Actually we did have a prototype of YC: we had an angel investor, Julian Weber, who gave us our first $10k, got all our paperwork done, taught us the rudiments of business, introduced us to one of our two next investors, and let us demo to them in his NYC loft.
We were very lucky to have Julian, and we would have been even better off with YC, which is a superset. In addition to all the above, you get other startups as colleagues, and startup-specific advice.
We were very lucky to have Julian, and we would have been even better off with YC, which is a superset. In addition to all the above, you get other startups as colleagues, and startup-specific advice.