INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Y Combinator wants to lure more companies into the funnel for its accelerator whiledemocratizing free access to startup knowledge
It simultaneously moving up and down market to conquer the acceleration space, with both its recent Series A program for more mature
startups, and $1 million in grants for high potential founders extra-early stage online course.Today the entrepreneurship academy announced
that the third year of its Startup School program will begin August 27th, offering a 10-week set of lectures on how to build, grow, and
Over 13,000 companies signed up last year, with 2,800 of the best receiving a YC alumni mentor, and 1,587 completing the program with an
It proved a powerful feeder, leading to 38 being admitted to YC core accelerator program that charges 7 percent equity for $120,000 in
Those included patent law firm Cognition IP, customer feedback platform Thematic, and internet service provider Necto.Startup School 2017
participants came from around the worldBut this year, YC isgoing to give 100 high potential companies that complete the course a $10,000
grant for no equity in return
The cash comes from YC own bank account, filled from exits of its portfolio companies over the years and other revenue streams
These prizes could pique the ears of more founders around the world and keep them committed to following through with the self-directed
Interested companies can sign up here.&Useful advice around how to grow products, how to sell, all the mechanics for starting a startup
there unending demand for that& says Geoff Ralston, a YC partner and founder of RocketMail that was acquired and became Yahoo Mail
&In some countries it the only career path available& he declares with a bit of the hyperbole Silicon Valley is known for
&In the US, it become way more mainstream than it ever was years ago.&The last two years& Startup School programs have included lectures
fromWhatsApp Jan Koum and Box Aaron Levie on how to build a product, Stripe Patrick Collison and Pinterest Ben Silbermann on hiring and
culture, and investors Marc Andreessen and Ron Conway on how to raise money
YC won&t be running the program in partnership with Stanford University like last year, but still hopes to reach as many companies.Box CEO
Aaron Levie gives a Startup School lecture on building product&Getting the most out of Startup School requires putting a lot in
I watched every lecture, took notes, attended all the office hours, and participated in the online community, and it was all worth it& said
Cognition IP co-founder Bryant Lee
&The learning experience will save you a ton of time down the road.&Beyond the lectures and shot at the grants, YC will be offering
participants over $50,000 in credits to Amazon Web Services and other enterprise tools, plus discounted payment processing from Stripe
Graduates will also receive an online meeting with a YC partner later in the year to help them prep for applying to the core accelerator
Ralston says YC is already accustomed to vetting thousands of applications, so he confident it can sift through the Startup School students
to find the gems.The program effectively creates a vacuum that sucks in startups so YC can start forging a relationship with them
That critical, since it needs access to the best companies to make its program profitable since so many early stage startups are destined to
fail or end up generating paltrey returns as acquihires by bigger corporations.Startup School founders may be paired with a mentor like YC
alum Christian Van Der Henst of Platzi for weekly online office hoursWhen asked if the &school& might delude some young wantrepreneurs,
convincing them to abandon traditional higher learning or safer jobs to launch a company, Ralston countered, saying &I have to reject the
idea that knowledge about what it takes to start a startup is weaponized or dangerous to people
I think there are way larger risks in the dynamicism and changes in the wold today than the risks of trying to start a startup or work at a
startup and learn an incredible set of skills that are valuable in life or business.& At the very least, having their startup blow up in
