Ask HN: Copying Y Combinator - If there's a right way, what is it?

I'm writing a master's dissertation on startup incubator programs: Ycombinator and the rising tide of YC clones that are cropping up all over the world. (TechStars, Seedcamp, etc.)

My goal is to provide a guide/framework that other people/regions/cities can use when starting their own Ycombinator-like program. In a nutshell, I want to show how (or if!) Ycombinator's "secret sauce" can be translated into other schemes. (More information at my blog post here: http://blog.jedchristiansen.com/2009/07/13/my-dissertation-ycombinator-its-spawn-how-to-do-it-right/ ) I plan on posting drafts and the final version of my dissertation for anyone to use (and criticize!) throughout the summer.

I think there are two interesting perspectives that have to meet in order for an incubator to be successful: what do the organizers/funders want as a result and what do the entrepreneurs want as a result?

What I'm hoping to get from the HN community is an answer to these questions: * What are the reasons you would apply and accept funding from YCombinator? * Are those reasons different for the other incubator-like programs and why?

If you'd like to discuss some of this privately, I can be contacted at jed [dot] christiansen [at] Gmail