Founder Labs NYC - 'Nights and Weekends' startups with mentoring | Hacker News Reader

Founder Labs NYC - 'Nights and Weekends' startups with mentoring

founderlabs.org

9 pointsGBond6 comments

I'm not sure I get it. Its somewhere between StartUp Weekend and YC but with a steep price tag (in my opinion at least).

What exactly am I paying for?

For the opportunity to meet potential co founders? I'd say StartUp Weekend is better for that since I can meet more people and I can do the vetting based on my personality and preferences.

For the opportunity to get a startup idea? I feel like anyone who is serious enough to pony up that kind of money probably has a few ideas already.

For the opportunity to meet investors? I would much rather have a founder of my choosing and a prototype of my idea before I start doing that.

Plus this is a whopping 1 month of nights and weekend activity?

I'm not sure I'm willing to buy some mentor time for $800 but feel free to convince me otherwise.

Met seriously world-class folks and had life-changing mentoring in the winter session. Jessica from YC came by and talked with us one night. Many others in the star-studded cast.

Very interesting that you have to pay money to be in the program, considering the vast majority of these types of programs give you money as a participant (YC for example). What is the thinking behind that? I am curious whether it's better to have people pay (then it's clearly an educational environment) or to pay them (then it's a seed investment and performance-driven). Any thoughts from alums on how the entrance fee affected the group of participants and the general vibe?

My understanding:

The fee is nominal, calculated mainly to filter the applicant pool for commitment. Since it's a nights-and-weekends program and wasn't as well-known before, it was vulnerable to people approaching it more casually than they would something fulltime like YC.

Their profile is growing though, and I imagine the formula will keep evolving (Foodspotting, Spoondate are two alum projects with buzz right now, more still building steam).

As for how it affected general vibe, no one in our session seemed to treat it as something they had paid for with the fee, but more as something to contribute to and earn by making success happen.

The fee also helps cover for the costs of food and the space. The fee was small considering the value I got from just the first week.

I loved the program (second class). It is highly competitive for business people though.

Helps if you get referrals from previous founders /nudge!

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