TechHui

Hawaiʻi's Technology Community

Perhaps it's time for a seed fund incubator in Hawaii?

This latest TechCrunch post, "LaunchBox Unleashes Its First Nine Startups" really got me thinking of whether we could do something like this in Hawaii.

Ever since I met Paul Graham back in 2004 when I presented at MIT's Spam Conference (fast forward 21 minutes to see me make a presentation in record cold temperatures wearing so much clothing I looked as chunky as Santa Claus) I followed his Y-Combinator project very closely with great interest, always pondering its applicability to Hawaii.

A seed fund incubator basically is designed to give a couple of geeks a summer's worth of room & board money to belt out a beta version of a web company. In exchange, the incubator gets a small percentage of the company and the right to invest in future rounds.

This is something that just might work here. We could style the incubation process after the business plan competition (which also gives a sizable prize for the winner) and then perhaps as a community, agree to provide some of our expertise to help the startup succeed.

Is this something worth pursuing? I haven't spoken to Paul since '04 but I'm certain he'd at least return my email and perhaps give us some pointers of how to do something like that here in Hawaii (I thought about asking him to perhaps partner with us but he told me he really hates flying).

What do you all think?

Views: 152

Comment

You need to be a member of TechHui to add comments!

Join TechHui

Comment by Russel Cheng ラッセル チェン on August 8, 2008 at 1:14pm
I don't the money part is all that important as much as finding people to help entrepreneurs with risk taking, creativity, innovation, thinking big, finding customers, etc. *How to* sort of stuff, for lack of a better word. The money should be the secondary item on the list.
Comment by Peter Kay on August 8, 2008 at 10:14am
Creating a YCC (Y-Combinator Clone) here would fill a niche that doesn't exist. The tiny startup money (20-40k) is really meant to pay for room & board for a summer to launch an application which can then go for later funding.

I see this as a "UH BP competition" with real legs on it.
Comment by Ryan on August 8, 2008 at 7:27am
I forgot to add that I know an "incubator" is a different animal from a coworking space, but it could be one way to get there. I just seized on this thread because it's a great discussion and not an "event" on TechHui.
Comment by Ryan on August 8, 2008 at 7:25am
I've been dreaming of a permanent coworking space for a few years now. Every time I or a friend of mine is between jobs, we fantasize that we'll make it happen. Walking around Chinatown, especially now in its revival as a vibrant, creative area, I see a future Citizen Space or Hat Factory (a la San Francisco). I've even named it. :)

There are more and more mobile workers and tech types here, moving from coffee shop to mall wifi zone and back... more than a few could band together and have a permanent home.

I'd be very interested in supporting something like this. There's now a CoworkingHonolulu page on the main wiki. Add your names and ideas!
Comment by Russel Cheng ラッセル チェン on August 6, 2008 at 11:07pm
Yes, as entrepreneurs, we've worn many hats at the same time. I think the main thing is that the entrepreneur is coachable.
Comment by Daniel Leuck on August 6, 2008 at 8:34pm
Hmmm... This could be an interesting thing to offer local web start-ups. I would be happy to participate as a technical adviser.
Comment by John on August 6, 2008 at 8:31pm
YC is focused just on software and more specifically web apps (HiBeam seems to be broader). YC is much more technical than a traditional incumbator (HiBeam seems to be mostly financiers, lawyers, marketing, etc. YC also provide funds (which from my partial understanding of HiBeam, is something that HiBeam does not do).

I can see the value of both. However, the YC model is much more optimized for web startups.
Comment by Russel Cheng ラッセル チェン on August 6, 2008 at 8:20pm
>>This is something that just might work here. We could style the incubation process after the business plan competition (which also gives a sizable prize for the winner) and then perhaps as a community, agree to provide some of our expertise to help the startup succeed.

Isn't this what HiBeam does? The board is made up of VCs. I'm a startup mentor in that organization.

Russel
Comment by John on August 6, 2008 at 7:27pm
Also, their technical and operational skills on making product decisions, technology choices, etc. That's why it tends to attracts younger people or in general people who have less technical and business connections in place. But Paul Graham is at rock star status these days so if anyone is worth 6% of a web startup, I tend to think it's him.
Comment by Daniel Leuck on August 6, 2008 at 7:21pm
John: YC takes a 6% investment. Because of their connections and ability to legitimate you, that 6% is very valuable (and for most startups well worth it).

So its the less tangible benefits of being legitimized by the high profile guys at YC and utilizing their connections that interests people. That doesn't interest me personally, but I can see how it would be valuable in many situations.

Sponsors

web design, web development, localization

© 2024   Created by Daniel Leuck.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service