It seems like incubator and accelerator programs are a dime a dozen these days. But it was Y Combinator, co-founded in 2005 by investor Paul Graham, that paved the way for these other programs, proving its success with the incubation of companies like AirBnB and Dropbox. So what’s the secret to Graham’s success and what does it take to earn admission to his storied program?
A new book, The Launch Pad: Inside Silicon Valley’s Most Exclusive Startup Accelerator, attempts to look behind-the-secenes at the Y Combinator method, showing what it takes for startups to get from YC admission to demo day to launching a successful company. Author Randall Stross, a columnist for the New York Times and business professor at San Jose State University, received approval from Graham and the YC partners to follow the summer 2011 batch of startups from initial interviews to demo day. The book will be published Sept. 27, but we got an early look at the text.
To read the original article: What numbers and a new book tell us about the Y Combinator way — Tech News and Analysis
