
Ask HN: Why Y Combinator? Why not Y Combinator? - yeukhon
Even though Y Combinator is so famous among the venture capitals, I wouldn&#x27;t be surprise to hear founders turning down Y Combinator&#x27;s offer. So why Y Combinator? And why not Y Combinator?
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brudgers
Among the reasons not to do Ycombinator would be a desire for a business that
isn't built on the startup model, where "startup" is used in the specific
sense it's used among Venture Capitalists and not the more generic sense of
"new business".

Some people want a business that lets them focus performing the service rather
than running the business, e.g. a consultancy, a workshop, etc. A chef might
open a restaurant so that they can create a menu and stand in front of a stove
and talk to diners enjoying the work of their hands. That's different from
opening a restaurant in hopes of franchising it so as to become a restaurant
industry executive.

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brianwawok
Well incubators are really cool for a younger person with no family and kind
of not good for older people with houses and families. I would be interested
in hearing about anyone 35+ with a family and house who made YC work.

So that would be my guess on a large segment of the population that dont
persue incubators. And if you dont apply obviously you wont have an offer to
accept or reject.

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tedmiston
I personally know people who have done this in other accelerators, like
AngelPad or The Brandery. There are people just like that in precious YC
batches too. It's not impossible and definitely involves sacrifices over the
short term (~9–12 weeks).

Saying that anyone who has kids or a house couldn't practically do an
accelerator is an attitude overgeneralized from the outside. Similar comments
were made when Marissa Mayer has a baby. I think you'd be surprised to watch
what highly motivated and talented entrepreneurs can pull off.

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runesoerensen
YC's take: [http://www.ycombinator.com/why/](http://www.ycombinator.com/why/)

Related HN discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11127804](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11127804)

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untilHellbanned
It's good for young people same as college. The value is in credentialing (and
notch in belt confidence building). You learn most professional lessons while
doing your job which has little to nothing to do with YC per se.

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auganov
Well the right question is why would one pick a different incubator over YC.
There's a multitude of great reasons for not going with an incubator at all.
Or going with an angel that you really love. I'm sure some might pick NYU over
Columbia but it's rather rare. I doubt there's many that turn down YC for
another incubator. When they do the reasons are probably pretty specific to
the company's/founders' situation.

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tedmiston
Any incubator or accelerator being the right fit is really dependent on the
company.

None are right for every company, and as you may know, incubators and early
stage accelerators have exploded in growth over the past couple years (there
are so many now, and not all are worth your time).

Vetting that any one has worthwhile resources for you is important. Mainly
you're thinking of longterm benefits like the network they provide and not
shorter term ones like how much cash they exchange for 3–10% of your company.

The best way to get advice about any accelerator is to talk to founders who
have already gone through it about their experience. You can easily find YC
companies and early- to mid-stage founders are more likely to reply to your
emails. Though a referral from a mutual connection would be best, you can
reach any YC co with the founders@ email.

By the way -- this advice is about improving your odds in _applying_ to YC,
once you're at the offer stage it's a different question. I don't know many
founders that would turn down the YC offer after being accepted.

