

Y Combinator for non-techies - mikedell

What do you think of creating a YCombinator-like venture to help startups that are not founded by techies or are not in the tech-related field?
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sharpn
It's a great idea, but you'll benefit from focusing on a particular industry
(so that the startups benefit from network effects & relevant mentoring/advice
etc.). Also, one of the reasons YC works so well is the relatively low fixed
overheads & scaling effects of success in software. If you can find a non-tech
niche that fits then fantastic - good luck!

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pg
We occasionally do fund startups led by non-techies. They should be doing
something at least related to technology though, because it's hard to really
be a startup without that.

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sehender
Can you elaborate on Y Combinator's definition (or scale) of techie -> non-
techie?

Is someone with a knowledge and understanding of the tech landscape and years
of experience in the industry considered a techie...even if they're not
hackers? Or does Hacker=Techie?

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pg
I just meant non-hackers.

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hughprime
One idea for a non-tech field where it might work: film!

All the prerequisites are there:

1\. Loads of young people with good ideas but needing funding, advice and
connections

2\. $20,000 is enough to make a worthwhile full-length film nowadays (have you
seen Primer? It cost $7,000.)

3\. A successful yet cheap film can easily make back many, many times its
production cost.

4\. A single well-connected individual (the pg of film) could provide enough
connections to give the films the maximum chance of being shown at festivals
etc and eventually picked up for distribution. Alternatively, even the ones
that weren't picked up for distribution could be marketed on DVD, and the fact
that they were made as part of the "YC-of-film" program would attract at least
some interest for them.

Foreseeable problems: the existing studios and unions might have a problem
with it. I'm not sure exactly what they would do about it, though.

Conclusion: If I were a bored, well-connected Hollywood guy with money to
throw around I'd be totally doing this right now.

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ZachPruckowski
I think the reason tech startups (and web-tech startups in particular) work
great with the incubator/YCombinator model is that $10,000 and 3 months gets
you somewhere in terms of a beta or an alpha, or a design or something that
can get you Angel Investors or SeriesA VCs. Many non-techie businesses don't
really have that "alpha" stage until there's a lot more money involved, making
3 months and $10,000 a poor trade for equity from the founder's perspective.

Additionally, tech startups tend to have a serious valuation ramp-up and
multiple investment rounds that many other industries don't. So getting in on
the ground floor with $10,000 is a worthwhile investment. For a YC-like
program to be successful, it has to be in a field with a similar structure.

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embeddedradical
I say we make programming languages where you don't have to program.

Seriously, though, if they aren't in the tech world...they are just waiting to
be overtaken by us....agriculture? could use better tech.... medicine? could
use better tech.... massage therapy? we could add a muscle scanner...

Maybe a place for non-webapp-oriented tech businesses, like biotech and such,
would make for a good HN spin-off...or maybe we just need more of those
here...

.: no sleep until the machines and we are one ! :.

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teeja
While the founder might not be a techie, if a new business in a traditional
field could get a leg up on the establishment by the adoption of emerging,
appropriate technology, that might be worth considering.

Woz was the techie. Steve Jobs wasn't. Yet Jobs, while only a co-founder,
turned out to be the, uhm, core of the long-term Apple success.

(Afterthought: Is it even possible to start a business these days and hope to
compete without substantially embracing _some_ emerging technology?)

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ytspar
That's the idea behind 14ninetytwo (<http://www.14ninetytwo.com/>) here in
Columbus, OH.

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yangtheman
Don't know about this one... Most tech startups were started out by techies.

I'd say it could work for non-technical startups.

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envitar
Excellent! Creativity doen't stop at the techies's desks.

