That brings up an interesting hypothetical. In an alternate universe, maybe the Diaspora founders applied to YC and got $20,000 (4 founders), which is double what they asked for on Diaspora. With 3 months, seed money, a lot of mentorship and advice about solving a problem and finding a market, and exposure to other startups going through the same process, where would they be now?
"... it's a lot easier to set up a Kickstarter post than apply to YC..."
Perhaps. But let's not shortchange what an achievement having a blockbuster Kickstarter round really is. To get to $200,000 on Kickstarter, you have to work for it. You have to promote the hell out of yourself. You have to guerilla-market like a pro. The most successful Kickstarter projects -- the ones with the giant rounds of funding, well beyond their own targets -- have been the ones who got out there and drummed up interest, then brought the interest back to Kickstarter. (In contrast to the folks who simply sat back and expected interest to generate on Kickstarter).
It is a total myth that you can "set it and forget it" on Kickstarter, and that having a cool premise will rake in the donations on its own accord. It takes legitimate hustle.
I don't think we disagree. The partial failure mode of Kickstarter, say $5800 of the $10k you wanted; which is easier to accept than a flat "no" from YC.
Let's remember that these are pretty young kids. It's pretty easy to be intimidated.
"The partial failure mode of Kickstarter, say $5800 of the $10k you wanted; which is easier to accept than a flat "no" from YC."
True, although we should keep in mind that partial failure on Kickstarter = total failure. You don't receive any money from the round if you don't meet your target. If I set $10,000 as my bar, and I raise anything south of $10,000 (even $9,999), I don't see a penny.
I agree with you that this is probably not as emotionally devastating as being told "no" by some of the preeminent experts in the field of startups. (And I agree with you by and large, btw; I'm just spelling this out for others reading the thread who might not know how KS works).
DO you think the YC guys would have funded something where all the software being developed for the first release would be GPL'ed and there were no revenue plans?
Diaspora's revenue model involved offering turnkey hosting for seeds, though it is unclear who would pay for such a service (individuals? Small groups?). I think business models based on open source products take a long time before you gain enough traction to start charging for services based on it
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Now, what would they have done had they only gotten the $10,000 they asked for?
Probably go around & ask for funding. The $10k is a reasonable display of consumer interest.
That brings up an interesting hypothetical. In an alternate universe, maybe the Diaspora founders applied to YC and got $20,000 (4 founders), which is double what they asked for on Diaspora. With 3 months, seed money, a lot of mentorship and advice about solving a problem and finding a market, and exposure to other startups going through the same process, where would they be now?
Probably better off. The thing is, it's a lot easier to set up a Kickstarter post than apply to YC -- at least, imho, in emotional risk.
"... it's a lot easier to set up a Kickstarter post than apply to YC..."
Perhaps. But let's not shortchange what an achievement having a blockbuster Kickstarter round really is. To get to $200,000 on Kickstarter, you have to work for it. You have to promote the hell out of yourself. You have to guerilla-market like a pro. The most successful Kickstarter projects -- the ones with the giant rounds of funding, well beyond their own targets -- have been the ones who got out there and drummed up interest, then brought the interest back to Kickstarter. (In contrast to the folks who simply sat back and expected interest to generate on Kickstarter).
It is a total myth that you can "set it and forget it" on Kickstarter, and that having a cool premise will rake in the donations on its own accord. It takes legitimate hustle.
I don't think we disagree. The partial failure mode of Kickstarter, say $5800 of the $10k you wanted; which is easier to accept than a flat "no" from YC.
Let's remember that these are pretty young kids. It's pretty easy to be intimidated.
"The partial failure mode of Kickstarter, say $5800 of the $10k you wanted; which is easier to accept than a flat "no" from YC."
True, although we should keep in mind that partial failure on Kickstarter = total failure. You don't receive any money from the round if you don't meet your target. If I set $10,000 as my bar, and I raise anything south of $10,000 (even $9,999), I don't see a penny.
I agree with you that this is probably not as emotionally devastating as being told "no" by some of the preeminent experts in the field of startups. (And I agree with you by and large, btw; I'm just spelling this out for others reading the thread who might not know how KS works).
DO you think the YC guys would have funded something where all the software being developed for the first release would be GPL'ed and there were no revenue plans?
Diaspora's revenue model involved offering turnkey hosting for seeds, though it is unclear who would pay for such a service (individuals? Small groups?). I think business models based on open source products take a long time before you gain enough traction to start charging for services based on it
Not pay themselves.