There is this wind coming but nobody is talking about it, so i just want to say it Spark 2.0 vs upcoming Y Combinator if your startup was in the position to be invested by any of this two hot angel investors which will you choose for your startup because till now i can get the answer even for myself, i mean spark has learnt and grown to version 2.0, Y Combinator is still new here so i will call them YC ver 1.0 in Nigeria, you get my point right, so what do you think???
It’s funny you’re asking this. What do you know about Y Combinator? What do you know about the world’s most prestigious “incubator”? What do you think they do with the data on over 1000 startups that have gone through the program? Do you have any idea of the scale of network, resources and prestige that comes from being accepted into Y Combinator? Do you know you exchange 8% for $120,000? Literally, 8%. Do you know what it means in terms of attention, and focus just because you have YC W2020 in your twitter bio, or your startup’s?
Even Jason won’t like you’re placing YC next to Spark. And there you go posting like it’s easy to get into YC. Bro, it’s easier to get into Stanford GSB or even Harvard than YC these days. And I don’t mean it the way Andela is framing it. But like seriously that hard. In fact, YC boys make Stanford GSB boys look like underachievers now. True Story.
I can’t believe this is even a serious question. YC is 20.0, nigger. You don’t know nothing but let the guys that have been there tell you something. The best people go to YC. It’s not for everyone. It’s like Harvard or MIT or Hollywood. It’s a question of are you the best at what you do?
I’ll end this, this way: Wherever the best go or congregate, you should go. But you must even qualify in the first place. Don’t play yourself to think Paystack and Flutterwave got in, then it means they have opened doors to Nigeria. HELL NO. Look up Ezra and Shola CV and they have a good business. I don’t need to tell you about Iyin. With his Andela background, he probably will make it though without a startup. It is possible they don’t/won’t admit another startup from Nigeria in another 5 years if nothing or no one great is up from here. You better believe that. Again I repeat, another Nigerian startup might make it in again if we don’t get our shit together. They only invest in what they consider the best, and the best people. And many times, they project on what you or your project can become. They don’t do jollof startups like that. Boys building drone rockets that can cure cancer are applying.
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It is 7% sir.
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Shebi oti bere abi?
@akindolu mehn, you woke on the angry side of the bed this morning? Nna were ya nwayo biko!
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Lmaooo Baba say na Jollof Startups…very true, i dont understand this OPs waka sef.
YC is an Incubator/Fund/Accelerator/Networking Centre/ Solve for X in one package, Spark is a VC they both have different approach and methodologies on investing in Startups and how dey do Cohorts, Investment Strategy and Networking.
YC takes 7% in exchange for $120,000 that is about 48 Million Naira using today’s Currency Value ( $1 = 400), Global PR and prestige, Exposing you to international VCs on Demo day, handling legal and other bits, mentoring and all the necessary things you would have been running around for while you focus on Product and User Adoption.
VCs can take between 30-60% of a company with that same Amount, depending on their valuation calculation, we dont even know what Spark will take this time around, after learning from previous Cohort, i am sure they may drop some sums warily but with great conviction or lesser or even more stake( N 17 million recently with hotels in exchange for xyz Equity)
It boils down to the founder, if i get the Option of the 2, well i will go for the best for my business…
But mahn YC is a heavy weight, nna that is not a fair comparison, geez,.
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The problem here is “See Finish”.
Because the Spark Boss is here “on the ground”, no respect huh.
This is the same mentality that makes our government give licenses to foreign companies without inviting bids from indigenous companies.
Spark any day Bro. Its good to do business with people you can sit with and cut pounded yam.
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Was running to a meeting but had to post;
Also, you have poured ice cold water on so many dreams, damn you!
I agree with everything except the premise that YC only does serious start-ups, no jollof. YC invests in anything that will make them money. Whether it’s curing cancer, or clickbaiters extraordinaire OMGVoice, or plain spammers like SocialCam(remember those guys?)
I am not YC ambassador but they have an RFS: http://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/ and once mentioned why they invest in what seems like toys in present day. SocialCam was/is in that category. And I don’t think how you end up reducing OMGVoice to a mere clickbaiter. I don’t even know where to begin on that.
Boss, SocialCam shut down as soon as Facebook removed the passive auto sharing feature. Their legacy will forever be as an auto share spam scheme. And OMGVoice, what do you want to call it? Riveting journalism? The future of publishing? Don’t drink the Buzzfeed KoolAid. There is not a single article on any of these list-heavy content sites that will help your life. They are the media equivalent of junk food, though they are like well-presented junk at KFC while the likes of Linda Ikeji are like nameless downtown chicken and chips wrapped in a newspaper junk. Their purpose is simply to get clicks and make money from ads. Clickbait.
YC, as well as any other big corporate, has no obligation to stick to a moral code. The only code they live by is their shareholder agreements and the US constitution
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Drinks on me when next am in Lagos.
Finally someone says the truth.
Let’s not derail the thread though 
It’s interesting to note that Social Cam’s founder, Michael Seibel is a partner at YC and he’s one of those coming around.
That aside, [quote=“Uduak, post:6, topic:8127”]
This is the same mentality that makes our government give licenses to foreign companies without inviting bids from indigenous companies.
[/quote]
This is different. YC is not just about the money but the global attention it gives you. I will not think twice about jumping on YC even if my local idea with global ambitions was already doing NGN50m annually.
brah!!! this is like comparing Unilag to Harvard
Nigga just made me extremely focused.