One question I do have, what advantage do you feel Y Combinator gives you over going straight to round A funding? It looks like your product is fairly mature with existing traction and customers. Perhaps connections in the valley?
Most definitely the advice of the alumni and the connections which YC would give us. We value the network we'd receive as a result of YC as much higher than the actual investment.
Money is good, but you can work around financial needs much of the time. It is almost impossible to place a real value on advice and connections, though and it's difficult to know what you don't know (if you did, you could figure it out for yourself). Even if you stumble upon the right questions to ask, it's sometimes impossible to find someone who can truly answer it.
Personally, if presented with the option of cash injection or access to an adviser, I'd choose an adviser, every time. Hell, apply this to all aspects of life. The older I get, the more I realize knowledge and experience are the real commodities.
I completely agree. I'm in the planning stages of a startup right now and we think we can get investment from family that will match or exceed what Y Combinator offers. To me what I really want isn't so much money as access to people, smart, well-connected, people that can help get things off the ground.
Of course I understand that typically those people want a piece of the pie in exchange for their advice.
In my case, I really need programming (read: technical co-founder) help to get the project started, that's my primary obstacle right now more than money.
Best of luck, the bay area is awesome and you can't beat the weather, cultural diversity, and proximity to great geography (beaches, mountains, Monterey/Carmel, Mendocino, etc). Make sure you guys spend at least a couple of days exploring if you do make it out here this summer!
If you get the chance, you should swing down to Palo Alto and check out Stanford University. It's the birthplace of silicon valley, the campus is beautiful, and if you're lucky you'll catch some co-eds frolicking in the fountains :)
We've already booked an apartment for 2 weeks in the Mission District of SF for the interview and to see some of our friends at companies based there. Looking forward to really getting to see SF - I've wanted to go for years!
If we can get a Visa then we'd like to, yes (doesn't have to be the Bay Area though). Most of our users are US based so being there ourselves would make things a lot easier.
