"is YC worthwhile" has been a topic of interest for a while, at least with reference to myself, so I of course opened this comment thread which is currently sitting at #2 on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35373019 In true HN fashion I didn't read the article, but based on comments my impression is that OP's criticisms can mostly be ignored. It does sound like doing it in person is a lot better than doing it remote though, which makes me wonder: if it turns out that 9th time is the charm for YC applications and I get accepted this summer, could/should I actually manage to somehow move down there, for the three months the batch is running at least? It would likely be extremely disruptive to my current family situation--living with parents, who help a lot with childcare. Suffice it to say that for the sake of my wife's mental health (and mine too, as a result) I'd be extremely wary of moving away and no longer having that support. Maybe we could get a nanny... or maybe just bring my parents with us ha ha. I guess it wouldn't be that different from when they got an airbnb for a month+ to help out my sister. (She has four kids now, at least we only have two.) Anyway, I guess I'll just apply like I always do, and I'll worry about logistics if I actually get in. Another potential concern is "does taking YC investment match up with my fundamental values and goals and stuff in general/for yakread," which is a very 🤷 issue for me now. But I guess I'm happy to let YC decide that.

Perhaps a strange question, but what would you do differently with YC investment than you would eventually do on your own with Yakread (other than accelerate the timeline, which I assume is a given)? (And not saying that funding isn't nice, regardless)

at the very least, I would stop doing any consulting, and I would definitely not get a job, which otherwise could be a possibility sometime this year. If I did get YC investment, I would go more gung-ho into "try really hard to get yakread to grow into a successful/quickly growing business", instead of my current "try pretty hard but also put time into side things like biff etc"

Makes sense! I'm curious how many other YC founders also have families--and if there's any advice around trying to do both.

yeah... with what, 400 companies in each batch, I'm sure there's at least a decent chunk. I guess that could be a good thing to ask about if I did get in; maybe we could rent nearby other founders and pool babysitting or something

Reading the article, I'm surprised by a few points--first, yeah, those 400 companies per batch you're talking about, second being that they've now upped to $500k for 7%, and third that apparently the Demo Day barely matters because "good companies close the round a week before DD". Kinda crazy. Maybe I still had it in my head somewhat that YC was like, 20 companies max, giving you just enough runway to blast on your idea until you inevitably became one of their golden-boy disruptors. This seems like a lot more money and a lot more people than it used to be, which does personally give me some mixed feelings...

ah yeah, the 500k thing happened sometime last year IIRC My understanding is that the terms are such that it's basically still more like $125k for 7%, and the rest is more of an advance on future investment or something

Hmm. Good to know. That kinda stuff does scare me minorly--would hate to find myself in a situation where I'd need to raise money to pay back earlier investors (if that even is what they mean by "baggage")

no, I don't think that's it; I just mean that yc will get a larger chunk of your equity in the subsequent round than they would have otherwise. i.e. you get more diluted, or something, I think

ahh that makes more sense

oh yeah, that was another reason I've been dubious about YC--I participated in startup school and thought it was a waste of time lol

man i really should learn more of this stuff before making judgment calls here

and yet on hn when startup school gets discussed everyone's like "it was so awesome" => "I see on hn that YC people also say 'it was so awesome'..."

it's more kinda braindead stuff, but it's so KISS that it helped me frame what exactly I wanted from a side-project / maybe eventual income stream

I have heard people cite that as a primary benefit, and I think that's what I'd be most concerned about losing if I did YC remotely

Yeah, that'd be my fear. Wouldn't be sufficiently different from my day-to-day (minus the 5d/8hrs a week I already spend at work)

lol yes