There are lots of people with great ideas and products out there who are not able to just up and quit jobs and move somewhere for months on end. It would be nice to see an option for people like this. Not everyone is single college student, what about established tech professionals with houses and mortgages, or even a family.
I agree with this in concept, but that doesn't mean that YC must fill that niche. Along those lines, it would be nice if there was a good system for getting hired as an employee (not co-founder) of an early stage startup (and not just in SF).
Could not agree more with both the need for funding options for those without the financial resources to be without income for long periods of time (hence need to get funding to support living and development full-time), as well as need for those willing to be early stage employees to meet those looking for them. Bonus points if the latter focuses on solving issues of working remote.
I agree that this isn't necessarily Y Combinator's responsibility to fill but somebody needs to create this.
I've interviewed plenty of entrepreneurs that built successful companies with families and/or not going at it full time for 3 months with insane mentorship.
It'd be great to see a dedicated resource that fit around this sort of lifestyle.
This is exactly one good reason for the emergence of additional geo-centric incubators / accelerators. I know that, in my own case, it would probably be a tough sell for my co-founders to up and move to CA for three months, since they are both married and have additional commitments that I don't.
But, luckily, there is Triangle Startup Factory, which has just re-opened and has funding for at least a few cycles over the next couple of years. This works because we could stay here if we are accepted.
Anyway, the point being, YC isn't the only game in town, especially if "town" is somewhere other than the Valley. Of course not every town has an incubator, but hopefully more will continue to emerge over time and spread the opportunity around a bit...
Another option that is out there in beta now is http://trillsy.com. You can use existing themes or your own design, it offers more user features, multiple contributors or posting from the public and also has an post type for events with an event calendar. It is worth checking out, beta keys are going out. In the interest of full disclosure this is my service, sorry about missing that when first posting.
The free trial will always be there, the beta key is a temporary requirement, a gate if you will, and extends the trial period. Plans are not entirely set, the entry plan will be low but it is not a free service, it is aimed at business primarily not a personal blog.
