapest dedicated machines if you choose to host at a good local vendor. higher for the cloud based ones of the same config. - $75-$100, and you should be able to fly half way across the country if you can plan your tickets early enough, (or lesser if you're frugal about timings ) - $50 worth of free adwords is what new businesses get occasionally on signing up for adwords. i'd be surprised if they increase this incentive alone by 20x though. Misc notes... - $1.5/litre for petrol, $1 for diesel - $100/month for an iphone 5 - $5000 is the usual limit you can withdraw at most ATM's - $300-$1000/month, and you should be able to start hiring fresh graduates you could train ~B

by Achshar 14y ago

6ren 14y ago

YC only gives $14,000 for one founder ($11,000 + $3000n) http://ycombinator.com/apply.html http://ycombinator.com/apply.html. Maybe it's a lean YC, plus India is cheaper than US (esp SV), as you say. EDIT I've heard YC funding gives about 3 months, so 1-1.5 months is 1/3-1/2 that. Of course, one expects to take a pay-cut when doing a startup - the test is not whether it's comparable to a job, but whether one can actually survive on it. (note I also said a "lean YC") BTW: I also find fascinating the idea of non-urban startups, since all you absolutely need is internet - rural living would be far cheaper (in US too).

ankeshk 14y ago
India is cheaper but not 14 times cheaper. $1000 doesn't go far in urban India. Its 2 weeks salary for awesome developers in India. One to one and a half months salary for ok to good developers.
- nmdtyvb 14y ago
  USA GDP PPP: $49,601 India GDP PPP: $3,851 12.88 times cheaper Maybe it's not enough for "awesome developers" who can choose between jobs, but still it can provide young people (without families) enough money to pay for shelter and food for many months. Even in Poland (GDP PPP $20,334) it's enough to survive for 2 or 3 months.
Achshar 14y ago
If you are comparing YC to this then YC partners also give an option for 80k promissory note with no cap (IIRC) in the center of the biggest startup hub in the world. And $1k is relay not that much in a big city like Bangalore. Definitely not even enough for a company of (say) 3 for at least 3 months with just living and bare lean operation costs (broadband, rent, electricity, hosting).

Retric 14y ago

This is a promotion for Addwords and Google Apps not an investment. So, they get less money but don't have to worry about equity.

Eduardo3rd 14y ago

$1,000 and the ability to say "Backed by Google" might go a lot further than you would think. There are probably plenty of people who would be willing to do something as prestigious as YC for free, so I don't imagine it'll be impossible for Google to find several willing takers for their offer. They only need a tiny fraction of these companies to succeed for the program to be considered successful by traditional venture capital metrics , so there's not a lot to lose for Google here.

bosky101 14y ago
Just To give some perspective to the $1000... it costs: - < $1/month for a .in domain - $20/month for an unlimited 250kbps internet connection - $20-$100 a month, should cover phone bills for startups that need to make a lot of calls - $200-$400 for a studio apartment ( my first startup had 3 startup teams sharing rent for a 3 bedroom apartment where we shared food/bills/wifi/etc ) - $250 for 30 pizza's a month, $150/month for 3 subways/day for a month OR ~$100/month if you spend $2 per meal - $200/month for the cheapest dedicated machines if you choose to host at a good local vendor. higher for the cloud based ones of the same config. - $75-$100, and you should be able to fly half way across the country if you can plan your tickets early enough, (or lesser if you're frugal about timings ) - $50 worth of free adwords is what new businesses get occasionally on signing up for adwords. i'd be surprised if they increase this incentive alone by 20x though. Misc notes... - $1.5/litre for petrol, $1 for diesel - $100/month for an iphone 5 - $5000 is the usual limit you can withdraw at most ATM's - $300-$1000/month, and you should be able to start hiring fresh graduates you could train ~B