I'm very optimistic about this program, but I also wonder how much of the success of the main program and the fellowship can be scaled into a MOOC.
I was part of YCF1 as AirPaper, and while I think it was an incredibly valuable experience, most of the things the YC partners told us we're things that we "knew." Most of the advice was available in one essay or another, but it still felt very, very different to have one of the partners tell us directly what we should be doing.
I actually think in a lot of ways the YC program felt a lot like therapy for our startup. We'd talk in group office hours about the other successes and problems other startups were facing. Individual office hours felt like one on one therapy where we got very specific direction out of the partners, but most of the time they were really helping my cofounder and I work out what the solution to our biggest problem was.
While I think the information in this class will certainly be valuable, I hope that the participants of this class really convince themselves that the advice applies to them, right now. To get the most out of this class, I think you need to abandon cynicism and let the message reach through the screen and grab you and your cofounders by the lapels.
>> "most of the things the YC partners told us we're things that we "knew." Most of the advice was available in one essay or another, but it still felt very, very different to have one of the partners tell us directly what we should be doing."
This is really what will make a difference, that is building a network of mentors that are doing one-on-one mentoring under the same process guided by the same culture. YC should really have a 3rd option, that being to sign-up to become a "certified" mentor.
I was part of YCF1 as AirPaper, and while I think it was an incredibly valuable experience, most of the things the YC partners told us we're things that we "knew." Most of the advice was available in one essay or another, but it still felt very, very different to have one of the partners tell us directly what we should be doing.
I actually think in a lot of ways the YC program felt a lot like therapy for our startup. We'd talk in group office hours about the other successes and problems other startups were facing. Individual office hours felt like one on one therapy where we got very specific direction out of the partners, but most of the time they were really helping my cofounder and I work out what the solution to our biggest problem was.
While I think the information in this class will certainly be valuable, I hope that the participants of this class really convince themselves that the advice applies to them, right now. To get the most out of this class, I think you need to abandon cynicism and let the message reach through the screen and grab you and your cofounders by the lapels.