Launch a company

I came across a great article on Paul Graham and his latest endeavour YCombinator in the latest issue of Inc magazine. As you may know, Paul Graham is a successful serial tech entrepreneur. YCombinator provides funding to early stage start ups but Ycombinator is way beyond just another vc fund. It provides not just the funds, but is an incubator in all respects, where the entrepreneurs are provided with guidance/coaching, exposure to other vcs and investors, chance to present to potential customers, and the icing on the cake: Food : -)

YCombinator claims to have launched around 145 companies thus far of which several have been successful. Their claim to fame is to be able to mass produce a successful start up.

The concept of an incubator is not new. It has been around in university campuses all over the world. Both university based incubators and privately managed incubators have yieled decent results in the past.

This year with the Obama administration rolling out plans to support organizations that foster innovation and create jobs, this effort is gaining further impetus.

Heres a list of top tech incubators :

1) YCombinator ;
2) BetaWorks : Average Investment : $100K

3)ATDC -Georgia

4)Slingshoit Labs-Myspace

5) Capital Factory

6) Tech Stars

7) Shotput Ventures

Start At Spark

9) LaunchBoxDigital

10) Dream IT Ventures

I came across an interesting post about the typical profile of the tech entrepreneur in the US
A Profile of the US tech entrepreneur

It highlights some interesting statistics about tech-entrepreneurs:

- Most start their companies around age 39
- 92 % received a bachelors degree, 30 % masters and 10 % ph.ds.
- 45 % start their firm in the same state that they received their degree
- Most start ups averaged a revenue of $5.7 million and employed around 42 workers.

I am in my early 30s, and hold a masters degree, but have moved away from the state where i earned my degree. I don’t live in the silicon valley, nor am i in a city well known for tech startups.

Whats your profile? I would love to hear your comments on your background, what age you started your company etc..