

How not to promote your Startup Accelerator on Hacker News - screeley
http://screeley.com/how-not-to-promote-your-startup-accelerator-o

======
bcrawford
Usually I come here for the intellectual discourse on a variety of technology
and business topics. All that went through my head, line after line, was "oh
no he di-ent!"

------
pauldisneyiv
I commented on yesterdays piece and my thoughts can be seen there.

But....

It did feel like an orchestrated dialog from supporters of Mass. I wasn't
surprised to hear they were asking for votes via Twitter. The comments were
largely from people involved and they seemed rather defensive.

Creepy is one word - I would call it tacky.

------
marcomonteiro
I think John was definitely in the wrong for attacking YC like that,
especially on HN. I agree that definitely wasn't the way to promote
MassChallenge.

I just recently applied to YC and it wasn't an easy decision. In fact I almost
didn't apply for various reasons. Ultimately it was what the YC alumni have
said about YC that made me decide to push forward. Getting $50k in cash is
great, who wouldn't want that? But ultimately the odds of succeeding are
dependent on so much more than whether you have enough cash to survive 3 to 6
months. Free doesn't make it better, it just makes it free.

~~~
Smirnoff
its $150K my friend ;)

~~~
marcomonteiro
The FAQ on MassChallenge's website said $50-100k and that there's a $199 entry
fee. I don't know if I'm mistaking programs but YC didn't charge me to apply.

<http://www.masschallenge.org/faq#q1>

~~~
apu
I think Smirnoff was saying the YC gets you $150k cash, because of Yuri Milner
+ SV Angel's blanket convertible note to all YC companies.

~~~
marcomonteiro
Sorry about that. I was originally referring to MassChallenge's program in my
comment and trying to point out that $50k free and clear doesn't make it
better (as in better than YC taking an equity position).

------
jacoblyles
Is this a story on Hacker News about a comment thread on another story on
Hacker News?

~~~
BerislavLopac
Yeah, it's very meta, so quite appropriate... ;)

------
jrussbowman
I plus 1'd this just for the Whale Wars reference

