
Differences between Y Combinator and Seedcamp - madmotive
http://madmotive.co.uk/2009/09/13/differences-between-y-combinator-and-seedcamp/
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gstar
It's interesting to see these opinions from someone who has been close to
Seedcamp, even though at the end of the article the author discloses a bit of
a vested interest in criticising.

Anyway, I thoroughly agree.

From my perspective, running a startup based in London that's been entirely
bootstrapped, I'd be more interested in applying for Y-Combinator than
Seedcamp. Even though we already have premises and 1 staff member, and a
product virtually finished, I think we'd get miles more value for our 5-6%
from YC.

There seems to be this notion in the UK that raising money and starting a
business is a reality TV show. I'm subscribed to a mailing list where someone
has come up with "Pitch to Win":

<http://www.meetup.com/startup-fasttrack/calendar/10723535/>

Defies belief. While this sort of attitude is floating around, I'm just not
sure how to approach the whole funding problem in the UK.

We haven't approached any investors here yet (although we have been
approached), and I am feeling like I'm going to have to look to the other side
of the Atlantic to find the kind of people that I'd like to work with.

~~~
madmotive
Thank you for your comment. Good to hear other people share my view on the
funding situation over here.

A couple of clarifications:

I'm not sure I'd say I'm someone who has been particularly close to Seedcamp.
I've not personally taken part in any of their activities beyond networking
events that happen around Seedcamp week. I am a keen observer though.

I don't see BootCycle, the 'vested interest' you mention, as being direct
competition to Seedcamp. BootCycle is simply a peer support group for a small
collection of pre-revenue and pre-investment startups that meets every week.
BootCycle takes no equity in the startups and provides no funding. We do think
some BootCycle participants are likely to go on to get funding from Seedcamp
or Y Combinator. Y Combinator is more appealing for all participants except
for the ones that have family commitments in the UK.

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pclark
> So to sum it up the really significant difference between Seedcamp and Y
> Combinator is that Seedcamp throws lots of resources at a small number of
> potential businesses where Y Combinator throws a small number of resources
> at a large number of potential products.

not sure if this is right. Everyone I know who went thru seedcamp said the #1
benefit was the connections [which you'd get via YC] and #2 benefit was so far
from #1 it wasn't worth mentioning.

I think seedcamp is more interested in later businesses - maybe about 3 months
post launch. When they have traction and the proposition is more refined. My
understanding of YC is that they love to get down and dirty in refining that
proposition. Hence YC being more risky, hence the more deals.

~~~
madmotive
Completely agree with you that #1 benefit of either Seedcamp or YC is the
connections. I'm talking about the differences in approach here rather than
the benefits.

Seems to me Seedcamp provides connections by surrounding teams with as many as
possible. YC on the other hand seems to more carefully find the most useful
connections for each individual startup so as not to create too many
distractions for the teams. That said, being based in Silicon Valley has the
effect of naturally surrounding teams with as many connections as possible.

I think Seedcamp's apparent interest in later stage business is not so much by
design. It happens because of the way it is funded and the way funding
decisions are made. They choose more mature looking startups because the
funding committee collectively perceives them to be more likely to succeed.

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vladimiroane
I was a Seedcamp finalist and winner. I am also friend with quite a lot of
YCombinator people.

1\. Seedcamp seems more business oriented than YCombinator. Hackers and good
code are appreciated but not as much as paying customers :) You tell me if
this is a good thing or not.

2\. Raising money is indeed harder in Europe. No doubt about it. But for
European startups Seedcamp is still the safest bet as Seedcamp folks are more
than connected with US VCs and angels.

I love Seedcamp and our company (uberVU) owes them so much. There are clearly
some things they can improve but so far its by far the best experience any
European startup can have.

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danw
I've not participated in either program.

The difference to me stands out as committee vs opinionated.

With YC a small handful of people give you advice and nudge you in the correct
direction. Seedcamp has dozens. One participant boasted to me that they had
met 100 mentors in a week.

I much prefer opinionated software over committee software. I imaging the same
is true for startups. Surely 100 mentors will give you 100 conflicting pieces
of advice. No matter how smart those mentors are (and everyone I know who is
involved in SC is smart) they can't help you out if you are confused,
disoriented and overwhelmed.

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jedc
You might be interested in my recent post on "How to Copy Y Combinator". I
talk about a bunch of the different issues with setting up a new seed
accelerator. Link is here:
[http://blog.jedchristiansen.com/2009/09/21/copying-y-
combina...](http://blog.jedchristiansen.com/2009/09/21/copying-y-combinator-
why-and-how/)

