Startup accelerators, returning alumni: Why?
Surely it can’t be that you went back because you think you’re not good enough to succeed without further acceleration?
The reason we ask that is because we all know your name, you definitely weren’t a flop or a flunk, you got investment, you regularly get into TechMeme, your business model is scaling up nicely, you’re one of those that we’re keeping an eye out for, so nobody out here imagines that you need to be re-accelerated.
So what on earth are you doing going back to your alma mater: why did you want to go back, and why did they let you in again?
This is part of a trend within YC, that has begun to show itself over the last year or so. Previous double-alums include:
Patrick and John Collison
SocialCam Is Growing, But It’s The Latest Alum Startup Returning To Y Combinator Anyway
Can you raise more venture funding than you could any other way, because exposure to prospective new high-profile investors at Y Combinator beats being anywhere else on the planet?
So what on earth are you doing going back to your alma mater: why did you want to go back, and why did they let you in again?
Does the environment at YC prove to be an irresistible elastic band, pulling certain types of founders back in?
Is it the sweaty camaraderie, the incomparable competitive electricity, the sharpest and freshest startup founder minds, the insightfulness of Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Harj Taggar, Paul Buchheit and an endless list of YC event speakers whose names populate TechCrunch on a regular basis?
Does the returning startup expect to upgrade their own (and their team’s) capabilities, put themselves under the most intense pressure imaginable, iron out known weaknesses, get otherwise inaccessible up-to-the-moment tips, scout for startup talent that has already withstood unrivalled pre-selection, give themselves a refreshingly morale-boosting bootcamp-vacation, or just get another fix of something they truly can’t do without?
If the latter is true, and Paul Graham doesn’t mind, then guess what?
Maybe, just maybe, they’ll be back again!
For an investor trying to mix different levels of risk as a hedge, re-acceleration of already-successful alumni doesn’t look like such a dumb idea anyway.
Entire re-acceleration cohorts, anyone?
