Virtual Incubator to All

I really wanted to like nreduce, but the whole experience just came off as buggy for me. They said we'd get info about the meet ups but it never came which resulted in me blowing off a few appointments on tuesday nights twice to be there ready for the details, only to twiddle my thumbs. Sent tweet to prompt even but no reply at all. Finally the system for choosing other startups to group with arrived and I'm thinking there we go now we're in business, except clicked the invite button did nothing at all.<p>A bit later my account went into some strange mode that I can only guess is being locked out. I figured they were moving back into physical space and left them to it, which is why I was surprised to read about the online focus in the article.<p>Maybe after it's had some time to iron out the bugs I'll give it another shot, but the lack of communication overall was pretty frustrating

Right now the biggest value nReduce has provided my startup has been motivation--7 weeks in a row I've shipped new features or improvements to my startup (<a href="http://Thetaboard.com" rel="nofollow">http://Thetaboard.com</a>).<p>Coming up fast (and soon to eclipse) in importance is the virtual feedback/community the program provides. The weekly advice on specific items and general conversations about direction/business model/strategy is awesome.<p>I'm in Ireland but booking a ticket tomorrow to visit the nReduce team and my nReduce group members in Manchester next month. Anyway, the program is evolving and I think may end up being a real bonus for young/aspiring startups.

nReduce is remarkable. I've participated every week for the last seven weeks, out of curiosity mostly. Several things have surprised me:<p>* The sheer number of teams who joined up (300+ worldwide and 100+ in SF): There are a lot of people who are eager to participate in a startup incubator.<p>* The motivation, ability, and intelligence of the people I've met: These are the smartest and hardest-working people I've encountered in years.<p>* The power of self-inflicted group pressure to drive productivity: I consider myself highly self-motivated and productive but I stepped up my game knowing my peers were reviewing my performance via the nReduce weekly video check-in tool.<p>nReduce is a work-in-progress and I think we all realize Joe Mellin and Josh Schwartzman are making it up as they go along. I heard someone grumble that they didn't get pizza and beer at every weekly meeting. They missed the big picture. nReduce is a social experiment that is taking flight because there's a need and desire for startup aspirants to join together for mutual aid. It styles itself an incubator, it's a big meetup, it's an online social network. I see it as something more, though, as a unique form of social organization for smart people who are helping each other create businesses that deliver value.

Love the idea behind nReduce. We (Fogbeam Labs) will probably look to participate in the future. The initial opening was really bad timing for us, but down the road should be an option.<p>No, it's not the same thing as YC, but that's OK. Support is support and everything counts in it's own way. The one thing I realize more and more with every passing day is that this is <i>hard</i>. After the 10th time that somebody declines to return your email, or answer your phone call, after someone blows off a planned appointment with you for the 4th time (after 3 previous reschedules), when you get off work at the $DAYJOB and trudge home on sore feet to crawl upstairs and hack for another 4, 5, 6 hours, when you wake up on &#60; 8 hours of sleep day after day after day, and when you fly from Chicago to RDU for the 4th time in a month so you can be home to meet your cofounders to hack a few hours.... you realize that this is no joke. Making a startup go takes some fucking serious hard work and sacrifice.<p>So yeah, if a group of people from a virtual incubator (or even something like Startup Guild, or the local Hackers &#38; Founders meetup) do nothing but provide support, encouragement and the occasional "attaboy", that can be huge.<p>and now to go listen to <i>'Til I Collapse</i> for the umpteenth time... :-)<p><i>'Cause sometimes you just feel tired,</i><p><i>Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.</i><p><i>But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength</i><p><i>And just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up</i><p><i>And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.</i>

Super excited to be an nReduce mentor. The "cloud accelerator" idea is awesome, and the ability to get on-demand mentorship for any field is really compelling. Cheers to Joe for working his butt off to put this together.

Congratulations to the nReduce team and kudos to an exponentially growing service that's aimed to help people get their startups off the ground. We could all use a little help and these guys make it interesting. Looking forward to demo day Joe/Josh. Also kudos to the Lizi team for kicking it off.

I just learned about nReduce the other day - very interesting model. Two questions for Joemellen:<p>- How are you guys going to make money? I realize the virtual model is very, very lean...but I imagine you'll have to pay the bills eventually. What's the business model?<p>- How does nReduce feel about smaller side-projects, lifestyle or micropreneurial projects? Is it only for teams and startups that are looking to get big?

Why doesn't the article talk to any of the startups in nReduce, let alone mention them by name? Lazy tech journalism?

I am currently an nreduce participant.<p>I see incubators providing three main benefits: 1. Community feel. Startups can get lonely, frustrating, etc. 2. Easier access to advisors/mentors/funders get to the next stage. 3. Credibility in the same way graduating from Stanford makes you seem more credible.<p>NReduce helps with #1, but #2 and #3 are unknown. It felt really rough initially, and has improved every week. We'll see what really happens in the next couple months. When people start getting access to their mentors and investors, we'll know if there are benefits outside of building a startup community.

As a member of an nReduce company (<a href="http://QONQR.com" rel="nofollow">http://QONQR.com</a>) I can say that we've been very happy with the helpful and constructive feedback we receive from the other entrepreneurs in our group, and the weekly accountability of demoing progress to our peers has helped to keep us delivering regularly. nReduce itself is reporting their own weekly progress (as other commenters have mentioned) and Joe and Josh are really killing it.

nReduce is great virtual incubator. Joe and Josh have been working really hard, day after day, to integrate the suggestions of the users. It is still in progress and there are a few bugs, but the site is fantastic and the level of energy very high.<p>I have participated every week since the beginning. Virtually - using the site - as well as attending the SF Tuesday Beer+Pizza meetings. Both bring a lot in terms of motivation and feedback.<p>Kudos to Joe and Josh!

<i>Playing off the fact that the “Y” clearly didn’t stand for “yes,” ...</i><p>Uhh, no. Y-Combinator is a nod to the fixed point combinator: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-point_combinator#Y_combinator" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-point_combinator#Y_combin...</a>

Do you guys find that some of the investors you are talking to are interested in companies outside of the US?<p>For instance, there are some famous VCs (A16Z come to mind) that only want action in US-based companies.<p>How are you guys tackling this issue?

My experience in nReduce has been totally positive. I like that nReduce, itself, is a startup in its own incubator. It is accountable to its own system.

I don't have a 'LinkedIn' URL and have no desire to create a profile.<p>Why are you guys insisting on having a LinkedIn URL?<p>That's very annoying.

Let me know if people have questions!

Wouldn't it be awesome if nreduce become a ycombinator company? Too meta for me...