YC for us was much more about the connections than the money. It makes getting in the door a lot of places much easier, VCs/Angels are big on referrals and YC is kind of an insta-referral to anyone you want to talk to.
The value of YC also depends largely on what kind of company you want to start. If you're looking to start a small shop making $500k-$2M (max) a year in revenue with 2-3 people than YC probably isn't for you because that type of business is not venture fundable and thus the venture connections that YC can get you aren't really worth much. However, if you're looking at something that has the potential to be VC backed scale ($10M/yr+ at some point in the future) then the introductions and connections are necessary and the value of YC is clear.
Also, I would add that I think the YC alumni network has become one of the most valuable parts of YC. There are enough alums now that basically someone has had experience with what you are going through and can offer good advice, imho that is the hardest thing about YC to duplicate.
No offense, but I am curious about the number of YC startups who are currently doing (or done in the past) "$500k-$2M (max) a year in revenue with 2-3 people"?
I only know one, which is exactly my point. You won't find many of them because that isn't the type of company YC was designed to fund. You will find more than a few companies that have raised multiple rounds of VC and are in growth mode (Justin.tv, Xobni, Scribd, Songkick, Dropbox, Loopt, etc) because those companies better match the type of company that YC naturally fits.
I don't know if that's a useful answer for me. There is currently about $3B/year being spent on something I have a cheaper, better solution for. The problem is everyone thinks I'm crazy. There is a huge gap between current thinking on the problem and my thinking on the problem. So most sources of revenue currently available to pay that $3B/year bill would be unlikely to be available to pay for any product I put out there. Also, since my solution drastically shrinks costs, it wouldn't be a $3B/year market. $3B is grossly inefficient. I can't begin to guesstimate what the market would be worth for my solutions.
If its a $3B/yr market your company, if it delivers what you say, could almost certainly make $50M a year even accounting for the market shrinking drastically, couldn't it?
Short, probably flippant-sounding description: I have discovered The Cure for cystic fibrosis. And it is a videogame!
(Actually it's a lifestyle. But mere words have so far proven wholly unable to convey the necessary paradigm shift. So I need a simulation -- aka a computer game. Probably web-based, in part so that advertising can generate revenue since the only viable price point is probably "Free". But also in hopes of generating an online community...etc.)
The roughly $3B is medical expenses spent on roughly 30,000 people. Getting well doesn't happen overnight. It's taken me over eight years to get off all medication. (I am currently drug free for the first time in nearly 9 years, as of early June.) So I have zero reason to believe that I can tap directly into the billions spent annually on drugs, doctors and hospitalizations. Insurance won't pay for the supplements or dietary and lifestyle changes that have allowed me to get well (and they certainly won't pay for a "game").
And the list of issues goes on.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for the feedback. :-D (Sincere thanks. Scout's honor...so to speak.)
Thanks (for the congrats).:-)
So far, my efforts have been very grass-roots. It's only since getting "clean and sober" ;-) that it occurred to me the issue is the information gap and the solution is a simulation.
The value of YC also depends largely on what kind of company you want to start. If you're looking to start a small shop making $500k-$2M (max) a year in revenue with 2-3 people than YC probably isn't for you because that type of business is not venture fundable and thus the venture connections that YC can get you aren't really worth much. However, if you're looking at something that has the potential to be VC backed scale ($10M/yr+ at some point in the future) then the introductions and connections are necessary and the value of YC is clear.
Also, I would add that I think the YC alumni network has become one of the most valuable parts of YC. There are enough alums now that basically someone has had experience with what you are going through and can offer good advice, imho that is the hardest thing about YC to duplicate.