It asked specifically if they couldn't make payroll for the next 30 days
Also -- it's 30% of those who responded to the survey. So lots of startups could be banking with SVB and have not bothered to fill it out. Maybe those less likely to make payroll would be more likely to fill out the survey
Definitely agree that on a team by team basis, there are opportunities to raise money out there that can be less dilutive -- very much might make more sense to do that than apply to work with us if you're in the right position for it too.
We like to think that our program isn't just about the funding on our end but also the mentorship, and there's value to that too (as we've been building our life science startups, we've found there aren't many traditional investors that have built their own life science companies and know the ins and outs of the experience).
Generally speaking, we don't want to be setting custom arrangements for everyone because we think it's super important that people think of each other as peers and that we aren't treating some people better than others.
I'm sorry you feel that way -- we did discuss this when deciding what to call it, but ultimately decided that what the community we aim to create is much closer to a fellowship and peer group of scientists than a VC fund.
We're optimizing how we run things to build a community of scientists over maximizing our financial returns. We care most about about inspiring scientists to pursue translational research with greater resources and team coordination than they may find in a more traditional pathway.
If it was a research oriented idea, maybe, though really we think we can be most helpful to people starting life science companies. If it's more software product oriented, I would encourage you to apply to Y Combinator -- it's a great program.
It is purely a research idea at this stage and would benefit from a program purpose built for research. If it wouldn't be a good fit because of your life science focus would you know of any similar programs for CS oriented ideas?
We want teams to feel like peers and not like we're treating some teams more favorably than others -- from my experience having worked at Y Combinator, I think creating a sense where everyone is equal is one of the many things YC has done really well.
I think there's also some opportunity for a community of synergistic biotech entrepreneurs to thrive overall under each different company's business plans where the workers from the ventures that do not have financial success will still have their talents be known quantities to the ventures that do take off, so without failure they could jump right in and become entrepreneurial contributors at a time when good people who can hit the ground running are needed most and hard to find.
