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I don't know about the others, but this is not a description of YC. The whole point of YC is to focus on real work. The first thing we tell the startups we acc
by pg 13y ago
I don't know about the others, but this is not a description of YC. The whole point of YC is to focus on real work. The first thing we tell the startups we accept is that they should build stuff and talk to users (and exercise and spend time with their families) and nothing else.
When the Airbnbs came to speak at the last dinner, Brian Chesky said that the 3 months of YC had been the most productive time in their lives.
- cardmagic 13y agoI agree Paul: YC is the only incubator I would explicitly exclude from this tirade. In fact, I call out YC in section 4 as having incubated companies I would love to be like.
- ixmatus 13y agoI would exclude Techstars too, I went through the Austin program and it was also one of the best things I ever did. I learned so much. TS does have a slightly different focus than YC - first month they tell you to not build a whole lot of stuff but to talk to 90+ mentors (that they curate), then second and third months are balls-to-the-wall build, talk to customers, etc... with the third month having a focus on pitch practice for the CEO.
- solve 13y agoAm I the only one who doesn't much like the word "mentor"? It makes me imagine kind of a superior/inferior relation, as if the best people aren't the ones who starting the startups. Shouldn't the very best people be the ones in the startups? mentor: - an experienced person in a company, college, or school who trains and counsels new employees or students. - advise or train (someone, esp. a younger colleague). The word has very clear, strong connotations. So what is being said here? That founders can't be experienced serial entrepreneurs? That older people should be training younger people? It's a very strange word to choose, and I think it impacts how people perceive their roles.
- kohanz 13y agoMentorship isn't about being the best. It's about having teachable experience.
- simonebrunozzi 13y agoExactly true.
- michaelmior 13y agoI've never thought of a mentor as being necessarily superior. But if the "best" people are the ones starting the startups (which isn't always the case), they should be smart enough to know they can learn from others.
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- michaelmior 13y agoI don't see how that contradicts with my statement.
- eru 13y agoWise people can learn from fools. The opposite is not true.
- IndieDevClub 13y agoWhen I went to tech meetups I met a couple mentors that had office hours... the first thing they started talking about was how much money they helped startups raise. They acted as if that validates any advice they gave. And their advice didn't seem that good. In reality I got more helpful advice from my peers. That's why I recently started a club for developers. The idea is to meet weekly online and talk to each other about the progress of our projects and startups. If any developers feel like they have no network at all (like me), then you should join my club. The link is in my profile.
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- simonebrunozzi 13y agoThe Austin program has a great star: Jason Seats. I used to mentor for him at TechStars San Antonio, and I liked him so much that when he moved to Austin, I decided to mentor for him there. Amazing guy.
- girvo 13y agoYeah, thankfully the article calls YC out as being the exception.
- janson0 13y agoIt is great that you emphasize that. Success (or at least progress) seems to come down to what the founders choose to spend their time doing and/or be distracted by. It is really easy to let meetings distract you from building.
- ixmatus 13y agoEarly stage, more than just meetings distract you. Hiring developers so you can expand is distracting, fundraising and being in the loop with your CEO is distracting, family and friends are distracting, coffee with brilliant and experienced people is distracting. There comes a time when you've done this startup thing more than once, as a founder, to realize that everything - even day-to-day operations - is a distraction from the core intention of building a product. What do you do about it? Get really good at time boxing, delegating, and prioritizing. Programmers are typically not very good at handling multi-faceted schedules and being ruthless about that schedule.
- valvoja 13y agoI'm going through a great Irish incubator at the moment and I agree. The ones that focus on customer development and give you the added resources to do it more effectively are definitely worthwhile and make your limited time more productive. There are a lot of incubators out there. For startup founders I suggest you do your homework.
- davyjones 13y agoI have always assumed that incubator is a university setting while accelerator is an industry setting. Is this not true?
- airnomad 13y agoHow much of _your_ one on one time can you promise to a founder if her startup get accepted to YC?
- vyala 13y agoI like that exercise and spend time with family part, emotional drain is cause for productivity lost, bad decisions. The basic definition of start up is to get it running, building everything all along, customers, product, technology, architecture, user experience, UI Design, re-iterate the learning and fine tune again and again. Mentor is not needed for technology advise or adding business value or evaluating user interface, instead a mentor helps to drive the startup crazy, throw the founders into kickboxing stage, let them fight and learn than learn and fight.
- carrollgt91 13y agoI don't think it's a description of many of the top incubators. As a graduate of the Jumpstart Foundry in Nashville, TN, I can't say how useful a summer of paid entrepreneurial focus and education changed my life. Also, the alumni support is fantastic. I know YC takes care of it's grads well, and JSF is definitely the same way.
- simonebrunozzi 13y agoPaul, YC is a very notable exception. You are on a league of your own, and the article acknowledges that. I also happen to agree. :)