Ask HN: Could a virtualized YC work? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Could a virtualized YC work?

5 pointsodvious4 comments

I have been mulling this idea around in my head for the better part of a year now and wanted to get the feedback of the community.

What I would like to do is put together a completely virtaulized version of the YC model (with a twist).

In this model, I would not take an equity stake, nor would I be investing in the companies directly. Instead, I would pick 10 or 15 teams bi-yearly and give them access to resources. Teams would remain in their own location, but we'd meet via webcast every week, hopefully with guest speakers. I doubt the speakers would be nearly as forthcoming as they would be face to face, but I think it could still be a very valuable experience and may still instill the peer pressure (though on a lesser scale) that YC does to push people to get stuff done.

Do you think it would work? Why or why not? What would you change?

I'm curious to hear your thoughts, comments, questions and concerns.

I don't think this would work, for the following reasons:

1. Money. While 14-20k isn't that much, it does provide enough money not to have to think about bills for months. Perhaps even more importantly, taking someone else's money (esp. when that someone else is PG) is a pretty strong incentive to actually produce something.

2. Environment. When you physically move somewhere with the sole purpose of working on your startup, it's a lot more difficult to screw around. Not to mention the fact that you're constantly around your co-founder(s), and other startup founders, and the natural thing to do at that point is "work".

3. Distinction. Because YC is well known, people around you will recognize it. You will have some real level of clout, more so than being a part of a newborn virtual combinator clone. Albeit this one can probably improve with time..

Decent idea though. I personally wish there were more YC type people here in LA.

I think mark suster's new camp will be a good magnet for gravitating those types, slay2k. You may want to check it out. http://bit.ly/launchpadla

It might offer some benefit to a group in a remote location like North Dakota, I suppose. But it's hardly an ideal model or something that is likely to add tremendous value.

Overall it does not sound very optimal to me, but I'd love to see you prove me wrong.

Why would people join something like that for 'access to resources' ?

What do you mean by that ?

What kind of peer pressure does YC apply to people to get stuff done ? Isn't the whole idea of a start-up to get people together that don't need that kind of pressure ?

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