
"Reject the idea of being almost good enough" - mattjaynes
http://www.zaid360.com/?p=125
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rms
So let's apply this to the new style of pre-seed stage starting funding. If Y
Combinator is Harvard, then Techstars is like Cornell. Lightspeed and Highland
are MIT and Caltech.

There's not many options for rejected startups, except getting lucky with an
angel or your state's entrepreneurial resources.

~~~
zaidf
Those are some huge exceptions you list! I think there are more options for
startups today than ever before.

I am excited at the idea of getting into YC. But it does scare me a bit for
the crowd that thinks you _must_ have YC to get rolling on your startup. Fact
is, most greats(be it MS, Apple, Google) all built a somewhat great product
_before_ getting any outside help.

~~~
rms
I'm a student. For me to be able to launch a start up right now, I need
outside capital for living expenses. Otherwise, I need to graduate and work
for a year to save enough to bootstrap myself.

~~~
nostrademons
There's nothing wrong with graduating and working for a year (or two, or five)
to save up capital. If you pick a good employer - like another startup -
you'll earn much more than money. You'll have someone who's just as
accomplished as PG teach you, except they'll pay you for the privilege instead
of you giving them equity. You'll face all the same pitfalls as the
yCombinator founders, and learn nearly as much. You'll learn all the little
tricks and skills that everyone in industry knows but they never bother to
teach in university.

~~~
timg
In reality, this can still be a dangerous path. Just ask my buddies who had
these plans and then experienced a life changing event such as having children
or getting married. It will be many years before you will again have the
freedom that you have now.

~~~
nostrademons
That's why you don't date while trying to amass capital. ;-)

~~~
timg
Somewhere within this plan, lies more hidden costs:)

