by Weiting Liu

刘伟廷

启动加速器比较：Y Combinator VS Techstars (Startup Accelerator Comparison: Y Combinator VS Techstars)

使人们想要的东西变得更快。 (Make Something People Want and Do More Faster.)

Being one of the rare founders to be both a Y Combinator and Techstars alum, I’ve had the privilege of going through two of the top accelerators in the world. Unlike YC and 500 Startups which seem to have more common overlaps, there have been very few founders who’ve gone through both YC and Techstars programs.

作为Y Combinator和Techstars校友的罕见创始人之一，我有幸经历了世界上两个顶级加速器。 与YC和500 Startups似乎有更常见的重叠之处不同，很少有创始人同时经历过YC和Techstars计划。

Over the years I’ve been asked countless times about what my experiences were like going through the programs, how helpful the networks were to my startups, and how I’d recommend fellow founders to choose which one to join.

多年来，我无数次被问到经历这些程序的经历，网络对初创公司有多大帮助以及我如何建议其他创始人选择加入哪个团队。

I have the utmost respect for Paul Graham, Sam Altman, David Cohen, Brad Feld, all YC partners and Techstars directors. YC and Techstars are the two earliest accelerators ever created, yet they are now being run with very different visions and philosophies. Depending on what your goals are, you might find one of them to be a better fit for you and your startup.

我对Paul Graham，Sam Altman，David Cohen，Brad Feld，所有YC合作伙伴和Techstars董事深表敬意。 YC和Techstars是有史以来创建的两个最早的加速器，但是它们现在以截然不同的愿景和理念运行。 根据您的目标，您可能会发现其中一个更适合您和您的创业公司。

计划条款 (Program Terms)

When PG and the original founders of YC created the genre 10 years ago, the deal was $11,000 + $3000*n for 2%-10%. A few iterations later (including the $150K Start Fund and $80K YCVC), YC’s terms are now $120k for 7%. Techstars terms are now $118,000 for 7–10% equity.

PG和YC的最初创始人在10年前创建了该流派时，交易金额为11,000美元+ 3000美元* n(2％-10％)。 经过几轮迭代(包括15万美元的启动资金和8万美元的YCVC)，YC的条款现在变成了12万美元，即7％。 Techstars现在对7-10％的股份的价格为118,000美元。

All of the terms are comparable — the implied valuations would fall between $1.2M — $1.7M, which is definitely on the low end of the spectrum in this day and age if you see this in pure monetary value. However, the valuation is somewhat arbitrary, and depending on your background, the valuation you’d receive in your next funding round as part of the accelerator group will usually be higher than what you’d receive had you raised by yourself.

所有这些条款都是可比较的-隐含的估值将介于$ 120万至$ 170万之间，如果您以纯货币价值衡量的话，这绝对处于当今这个时代的低端。 但是，估值多少有些武断，并且根据您的背景，您在下一轮加速器集团的一轮融资中所获得的估值通常会高于您自己筹集的估值。

I’ve been asked many times by experienced founders or startups with traction questioning the merit of giving away 7% to an accelerator like YC or Techstars. My answer has always been — it’s 100% worth it, and if you get in, unless you already have a Series A term sheet from a top VC in your hands, you’d need to be either stupid or part of the PayPal Mafia to not take it. In most cases the price would pay for itself with the higher valuation you’d get via the help of the network (PG (in)famously called it an IQ test) . Most importantly, the value of being in the alumni network transcends beyond your current startup and stays with you forever in your entrepreneurial journey.

经验丰富的创始人或初创公司曾多次问过我，他们是否愿意向YC或Techstars等加速器捐献7％的价值，这对牵引力提出了质疑。 我的答案一直都是-100％值得，而且如果您加入进来，除非您已经掌握了顶级风投的A系列条款表，否则您必须是愚蠢的人或PayPal Mafia的一部分才能不接受。 在大多数情况下，价格会通过您借助网络获得的更高估值来收回成本 ( PG(众所周知)称为IQ测试 )。 最重要的是，成为校友网络的价值超越了您目前的创业公司，并在您的创业旅程中永远与您同在。

计划期间 (During the Program)

YC is very freeform. There’s no office (and there’s probably no easy way to fit in 85 teams under one roof now). There’s a weekly dinner, where we’d get to meet with super baller people like Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel over chili rice once a week. There are also office hours with YC partners and group office hours with batch mates that we can book as often or as little as we’d like.

YC是非常自由的形式。 没有办公室(现在不可能有​​一个简单的方法来容纳一个屋顶下的85个团队)。 有每周一次的晚餐，我们每周会见一次马克·扎克伯格(Peter Zuckerberg)和彼得·泰尔(Peter Thiel)这样的超级芭蕾舞者，并通过辣椒饭见面。 YC合作伙伴还提供办公时间，批处理伙伴也提供小组办公时间，我们可以根据需要经常或少预订。

The weekly dinner and office hours act as great checkpoints for self-imposed weekly milestones. As you see other great batch mates making progress, this creates an environment for extremely healthy competition that drives you to push harder.

每周晚餐和办公时间是自我设定的每周里程碑的重要检查站。 正如您看到其他出色的队友正在进步一样，这为极度健康的竞争创造了一个环境，使您更加努力。

Going through an accelerator is all about getting a lot of things done in a short period of time. In its own words, YC’s goal is “to create an environment where you can focus exclusively on getting an initial version built.” They weren’t kidding when they said that. Growth is everything for a startup, and PG famously asked startups to focus on 1 single metric and do whatever it takes to make it move up and to the right. To drive this point home, at our first weekly Tuesday dinner, PG told us to do only 3 things during YC:

通过加速器就是要在短时间内完成很多工作。 用自己的话说，YC的目标是“创造一个环境，使您可以专注于构建初始版本。” 他们说的话不是在开玩笑。 成长是初创公司的一切 ，PG著名地要求初创公司专注于一个单一指标，并尽一切努力使它向上和向右移动。 为了将这一点讲清楚，PG在我们每周的第一个星期二晚餐时告诉我们，在YC期间只能做三件事：

• Write code写代码
• Talk to users与用户交谈
• Exercise行使

During YC if you’re considering about doing anything during the 3 months — ask yourself: “is this writing code? Is this talking to users? Is this exercise?” if it’s none of the above, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

在YC期间，如果您正在考虑在3个月内做任何事情，请问自己：“这是编写代码吗？ 这是在和用户说话吗？ 这是练习吗？” 如果以上都不是，那么您可能不应该这样做。

Techstars, on the other hand, is very structured. There are usually around 10 teams for each batch, and there’s a co-working space where we are expected to come and work and hang out with all other teams in our batch on a daily basis. There are also classes, seminars and workshops covering various topics almost on a daily basis: customer development, marketing, PR, and more.

另一方面，Techstars的结构非常合理。 通常每批大约有10个团队，并且有一个共同工作的空间，我们每天都可以来这里工作并与其他所有团队一起闲逛。 几乎每天都有一些班级，研讨会和讲习班，涵盖各种主题：客户开发，市场营销，公关等。

There’s a strong focus on Steve Blank’s preachings and Eric Ries’s Lean Startup methodology, and we’d use the Business Model Canvas quite frequently. During the first month, we were pushed to understand our customers deeply. We were asked to stop writing code and “get out of the building” to talk to people to make sure we’re indeed building something people want. We were also taught valuable hands-on techniques of doing customer development, user surveys and more. For introvert founders like myself, all we ever wanted to do was to stay heads down and write code. Writing code is easy; talking to people is hard. However, I can say that by pushing ourselves to spend time doing customer development it has built a strong foundation for our startup, as we’re now armed with deep understanding of our startup’s target audience.

人们非常关注Steve Blank的讲道和Eric Ries的精益创业方法，我们会经常使用业务模型画布。 在第一个月，我们被迫深入了解客户。 我们被要求停止编写代码，并“走出大楼”与人们交谈，以确保我们确实在建造人们想要的东西。 我们还被教导了进行客户开发，用户调查等方面的宝贵动手技术。 对于像我这样的性格内向的创始人，我们所要做的就是保持低调并编写代码。 编写代码很容易； 与人交谈很难。 但是，我可以说，通过促使自己花费时间进行客户开发，它为我们的创业公司奠定了坚实的基础，因为我们现在已经对创业公司的目标受众有了深刻的了解。

Techstars’ program structure is as follows:

Techstars的程序结构如下：

• Month 1 — customer development第1个月-客户发展
• Month 2 — product development and gaining traction第二个月-产品开发和吸引
• Month 3 — honing your pitch to investors & practicing for Demo Day第3个月-与投资者交流和参加演示日练习

Techstars’ regional ecosystem focus also enables us to work with a lot of great local mentors. It’d be up to you to manage your relationship with these mentors and make the most out of the relationships.

Techstars对区域生态系统的关注还使我们能够与许多出色的本地导师合作。 管理与这些导师的关系并充分利用关系是您的责任。

与同学和校友的互动 (Interactions with Batchmates & Alumni)

It’s widely known that one of the most valuable drivers of joining an accelerator would be the access to the alumni network, and I feel very privileged to be on both of the ycfounders and founders@techstars lists. Both YC and Techstars now have roughly over 1600 alumni. There’s a strong feeling of mutual respect among all alumni as well as the pride to be part of an exclusive network for life. Founders indeed help each others out, and with the growing number of alumni, you’re probably 1–2 degrees away from anyone in the entire tech community.

众所周知，加入加速器的最有价值的推动力之一就是对校友网络的访问，我感到很荣幸能同时进入ycfounders和founders @ techstars名单。 现在，YC和Techstars都拥有大约1600多个校友。 所有校友之间都有一种相互尊重的强烈感觉，并以成为独家生活网络的一部分而感到自豪。 创始人确实可以互相帮助，并且随着校友数量的增加，您与整个技术社区中的任何人都可能相距1-2度。

Techstars is distributed across 9+ cities worldwide. Techstars companies work in the same co-working space during the program, and with its much smaller batch size (10 v.s. YC’s 85), you’d definitely have the chance to interact a lot more frequently with your batch mates.

Techstars遍布全球9个以上的城市。 在计划期间，Techstars公司在相同的共同工作空间中工作，并且批次大小更小(10与YC的批次大小为85)，您肯定有机会与批次伙伴进行更频繁的互动。

Techstars has presence in major tech cities such as Austin, Berlin, Boston, Boulder, Chicago, San Antonio, London, New York, and Seattle. What’s awesome about this is there’s almost always a Techstars program in a major tech city, and if you ever need region-specific support, the alumni network will be extremely helpful. For example, I traveled to Europe to meet with users and explore market opportunities for Codementor late last year. I was immediately introduced to the fine folks at Techstars London and Berlin, camped out of London’s Warner Yard and got great introductions to the European startup communities.

Techstars在奥斯汀，柏林，波士顿，博尔德，芝加哥，圣安东尼奥，伦敦，纽约和西雅图等主要科技城市都有业务。 令人敬畏的是，在主要的科技城市中几乎总是有Techstars计划，如果您需要特定地区的支持，校友网络将非常有帮助。 例如，去年年底，我去欧洲与用户见面并探讨了Codementor的市场机会。 我立即被介绍给伦敦Techstars和柏林的优秀人士，他们扎根于伦敦的华纳院子，并向欧洲初创企业社区做了很好的介绍。

The slight downside is that even though we are all part of the Techstars family, being miles apart in different cities and not having the chance to meet in person frequently makes it harder to develop closer relationships across different Techstars programs. Recognizing this, Techstars has an annual founders-only FounderCon conference that’s a great opportunity for everyone in the family to gather up and build relationships.

不利的一面是，尽管我们都是Techstars家族的一员，但在不同城市相距数英里，并且没有机会经常见面，这使得跨不同Techstars计划建立更紧密的关系变得更加困难。 认识到这一点，Techstars每年举行一次Founder-only年度FounderCon会议，这对于家庭中的每个人来说都是一个很好的机会来建立和建立关系。

On the other hand, YC is deeply focused in the Silicon Valley and most of the alumni are also based here. During YC, you’ll get the chance to interact with YC alumni right from the very beginning — as early as your YC interview day. Also, since many YC companies have become widely successful, we’d have the honour of having successful YC founders joining us at weekly Tuesday dinners as peers. I remembered how pumped I was when the Airbnb founders told us “the only difference between you and us, is 4 years.” Talk about great motivational speeches! Meeting them on a regular basis not only enabled us to learn great things from them, but what was more important was it made us believe we were in the same league as these great founders and greatness was within realistic reach.

另一方面，YC深深地专注于硅谷，大多数校友也都在这里工作。 在YC期间，您将有机会从一开始就与YC校友互动-最早在YC面试那天。 此外，由于许多YC公司已经成为 广泛 的成功 ，我们就必须有成功的YC创始人在每周周二晚餐，同行加入我们的荣誉。 我记得当Airbnb创始人告诉我们“你和我们之间的唯一区别是4年”时，我感到多么激动。 谈论精彩的励志演讲！ 定期与他们会面不仅使我们能够从他们身上学到很多很棒的东西，更重要的是它使我们相信我们与这些伟大的创始人处于同一个联盟，而伟大就在现实的触角之内。

The downside of having a big batch for YC is that you don’t get to know your batch mates that well. I remembered the last time I went through YC, I was still saying hellos to my batch mates for the first time on Demo Day!

对YC进行大批量生产的缺点是，您不太了解批量生产伙伴。 我记得上一次我参加YC时，我还是在演示日第一次向我的批次同事打招呼！

示范日 (Demo Day)

YC, Techstars and 500 Startups also approach Demo Day quite differently. Contrary to popular beliefs, YC actually doesn’t put too much emphasis on practicing for Demo Day. In fact, we stayed laser-focused on our product until almost the very end of the accelerator program and started practicing for pitches less than one week before Demo Day. Techstars, on the other hand, spends the last month of the program practicing and refining pitches. Part of the reason may be the length of a typical YC Demo Day pitch being ~2min, while our Techstars demo day pitch was three times as long with 6 full minutes.

YC，Techstars和500 Startups在演示日的方式也大不相同。 与普遍的看法相反，YC实际上并没有过分强调练习“演示日”。 实际上，直到加速器程序快要结束时，我们才一直专注于产品，并在演示日不到一周的时间内开始练习音高。 另一方面，Techstars则花费了该计划的最后一个月来练习和完善沥青。 部分原因可能是典型的YC演示日活动的时长约为2分钟，而我们的Techstars演示日活动的时长是6分钟的三倍。

YC’s Demo Day is definitely an event by itself. We’d be walking by the who’s who of the startup scene. 100% of the attendees are either YC founders, invited investors, or members of the media. It’s an exclusive event with no outsiders allowed, and everyone’s there hustling and doing real businesses. It is really a coming-out party and start of fundraising for many of the YC startups.

YC的演示日本身绝对是一个活动。 我们将按照创业现场的名人来走。 100％的参与者是YC创始人，受邀投资者或媒体成员。 这是一场独家活动，不允许任何外部人士参加，每个人都在忙着做生意。 对于许多YC初创公司来说，这确实是一次聚会和筹款的开始。

For Techstars, Demo Day plays a less direct role in terms of fundraising. Startups were encouraged to pitch to investors throughout the program, so for many investors they’d not be seeing the startups for the first time on Demo Day. Techstars Demo Day is also a celebration of the local tech scene. It is an inclusive event by design, and there’s a strong vibe of local entrepreneurial community rooting for each other.

对于Techstars而言，演示日在筹款方面的作用不那么直接。 鼓励初创企业在整个计划中向投资者推销产品，因此，对于许多投资者而言，他们在演示日并不是第一次看到初创企业。 Techstars演示日也是对当地技术界的庆祝活动。 从设计上讲，这是一个包容各方的活动，当地企业家社区相互支持的氛围很浓。

筹款活动 (Fundraising)

Over the years YC has grown from a summer program designed for college students to a transformative global powerhouse with a wide range of entrepreneurial experiences. In addition to the traditional young smart hackers, we’re now seeing successful repeat entrepreneurs and mature companies with real, substantial revenues applying to the program. YC’s brand and program structure make it an attractive fundraising platform even for the experienced entrepreneurs. With YC companies now consistently raising at valuations north of $10M post demo day, the equity you’d give to YC would almost pay for itself with the premium on the valuation that you’d get as a YC company.

多年以来，YC已从为大学生设计的暑期课程发展为具有广泛创业经验的变革性全球强国。 除了传统的年轻聪明的黑客，我们现在看到成功的回头客和成熟的公司在此计划中获得了可观的，可观的收入。 YC的品牌和计划结构使其成为一个有吸引力的筹款平台，即使对于有经验的企业家也是如此。 由于YC公司现在在演示日之后一直以超过1000万美元的估值进行融资，因此，您给YC的股本几乎可以用您作为YC公司获得的估值溢价来收回。

Techstars isn’t too shabby when it comes to fundraising either. After all, over the years quite a few companies have emerged as great hits in the Techstars network: SendGrid, Digital Ocean, and GrabCAD to name a few. For Techstars, the going rate for post-demo day valuations usually starts from $3M, and can be ~$6M+ for the top companies within each batch. For many local investors, these valuations seem less bubbly and a lot more digestible than YC companies. Techstars now also has its own $150M fund dedicated to funding companies in the Techstars ecosystem.

在筹款方面，Techstars也不是太差劲。 毕竟，这些年来，相当多的公司在Techstars网络中脱颖而出 ，其中包括SendGrid ， Digital Ocean和GrabCAD 。 对于Techstars，演示后日估值的现行汇率通常从300万美元开始，对于每批中的顶级公司，可能约为600万美元。 对于许多本地投资者而言，这些估值似乎比YC公司更不明朗，更容易消化。 Techstars现在还拥有自己的1.5亿美元基金，专门为Techstars生态系统中的公司提供资金。

节目结束后 (After the Program)

What happens after the program ends?

程序结束后会发生什么？

If you’re moving to a new city to join a Techstars program, I’d strongly recommend you to consider not leaving and to continue building your startup there. For us at Codementor, we joined Techstars Seattle mainly because of managing director Andy Sack’s own personal experience in our space. During our three-month stay there we’ve met many great mentors and awesome folks in the city. However, we moved out of Seattle a week after Demo Day, and gradually found ourselves interacting with the community a lot less frequently. As there was no continuity, sadly we became quite detached from the Seattle local community. Since Techstars puts so much focus on building local ecosystems, this probably shouldn’t come as a surprise.

如果您要搬到新城市加入Techstars计划，我强烈建议您考虑不离开并继续在那建立新公司。 对我们在Codementor而言，我们加入西雅图Techstars的原因主要是董事总经理Andy Sack在我们所在领域的亲身经历。 在我们三个月的逗留期间，我们遇到了城市中许多伟大的导师和很棒的人们。 但是，我们在演示日后一周离开了西雅图，逐渐发现自己与社区的互动频率降低了。 由于没有连续性，可悲的是我们变得与西雅图当地社区完全脱离。 由于Techstars非常重视构建本地生态系统，因此这也许不足为奇。

For YC — you’re still welcome to sign up for office hours with partners after the program. In fact, you can generally still sign up for office hours even if you’re no longer involved with a YC startup. I’m years away from my last YC company, yet I’m still a YC alum for life, and YC partners remain as helpful as ever.

对于YC-在计划结束后，仍然欢迎您与合作伙伴签署办公时间。 实际上，即使您不再参与YC初创公司，您通常仍可以签到办公时间。 我距离上一家YC公司还有数年的路程，但我仍然是YC终生的明矾，并且YC合作伙伴仍然像以往一样提供帮助。

哲学差异 (Philosophical Difference)

The fundamental philosophy, in my opinion, is the biggest difference between Techstars and YC.

我认为，基本原则是Techstars与YC之间的最大区别。

YC’s core belief is that Silicon Valley is the center of the gravitational pull in the startup universe. You should either strongly consider building your startup here, or at the very least spend 3 months here.

YC的核心信念是，硅谷是新兴宇宙中引力的中心。 您应该强烈考虑在这里建立您的初创公司，或者至少在这里花费3个月的时间。

To understand Techstars’ vision and belief, all you have to do is to look at Brad Feld’s “Boulder Thesis” and his book “Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City”. Techstars’ thesis is all about fostering ecosystems within different cities. In essence, Techstars believes you shouldn’t have to go to the Silicon Valley to build a company. Over the years Techstars has been helping local entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world thrive with its network and resources.

要了解Techstars的愿景和信念，您所要做的就是看Brad Feld的“ Boulder Thesis ”和他的书“ Startup Communities：在您的城市中建立一个企业家生态系统 ”。 Techstars的论文都是关于在不同城市中培育生态系统的。 本质上，Techstars认为您不必去硅谷建立公司。 多年来，Techstars一直通过其网络和资源帮助世界各地的本地创业生态系统蓬勃发展。

您应该选择哪一个？ (Which One Should You Choose?)

If you are in a unique position where you’re accepted into both programs — congratulations! Either way you won’t be making a bad choice here.

如果您处于两个程序都可以接受的独特位置，那就恭喜！ 无论哪种方式，您都不会在这里做出错误的选择。

If your startup is at a stage where you need to figure a lot of things out, Techstars’ structure and mentorship would be more valuable to you. If you’ve achieved great product-market fit and your next milestone is all about fundraising, YC’s brand name will be able to help you raise at a top valuation.

如果您的初创公司处于需要解决很多问题的阶段，那么Techstars的结构和指导将对您更有价值。 如果您已经实现了很好的产品市场适应性，并且下一个里程碑是筹款，那么YC的品牌名称将能够帮助您以最高估值筹集资金。

If your goal is to join the Silicon Valley tech community as an insider and raise money from Silicon Valley investors at the highest valuation possible, then YC would be the undeniable choice. If you’re an international founder hoping to break into the Silicon Valley scene, YC would also be a great option for you.

如果您的目标是以内部人员身份加入硅谷技术社区，并以尽可能高的估值从硅谷投资者筹集资金，那么YC将是不容置疑的选择。 如果您是希望闯入硅谷的国际创始人，那么YC也是您的理想选择。

If you’re based in one of the Techstars cities (say in Boulder, Seattle, NYC, or London), and you plan to grow your company there, choose Techstars. Techstars has a much stronger network in tech cities other than SF Bay Area, and you’ll be working with mentors and investors in those cities who’d be rooting for you. If you share the long-term vision of building a sustainable company in a local community and making a long-lasting impact there, then Techstars may be a better option for you.

如果您位于Techstars的城市之一(例如在Boulder，Seattle，NYC或伦敦)，并且计划在此发展公司，请选择Techstars。 Techstars在旧金山湾区以外的高科技城市中拥有更强大的网络，您将与那些为您加油的城市中的导师和投资者合作。 如果您拥有在当地社区建立可持续发展公司并在当地产生长远影响的长期愿景，那么Techstars可能是您更好的选择。

Choosing a startup accelerator is analogous to choosing a university or an MBA program to attend. You certainly do not have to be a Stanford alum to have a successful career, and going through Y Combinator or Techstars does not guarantee any kind of startup success either.

选择启动加速器类似于选择要参加的大学或MBA课程。 当然，您不一定非要成为斯坦福校友就可以拥有成功的职业，通过Y Combinator或Techstars也不保证任何类型的创业成功。

So go ahead, work hard, make something people want and do more faster!

因此，继续前进，努力工作， 使人们想要的东西 做得更快 ！

This post was written by Weiting Liu, Founder & CEO of Codementor, a live help marketplace for developers. Weiting is a serial entrepreneur and an alumnus of both Y Combinator (YC ’07 SocialPicks, ’12) and Techstars (Seattle ’13 Codementor).

这篇文章是由Codementor的创始人兼CEO Liu Weiting撰写的 ， Codementor是面向开发人员的实时帮助市场。 Weiting是Y Combinator(YC '07 SocialPicks ，'12)和Techstars(Seattle '13 Codementor )的连续企业家和校友。

This post was originally published on Codementor’s blog.

该帖子最初发布在Codementor的博客上 。

翻译自: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/startup-accelerator-comparison-y-combinator-vs-techstars-b4080d0c93c8/