Differences between Y Combinator and Seedcamp

It's interesting to see these opinions from someone who has been close to Seedcamp, even though at the end of the article the author discloses a bit of a vested interest in criticising.<p>Anyway, I thoroughly agree.<p>From my perspective, running a startup based in London that's been entirely bootstrapped, I'd be more interested in applying for Y-Combinator than Seedcamp. Even though we already have premises and 1 staff member, and a product virtually finished, I think we'd get miles more value for our 5-6% from YC.<p>There seems to be this notion in the UK that raising money and starting a business is a reality TV show. I'm subscribed to a mailing list where someone has come up with "Pitch to Win":<p><a href="http://www.meetup.com/startup-fasttrack/calendar/10723535/" rel="nofollow">http://www.meetup.com/startup-fasttrack/calendar/10723535/</a><p>Defies belief. While this sort of attitude is floating around, I'm just not sure how to approach the whole funding problem in the UK.<p>We haven't approached any investors here yet (although we have been approached), and I am feeling like I'm going to have to look to the other side of the Atlantic to find the kind of people that I'd like to work with.

&#62; So to sum it up the really significant difference between Seedcamp and Y Combinator is that Seedcamp throws lots of resources at a small number of potential businesses where Y Combinator throws a small number of resources at a large number of potential products.<p>not sure if this is right. Everyone I know who went thru seedcamp said the #1 benefit was the connections [which you'd get via YC] and #2 benefit was so far from #1 it wasn't worth mentioning.<p>I think seedcamp is more interested in later businesses - maybe about 3 months post launch. When they have traction and the proposition is more refined. My understanding of YC is that they love to get down and dirty in refining that proposition. Hence YC being more risky, hence the more deals.

I was a Seedcamp finalist and winner. I am also friend with quite a lot of YCombinator people.<p>1. Seedcamp seems more business oriented than YCombinator. Hackers and good code are appreciated but not as much as paying customers :) You tell me if this is a good thing or not.<p>2. Raising money is indeed harder in Europe. No doubt about it. But for European startups Seedcamp is still the safest bet as Seedcamp folks are more than connected with US VCs and angels.<p>I love Seedcamp and our company (uberVU) owes them so much. There are clearly some things they can improve but so far its by far the best experience any European startup can have.

I've not participated in either program.<p>The difference to me stands out as committee vs opinionated.<p>With YC a small handful of people give you advice and nudge you in the correct direction. Seedcamp has dozens. One participant boasted to me that they had met 100 mentors in a week.<p>I much prefer opinionated software over committee software. I imaging the same is true for startups. Surely 100 mentors will give you 100 conflicting pieces of advice. No matter how smart those mentors are (and everyone I know who is involved in SC is smart) they can't help you out if you are confused, disoriented and overwhelmed.

You might be interested in my recent post on "How to Copy Y Combinator". I talk about a bunch of the different issues with setting up a new seed accelerator. Link is here: <a href="http://blog.jedchristiansen.com/2009/09/21/copying-y-combinator-why-and-how/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.jedchristiansen.com/2009/09/21/copying-y-combina...</a>