HN Explorer

Ask HN: Should I go to Startup School?

4 points by undecided ↗ HN
I'm a cofounder of a bootstrapped startup with an unreleased product (although we are testing with a few users). So I have no issues about whether to start a startup.

I'm undecided because of cost issues. I live abroad so a plane ticket will run ~$1K. I would need to spend on food, transport, etc. If I stay a week, costs will total ~$1.5K to 2K.

Although I will meet many people and perhaps have meetings with 5 to 10 potential customers, will it be worth the expense? I'm not as concerned about time because I will make use of it by meeting fellow techies and potential customers.

EDIT: I will also be meeting bloggers from GigaOm, VentureBeat, etc.

5 comments

[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 30.7 ms ] thread
mollylynn
Not worth it!

Learn on the job and network for free (or very little money). Such 'orchestrated' startup events tend to be populated with consultants, accountants and lawyers who want your business.

Good luck.

iamelgringo
Such 'orchestrated' startup events tend to be populated with consultants, accountants and lawyers who want your business

Ummm... Startup school is a bit different. It's pretty much all geeks who are neck deep in their own startups, or soon will be.

unohoo
You could reduce the costs by probably getting some cheap acco via AirBnb.com or hooking up with other attendees.

On the flip side, think of the potential of some awesome networking that you could do. ultimately, i think no one else can make that call for you, but I'd definitely spend way less on food / transport / acco.

iamelgringo
I can't tell you whether you should go or not, but I can say what I got out of the last startup school.

I met a number of great people at the last startup school, several of whom I interact with regularly one and a half years later. One person I met almost became my cofounder this fall, and still might later on.

I got to meet a number of users from Hacker News, and put names to faces. That was awesome.

I got to meet PG, and I talked with Trevor for a while about his robot. That was very cool.

I started the Hackers and Founders meetup ( www.hackersandfounders.com ) at last years startup school for people like yourself to get together and hang out and talk before the conference. Since then, it's taken on a life of it's own, and it's grown to a membership of 400+ people, and we routinely have 20-25 people getting together at a bar to talk our startups and shiny new technologies every other week. It's a good time, and there's some good connections to be made.

Would I do it again even if I had to pay $2k for airfare, room and board? Yes. but, YMMV. A large part of the benefit that I derived from starting hackers and founders is because I had recently relocated to Silicon Valley. It may not be as beneficial for you.

suber
I think after you look at your budget and you can actually afford to spend $2k, go for it. There are alot of cheap eats in the Bay and you can always take public transpo, or check out the deals at fox rent a car: https://www.foxrentacar.com/Default.aspx .

If you can't make it, I would love to take your place, and I'm sure there are many others who would too.