@jot we are working to a very strict budget; our marketing spend is <$10k - to try and raise awareness of a previously unknown initiative. The team at present involved managing the initiative is 2 people - and not by committee.
@jdietrich we are very serious about this project and this is not a showcase. This is about creating opportunities for early stage startups from anywhere. This initiative is important in creating deal flow for the new $200m suite of investment funds based in the North East of England - http://www.onenortheast.co.uk/jeremie/index.cfm
@swombat sorry to hear that you don't approve of our marketing approach. It was designed to raise awareness of The Difference Engine and have a bit of fun. If you would prefer us to be more serious please check out our main website thedifferenceengine.eu
@danw am sorry if you think we scammed you. The internal "code name" for the programme was "Why Aye" Combinator for a period - hence the domain YICombinator. As is pointed out "Why Aye" is a frequently used phase.
@freeradical we have kept our remit relatively wide at this early stage so that we do not exclude good businesses and teams. This is no different from YC, Techstars and Seedcamp
@jgrahamc I understand that there are "differences in opinion on who should be given the credit for designing Rocket" (Wikipedia)
Well I guess it's got you some attention :) I would have invested a marketing budget like that in supporting some low cost events with smart participants. I've not been involved in much in the North of England but I hear there are some great BarCamps and OpenCoffee meetups.
So is it just the two of you that will be making the funding decisions? That's where committees can do most damage.
Since the programme is open to anyone from anywhere we are attempting to raise the profile of the programme outside of the region - and social media etc is the obvious approach with limited resources and time.
In addition to a number of local events I have also attended around 10 different events across the UK and overseas over the last 3 weeks to raise the profile of the programme.
Your point is well made re BarCamps and OpenCoffee and it is my intention after the first programme to spend more facetime with interested participants - local suggestions would be welcome.
The selection process will include a variety of individuals including local VCs and entrepreneurs with "real world" experience.
I wish more YC clones took a more minimalistic approach. These guys, like many others, seem to be spending time and money on marketing and all sorts of other stuff that could otherwise be invested into a first batch of startups:
http://www.thedifferenceengine.eu/about-us/faqs/#faq007
Run by committee and funded by an even bigger committee. On a project like this, chances are that money will be coming from both of the local councils involved and via the Regional Development Agency, money from central government and a couple of different European funds. All the various organisations will want something to show off at their various powerpoint presentations. A tacky bit of "viral interactive multimedia" is just cheap entertainment for the beancounters.
I raised this point on Twitter and they got back to me very quickly with a DM. Unlike @Oreilly they were actually pretty nice about it! Basically "It's a laugh for Christmas".
I do worry though, they're positioning against a very serious, techie brand with games that include Viz and Newcy Brown... :/
To address a few of the points raised
@jot we are working to a very strict budget; our marketing spend is <$10k - to try and raise awareness of a previously unknown initiative. The team at present involved managing the initiative is 2 people - and not by committee.
@jdietrich we are very serious about this project and this is not a showcase. This is about creating opportunities for early stage startups from anywhere. This initiative is important in creating deal flow for the new $200m suite of investment funds based in the North East of England - http://www.onenortheast.co.uk/jeremie/index.cfm
@swombat sorry to hear that you don't approve of our marketing approach. It was designed to raise awareness of The Difference Engine and have a bit of fun. If you would prefer us to be more serious please check out our main website thedifferenceengine.eu
@danw am sorry if you think we scammed you. The internal "code name" for the programme was "Why Aye" Combinator for a period - hence the domain YICombinator. As is pointed out "Why Aye" is a frequently used phase.
@freeradical we have kept our remit relatively wide at this early stage so that we do not exclude good businesses and teams. This is no different from YC, Techstars and Seedcamp
@jgrahamc I understand that there are "differences in opinion on who should be given the credit for designing Rocket" (Wikipedia)
More than happy to take questions @jd