There have been several N combinators, but none of them was quite as nifty as the more famous combinators (Y, U, S, K, and I are the ones that immediately come to my mind).
We learned loads and formed some great relationships that lead to good things.
IIRC 7 out of the 8 teams made it to a Demo Day that was loads of fun but didn't result in anything tangible.
Ultimately we failed to ship regularly and we let the work we were doing to bootstrap the projects get in the way of continuing them. None of the projects are still active.
You're getting downvoted, but I couldn't take it seriously either with both Spartans and ninjas. Why not just go the distance and throw in rockstars, a big X in a word like eXtreme and the other stuff I see on the back of my Doritos?
Definitely pretty far from brogrammers :). Just want to build a support community to foster startups. Ideas, and startups are fragile. Might as well do anything that'll give us a fair shot. No reason to hate :)
No hate intended. I wanted to express the disconnect between the stated goal of the project and the unstated positioning that the design and terminology conveys.
Sometimes I think I am too cynical. My first reaction is that it's an overly clever and self-consciously hip site, with a blatant rip-off name...just a few more people trying to ride a bubble before it pops.
But I am probably just too cynical. Why step on positive energy? Go get 'em.
Agreed on the name. What bubble are we riding? We're trying to bring something that works (a small but passionate community of startups) to a larger audience.
It also takes no equity and benefits no one except the participants.
Cheer up man! Enjoy the good times while they last :)
oops, sorry. my comment was poorly worded. I just meant that our goal is to benefit the community and not just a few particular individuals. In other words Ncombinator is nonprofit.
Sounds more a like a hipster "I liked it when it was _y_combinator" attitude. Hacker spaces and shared work spaces have been cropping up a lot. This one seems more interesting because it is more specialized and has activities and motivation. Ideas like this could be really helpful for small sized teams to stay motivated and on track without having to become part part of a bigger team (or at least in every way).
I'm even further away in Santa Cruz, so I might not really be the best choice for a valley meetup organizer. The valley would just be less of a trek for me personally (and it's easier to find parking spots), and it's the right choice because the world obviously revolves around me.
Signed up. Very interested in sharing what we've been trying in our tiny (profitable) venture and hoping to learn a few things from others. Here's to hoping that a real community forms out of this.
I'm involved in something similar, but slightly less formal here in New Zealand called The Distiller: http://thedistiller.org. We provide an office space and power/internet and run a fortnightly sprint program, but that's it. NZ's an interesting place to start a startup, it's hard to get good funding so you have to bootstrap. It makes things go slower (mostly because to eat one has to contract), which can be intensely frustrating, but it's just a reality here so we have to deal with it. We're really focused on creating a good community of startups, keeping people accountable for their progress to the group, but without any hierarchy etc etc.
It's working out pretty well thus far, and we've been learning a lot within the group about how to run something like this since it was founded (not by me, but I've been involved for a little while now).
The timing of this is impeccable. I'm getting my PhD early this Summer and my plan for the following few months was to work on an array of small projects and deliver every week.
I'm at the perfect place in my life where I have both the time to work on whatever I want (for at least a few months) and the ability to.
The timing of this is impeccable. I'm getting my PhD early this Summer and my plan for the following few months was to work on an array of small projects and deliver every week.
I'm at the perfect place in my life where I have both the time to work on whatever I want (for at least a few months) and the ability to.
Stop moaning and taking yourself too seriously. You're like the guy who moaned at Zuckerberg for wearing a hoodie. Ninja or not, like the site says, ship or die.
It's ok we won't be dicks about it :) it's just there to keep people motivated. Teams that are dysfunctional / aren't producing should know it and bow out voluntarily.
Just some feedback on the schedule, a 4pm kick off isn't that great. I have a 9-5 paying for crazy self-funded startup adventures and I'm sure others do as well, can I suggest pushing it back a little for working types?
Great idea though and I'm definitely on board with this one. Beautiful site too btw! :)
um, who are you? your site gives me no idea who you are and why you think you can pull this off. not trying to circle jerk for a summer. the selection criteria at YC is what makes it valuable.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 180 ms ] threadCan I copy your idea or cooperate with you somehow?
It will make you seem out of touch and dated. It was clever for a brief moment a few years ago. But now it just smacks of laziness.
It's like hippies still thinking bellbottoms are hip. Yes, at one point that was true, but now bellbottoms just make you look like a hippie.
If you want to appear creative and edgy, please come up with a unique meme, not a dated played out one.
A great example is Hipmunk - a fresh meme that's actually hip.
Maybe I'm getting old, but I definitely don't remember an N-combinator.
http://dkeenan.com/Lambda/index.htm
I'm thinking of running it again this summer.
Also related: http://thinkstrapped.com/
IIRC 7 out of the 8 teams made it to a Demo Day that was loads of fun but didn't result in anything tangible.
Ultimately we failed to ship regularly and we let the work we were doing to bootstrap the projects get in the way of continuing them. None of the projects are still active.
If your forms have placeholders, I can't see them.
When I type into the fields, I can't see my text.
I'm using the latest Firefox on a Macbook Pro.
But I am probably just too cynical. Why step on positive energy? Go get 'em.
It also takes no equity and benefits no one except the participants.
Cheer up man! Enjoy the good times while they last :)
Also their customers, future business partners, spouses, etc... Don't sell yourself short.
Low barrier to entry, but high barriers for completion is our theory. We'll see how it works in practice and adjust.
It's working out pretty well thus far, and we've been learning a lot within the group about how to run something like this since it was founded (not by me, but I've been involved for a little while now).
(the more people who know, the faster it will become cliche then go away)
I'm at the perfect place in my life where I have both the time to work on whatever I want (for at least a few months) and the ability to.
I'm at the perfect place in my life where I have both the time to work on whatever I want (for at least a few months) and the ability to.
>> Totally agree. Thats why every week the teams that don't ship will get filtered out. At the end only the best will remain.
Ouch! That might take everyone out over 12 weeks. Some weeks, everything rolls over.
See you online June 5.
Great idea though and I'm definitely on board with this one. Beautiful site too btw! :)
edit: slightly less harsh tone
"Aren't you just a bunch of YC rejects?
No, not really. Most of our companies haven't even applied to YC."