Y Combinator
A month or so ago I filled out the rather short and simple Y Combinator funding application form for CouchDb. I heard back a couple of days ago and I'm interviewing with them in Cambridge on November 5.
This is really cool because while I'd love to have funding for CouchDb I've decided against pursuing venture capital funding (for a number of reasons). But Y Combinator's investment approach seems far more rational than the traditional VC way. Although they really do seem to be targeting college kids, everything else about them is a good match for the project.
So we'll interview and hopefully good things will happen. I've already asked them about blogging this stuff (a very big no-no with VCs), and they didn't immediately tell me to go hell, so stay tuned.
Anyone have a place in the Boston area for me to crash for a night or two? (I'm planning Nov. 4 and 5) Taken care of!
Big thanks to Ned Batchelder and Bruce Perry and their respective generous families for giving me beds to sleep in.
Posted October 26, 2006 7:30 PM
Comments
Congrats, good luck. I've been following (with interest) CouchDB for a bit now and I hope it works out for you.
A Bachman, October 27, 2006 10:17 AM
so if you get the job does that mean you'll move back to Boston?
Mike, October 27, 2006 2:31 PM
We'll definitely move back if it makes sense, we are renting in Charlotte so it's not such a big deal to relocate. But it may be more sensible to stay for a while as the cost of living is far lower.
Charlotte really isn't a good place to start a software company, if only because the talent pool is so much smaller. But maybe this will be one of those new fangled distributed and collaborative type endeavors, so it won't matter so much. If only there were a web oriented distributed database system to make that easier...
Damien, October 27, 2006 2:50 PM
okay just curious...figured you could work virtual like most ventures these days...
Mike, October 27, 2006 2:57 PM
" If only there were a web oriented distributed database system to make that easier..."
heh :-)
Jan
--
Jan, October 27, 2006 3:37 PM
Has anyone offered you a place to stay yet? If not, get in touch. I live in Chestnut Hill just outside Boston. I met you at the blogger gathering at last year's Lotusphere.
BTW, we have a cat. If you're allergic, this might not be an ideal choice.
Bruce Perry, October 29, 2006 10:18 PM
Hey, if you're interested in alternative forms of funding, you might want to check out Charles River Capital's new program. They'll do small seed stage rounds (low $100k's) and structure the deal as convertable debt - basically a loan that converts to equity if there is a subsequent funding round or liquidity event. I don't - however - know if they require any guarantees on that loan or not.
It's still a VC, but they are trying to take a different approach, which may suit your needs better.
There was an article in the Boston globe on it today and I think there's also a writeup in TechCrunch.
Chris Dodge, November 1, 2006 10:56 PM
Thanks for the pointer Chris, I hadn't heard of them. If the YC stuff doesn't work out I'll give them a shot.
Damien, November 2, 2006 8:02 PM
Post a comment