Comparing Y Combinator programs
How to learn more in 3 months than most startups in 1–2 years?
And the answer is — get accepted into Y Combinator (YC) and squeeze max of it :) At every tech or startup event, someone asks me about YC. Therefore I’ve written our own twist on comparing both programs of YC based on personal experience.
In summer 2016 our family moved from Tallinn, Estonia to Bay Area when my husband’s startup Upgraded got accepted to S16 batch. At the end of 2018 my brother & I graduated from YC Startup School while working on our new startup TranslateWise. If you’d like to know how many times we applied, I’d say it’s another story (the first time we applied in 2011 with the idea and prototype of what Medium is today).
So YC is running two main programs for startups:
Core program — batch with the duration of 12 weeks each, twice a year, you’re expected to move to the Bay Area, California
Startup School — duration of 10 weeks and can be completed 100% online
YC Core:
Duration: 12 weeks
1-2 lectures per week
Office Hours every 2 weeks
1 dinner per week
Occasional events year-round
Over 100 deals from YC partners to boost your startup
$150k investment “post-money safe” for 7% of the company
What is remarkable about YC core program — they created an environment where you can focus on making your business work, and it shall be the most productive period of your life. You’ll meet many smart and hardworking people, industry leaders, truly inspiring partners, batch mates and guest speakers every week (such as the founders of Gmail, Airbnb, Groupon, etc.). The Alumni network with a shortcut to many experienced founders is a considerable advantage as well.
Demo Day and all the excitement that came along with it, is held at the end of the program. You’ll meet lots of famous investors and VCs. Occasional events for core program alumni will continue year-round and therefore create a stronger bond with batchmates and partners.
In the case of the core program — your physical allocation will require certainly both time and money, especially if you come from outside the US. Renting a car and home in Silicon Valley, as well as opening a local bank account, telco plans and even signing a few contracts with utility providers will take plenty of your precious time. If you’re not local, I suggest staying for at least 6 months in total to close the deals with investors, build relations with customers or set up some operations in the US.
YC Startup School:
Duration: 10 weeks
2–3 lectures per week
1 office hour per week
1 written weekly update to measure your growth
Over 100 deals to boost your startup
$10K equity-free money for 100 best startups
Startup School lectures are held in the YC’s Mountain View office as well however these are recorded and flexible to attend, no physical attendance is required — the most important is to follow the schedule. The selection of speakers, topics, and knowledge provided by YC is exceptional as well as at the core program. Every lecture is recorded and available here.
Discipline — Startup School is more strict than the core program. One missed office hour or late update submission, and you’re out. So 20 times in a row you shall not lose any deadline.
We got into Startup School together with 15 000 applicants as a result of a technical glitch or a great PR campaign, that caused lots of emotions and media attention. YC announced that every application was accepted and that means 5x more than usual.
As YC team was not able to provide a mentor for each group, most batches ended up moderating the office hours internally.
However, most of YC partners are very responsive and helpful over the e-mail.
In both programs we saw that YC expects founders to prove that everything is possible — find a way to launch your product faster, onboard more users, grow more quickly. Without such pressure, you’d think strategically long and hard … probably it takes you 1–2 years to develop your product and validate the product market fit. At YC you have just 3 months to show your results — and the only indicator that really counts — is the growing number of paying customers.
To sum up, I believe that YC is the best accelerator. Especially for the startups, that already have MVP and some happy customers. Keep in mind, that YC is not a magic pill; however, it gives you a large number of necessary recourses to improve your product-market fit and increase the chances to succeed.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave them below in the comments!
