

NYCSeed's summer program: $10k for 5% for 10 groups - aditya
http://nycseed.com/seedstart.html

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mixmax
Are there absolutely no innovators out there among investors?

It seems that there are lots of incubators just riping off without really
understanding why yc actually works. They don't even bother to try and reflect
on their own situation and shape a program reflecting their individual
strengths and weaknesses.

YC is heavily tech and somewhat hackers only. Presumably because at least
three of the founders are nerds themselves. This gives an obvious bias that YC
has leveraged brilliantly to attract great hackers.

Why the hell doesn't someone do the same in another industry? For instance, if
someone with credilility in greentech started Greencombinator that did the
same thing just geared towards Greentech and ecological startups they would be
the hub and powerhouse of greentech within two years. Same probably goes for a
lot of other industries.

Or why doesn't someone do Universitycombinator that would specialise in
spinning university research into viable companies.

I mean seriously, there are so many possibilities, yet all we see are stupid
clones.

</ end rant >

~~~
Flemlord
I assume it's because software is the only industry where a 1-3 person startup
can create a viable product in a short timeframe that can be sold for large
multiples.

~~~
mixmax
Assumptions are the enemy of innovation.

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jacoblyles
Is it just me, or are these seed funding firms popping up everywhere? It looks
like YCombinator is really starting to have an influence.

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aditya
_We will give up to 10 teams a small amount of funding, space, and mentorship
in exchange for a small piece of equity in whatever they build._

I thought the cash was a little low, I mean, this is NYC, after all?

They are providing space (working space, that is, not an apt, I think),
though, which makes it a little better - but I like YC's 5k*n idea a lot more.

~~~
vaksel
They aren't even in Manhattan, they are based in Brooklyn. I dunno that kind
takes a hit on their legitimacy to me.

~~~
dcurtis
What is wrong with Brooklyn? If you start your company in Manhattan, you're
just needlessly increasing your burn rate and reducing the amount of time you
have.

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wyday
I know this is blasphemy (being on Y Combinator news, and all), but someone
should compile a list of all these funding programs.

I think it'd be helpful for all of us.

~~~
rms
YC, Techstars (in Boulder and Boston), Launchbox, Seedcamp, Alphalab, Shotput,
Dreamit, NYC Seed, Capital Factory, Awesome Inc, Bootup Labs, Lightspeed
Summer Grants, Summer@Highland, Founders Co-Op, Flow Ventures, Gangplank HQ
Incubator. Also iVentures10, but they come with a strong unrecommendation from
an anonymous YC commenter.

I didn't include some of the funds at the periphery, like CRV Quickstart and
fbFund. There's also the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, just about
the only true tech incubator left in the Bay Area.

~~~
aditya
Also, Start@spark

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david927
And now my summer program: $10 for 5%

~~~
jjs
I will happily accept your $10 in exchange for 5% of same. :)

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kwamenum86
Why does this page say up to 200k? <http://nycseed.com/apply.html>

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dcurtis
This $10k program is a special summer funding session.

NYCSeed is actually an established angel investment firm that does invest
significant amounts.

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dbul
I wonder if this is a growing trend in regions across the country. Last week
there was a post about AlphaLab providing $25K, but it too is a subsidiary of
InnovationWorks which offers $100K.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=550892>

~~~
dcurtis
It makes a lot of sense. Imagine you have a fund that you need to invest into
new, unproven companies at the early seed stage. You can find companies the
traditional way by having meetings, getting referrals, soliciting
applications, etc. By the end, you'll have had a total of a couple hours (at
most) contact with the founders before you decide to invest.

On the other hand, you can start out by spending 200k on 20 companies for the
summer while mentoring them. By the end of the funding cycle, you'd have a
really good idea of which founders were hustling, which ones suck, and which
ideas you believe in. Based on this unusually in-depth knowledge of the
companies and founders, you can invest more in the ones you like. Presumably,
this would improve the quality of your overall portfolio.

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codeodor
So I guess the thinking is tha 5% is worth the access to other VCs?

I ask because $10k seems ridiculously small: if I had 4 people saving in my
team, we could get $10k together in a month or two.

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kbrower
Finally a seed fund in nyc. Anyone looking for a partner/team member?

