TechStars could also judge their applicants on a criteria different from Y Combinator and catch good startups where YC might not.
The word on the street is that most startups, however, wouldn't choose TechStars over Y Combinator. First, the initial investment is lower. Second, they aren't original nor do they have the reputation that Paul does. In the end, though, it all comes down to which program maximizes success for startups. For that, David had this to say in an e-mail "Our investors have funded several hundred companies over the years, far more than Y Combinator has done. Y Combinator has Reddit to point out. Our founders point at Newsgator, Technorati, Feedburner, Dogster, and tons more as examples of our past experience."
I don't think anyone hates TechStars, but startup's would have had more respect for them if they had at least taken Paul's permission for rewording and copy-pasting the questions :)
And incidentally, that claim about funding hundreds of companies is characteristically bogus. That number must come from all the investments made by VC funds during the time Brad Feld et al worked for them. That's like claiming that because you worked for Microsoft for a while, you wrote millions of lines of code.
And even so the big winners they "point at" are not much more valuable than the companies YC has funded, despite the fact we're only 2 years old.
There is understandably some heat between us and the replicant. Wouldn't it be a good idea to just send David an email (David[@]coloradostartups.com) to reach some common ground? This might just be an opportunity to expand Y Combinator beyond Boston or Mountain View.
Both teams have great members and mentors; PG being at the top of the list for YC, Brad Feld being up there for TS. An aspiring serial entrepreneur will do well to learn and be accepted by either company, of that I'm sure.
However,if an entrepreneur had the honor of being accepted into either Techstars or Y Combinator, I'm sure he/she would work their butt off not only for themselves but to represent the program he/she is in. Multiple players foster a very healthy competition.
We'll just have to wait and see which program selects the better "animal" entrepreneurs for this round. The success of a startup involves not only the people heading it, but a large part depends on the entrepreneur themselves and the ability to implement or create something useful. How very exciting!