Editor’s Note: Serial founder Tony Wright recently completed a 3-month stint at the incubator YCombinator, where, in November 2007, he and two partners launched RescueTime, which hawks free software to help individuals and businesses spend their computing time more effectively. After successfully launching their consumer offering (7% week-over-week growth!) Tony and his team are preparing to release a version for businesses. They’re also now looking for seed funding. We asked Tony to share with F|R what he learned from the YCombinator experience.
RescueTime is coming up on the end of our formal YCombinator experience, and I thought it would be interesting to reflect on the things we did right and the things we did wrong. It might help future YC aspirants!
For those who aren’t familiar with YC, it’s basically a new kind of funding animal that takes 6% equity in startups that (usually) have barely more than an idea, and generally don’t have a deep background of successful entrepreneurship. In exchange for this, YC offers $15K-$20k in funding (“raman/rent money” as I call it), weekly dinners with Valley luminaries, and a big ol’ Demo Day at the end where you present to hundreds of very motivated investors. Lots more detail is here, and applications for the Summer 08 Session are due by 10pm EST April 2nd (it’s a short app — fill it out!).
I think that applying to YC has been the best decision of my life. A quick word on value: 6% might seem like a lot to give up, as early stage founders, I believe you need to optimize towards your company’s success – not your personal wealth. If YC can improve a startup’s meager chances for greatness by a few percentage points, it’s well worth it. YC’s founder Paul Graham goes into more detail, but in short: I’d rather own 94% of a watermelon than 100% of a grape.
So let me tell you about my unique
watermelon… Continue »
