

YC-style Indian incubator accepting applications - karam
http://www.iaccelerator.org

======
plinkplonk
from last years FAQ

""When the company is formed we set up a bank account. When the bank account
is set up we deposit a check for the full amount of our commitment ie. 5 Lakh
directly into it. A company secretary is brought in to distribute funds from
the company checking account as per the budget instructions. Adjustments to
the budget can be made at board meetings. Founders do not have direct check
writing control of the bank account."

Has any of this changed? (If not this is a sucker deal, hardly "YC style")

earlier discussion <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=842150>

~~~
karam
So here's the thing... A vast majority of people who apply to us tend to have
just graduated out of college and have never managed funds of any sort before.
The idea behind putting a budget in place is only to give them financial
structure and inculcate a sense of frugality.

That being said, if a founder tells us they'd like their money up front, we'll
write them a cheque.

~~~
plinkplonk
" A vast majority of people who apply to us tend to have just graduated out of
college and have never managed funds of any sort before."

In other words you think people just out of school can't handle 10k$ without
board meetings but you want them to build great companies for you. That makes
sense ;-)

This (majority of applicants being graduates) is true for YC (and other funds)
too. PG and co don't sit around holding board meetings every time a founder
wants to buy a laptop or a monitor.

"That being said, if a founder tells us they'd like their money up front,
we'll write them a cheque."

This is good to hear. Founders (desperate enough to go with these guys), do
demand your money upfront.

------
karam
I'm the program manager for iAccelerator and I'd be happy to answer any
questions.

~~~
paraschopra
Does one need to relocate to IIMA in order to take part in this? Plus what
equity do you typically take?

~~~
karam
You don't need to relocate to IIM, you just need to be there from the 1st of
June to the 10th to get your company incorporated and some awesome workshops
we plan to have.

Ideally, we'd like you to work out of either Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore or
Hyderabad. We can give you living & working space in any of these cities.

Also, if you've just got an idea and no prototype or implementation of any
sort as yet, we typically invest between 2-5 lakhs and take an average of 6%
in equity.

If you've got a product out and some traction of some sort, we're open to
other options.

------
karam
"In other words you think people just out fo school can't handle 10k$ without
boarmeetings but you want them to build great companies for you"

Its one meeting to decide a budget and we're not going to demand a specific
budget, the startup gets to decide how much money they're going to spend and
on what. Whether they stick to the budget or not is up entirely to them, we
aren't going to police their money at all.

We trust them to build awesome companies which is why we're funding them in
the first place.

"YC-like, my ass"

While we're inspired incredibly by YC, there are certain things we do
differently simply because of different constraints. There's a lot that we do
that maybe YC doesn't do, we will subsidize your living costs & working costs
as much as we can should you choose to work out of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore or
Hyderabad for example.

~~~
plinkplonk
"Its one meeting to decide a budget and we're not going to demand a specific
budget, the startup gets to decide how much money they're going to spend and
on what."

It is still unnecessary bureaucracy. 10k $ is not that much money even in
India. The key point is that you still need founders to tell you upfront (in
the form of a "budget") how they are going to spend the money. YC just writes
you a check.

As for "policing", if a "Company Secretary" is needed to disburse funds (as
per last years FAQ) you don't need to "police" anything and you have line item
veto by default.

"We trust them to build awesome companies which is why we're funding them in
the first place."

Which brings me to another question. How many of your fundees have gone
public/been acquired etc in the last 3 years of your operation? I can't find
that info anywhere on your pages.

If you don't trust them to spend the money as they like, you are risking next
to nothing. (There seems to be some ambiguity on this. Do founders need a
company secretary to disburse funds? Can they write their own cheques/draw on
the money as _they_ feel fit, once funded? a simple yes /no on this would
help). Why would good developers trade away their freedom for this kind of
bureaucracy?

"While we're inspired incredibly by YC, there are certain things we do
differently"

Yet you still feel the need to add the "YC like" adjective while
missing/perverting the essence of the YC approach.

