What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8711

by vinit • 19 years ago

7 24 19 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

dfranke• 19 years ago

If you got accepted into the program, why would you not be able to afford it? YC pays your moving expenses up front.

jkush2• 19 years ago

Is that true? I didn't pick up on that fact. I just assumed that is was 5K + 5Kn.

vegashacker• 19 years ago

Check out #5 and #8 on this page: http://ycombinator.com/s2007.html

I think they will cover whatever you want initially (eg, moving expenses, renting a place), but my interpretation is that that comes out of the 5+5n.

pg3• 19 years ago

Yes, the moving expenses come out of the 5K + 5Kn. What we mean is that we write you an initial check personally for those.

joshwa• 19 years ago

perhaps 5000+5000n isn't enough to cover your actual expenses for the period.. perhaps you have a mortgage, or dependents, or debt, or a lease that can't be broken, or you need health insurance (see other thread)...

This is why YC's audience is typically college students and very recent grads, who are less likely to have additional obligations. Or, rather, originally the YC concept was geared towards this audience, and the funding amount is an artifact of that.

pg3• 19 years ago

In theory it's supposed to be suitable for both groups. People who have cheap lives, like recent grads, can actually do everything on our funding. People with expensive lives may not be able to, but they'll also tend to have savings.

righteousraven• 19 years ago

'afford' is not necessarily a monetary term. Perhaps an ailing grandmother or other responsibilities in the community make it too costly to move.

vinit• 19 years ago

This is correct. Afford can do with things other than a bank-account.

There is the argument that "is your startup not important enough to leave everything else behind" ... but thats being a little too harsh.

far33d3• 19 years ago

Doesn't the answer to this depend on where you can afford to move?

rms2• 19 years ago

CRV Quickstart is great if you're a bit further along than the idea stage.

http://www.crv.com/AboutCRV/QuickStart.html

dpapathanasiou2• 19 years ago

New York Angels (http://newyorkangels.com/) has a similar application (unlike YC, there's no deadline, and they'll accept an applicant at any time, but they charge a fee).

I haven't gone through the process myself, but I saw their pitch at a NYC tech panel a few months ago.

rms2• 19 years ago

Their application is submitting a business plan and it costs $150. It just seems that they're unlikely to fund the people they charge $150. Instead, they'll fund organic referrals.

dpapathanasiou2• 19 years ago

Well, if you attend enough tech events in NYC, you'll probably meet most of the angels individually, and can forego the fee (that's one of the reasons I haven't applied myself).

Investors are looking for deals, and it isn't too difficult to network into an initial meeting.

The one nice thing about the application (like YC) is that it forces you to define your project succinctly.

Also like YC, getting funded is no guarantee of success.

samb2• 19 years ago

The alternative is to convince YC that proximity isn't the most important thing. (It is an important thing, I understand, but it's not the most important thing.)

It'll take a very compelling story.

pg3• 19 years ago

You can't convince us of that. Anyone who's been funded by YC knows that what we do, we have to do in person.

We once tried funding a group that didn't move. When they flew in for demo day, they looked like the plant that hadn't gotten the Miracle-Gro. The upside of that rather expensive experiment was that it showed us how much YC helps people.

samb2• 19 years ago

do you think that a virtual YC environment could be designed to provide the same rich experience that you get in person? or is it simply impossible? just a point of curiosity on my part.

budu3• 19 years ago

My suggestion is to apply and then cross that bridge when you came to it. I am sure if your team is good enough YC will be willing to make some allowances.

drop19• 19 years ago

You might have to hack your own alternative -- and believe it or not there is a lot of hope for you; I've had a lot of success here in Baltimore by making things, telling everyone I know about them, and also letting everyone in my network know that I want to start a company. Since starting to do that, I've heard from three really smart, really capable people who I could potentially start something with. So my advice is to do everything you can to put yourself into the path of creative people as well as rich people in your area, and not focus so much on conforming to YC's or anyone else's idea of what you need to do to succeed.

What's a Y Combinator alternative to people who cannot afford to move to the YC area?

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