A friend of mine just signed on as one of their referrers. It seems like a cushy big VC. They fly the referrers out to expensive resorts a few times a year and in exchange the referrers give HF a heads up on all the cool people and projects they know about. The goal seems to be providing a framework for people who wouldn't otherwise do a startup. I can't leave my family, I need a salary, I'm just afraid, I'm not motivated enough.
Whereas YC and the US scene is all about entrepreneurship, Europe (in general--there are lots of great startups there but it's no SF Bay) has more trouble getting hackers to take the plunge. HF seems to take the approach that they'll take a huge equity stake in the idea rather than a specific company and then pay you for a year to develop it. It's not clear that you'd have to do a real startup, they might just get someone else to do that once you've built substantial IP. I think the goal is to basically bring all the people who MIGHT produce something of value into one place, pay them like employees, and be a European Google in the sense that they'll try lots of projects and the ones that succeed will pay for the others.
It's not a program I'd ever be interested in, but I'm not European or afraid of risks, and I applied to YC. It may work really well in that culture, should be interesting to check back in a year or so to see how they're doing
i wouldnt generalize it like that. It doesnt really matter to them if you have a startup already or still a job and a prototype. The important part is that you have already built something to show and are passionate about it. They also form regular companies and they dont tell you how to spend your money or anything like that. They have very good financial advisers that develop a budget with you upfront and then its the job of the CEO of that startup to make it work. The companies are real startups, they just help you alot setting everything up, but in a very transparent way.
And in regards to "they fund people who MIGHT produce something that is successfull"...isnt that how any VC or Investing company works ? Even YC works like that, its just that their risk and money involvement is much smaller.
My primary objection is that they seem to be focused on acquisition of nascent talent and ideas in an attempt to corner the market on potential startup developers without a clear plan about what to do with them. The amount of money and perks going out to everyone involved both lessens the pressure to succeed and suggests a focus on acquisition instead of development. Of course everyone's there to make money and successful ventures support others but it seems like advisors are filling the roles of VC partners without appropriate remuneration and founders are being treated like employees. I don't like the value relationships all around, it doesn't seem like they help build successful companies, just cherry pick ideas and products in exchange for a salary. That doesn't seem good for the European tech economy or those who would otherwise become real founders on their own. It seems like they're trying to do an even earlier stage acquisition than companies like google have moved into, but without offering the future google does. Again, it might work there, but it's not something I'd want to be a part of or what I'd like to see long term in Europe. If it's a stopgap measure to keep talent there and in a few years a stronger community exists to help startups develop, then that's great.
i dont really know where you got that aquisition idea from, but thats not what they want to do. The core message is that they want to help Hackers build a business, without them needing to worry too much about setting up the business and giving them good advice over the course of a year. Problems/Changes etc are discussed in quarterly meetings, foudners get high quality feedback and can work on their product.
The goal is still getting another round of financing if the concept proves to be successfull but with that amount of money some startups will even have the chance to walk on their own without further funding.
I dont see whats wrong with that, and i also dont see much difference with Angel investing for example. In fact many successfull angel investors work together with their early stage startups to make them succeed, thats exactly what HackFwd does, just on a bigger scale. If you need more funding, they will prepare you for that, if not, fine.
Potential startups still have to have a good prototype, have to deliver a good pitch and ultimately get accepted which is how it works for any other investment vehicle basically. It is much harder to get early stage funding in Europe, so the existence of companies like HackFwd is a great thing for the tech economy imo.
Whereas YC and the US scene is all about entrepreneurship, Europe (in general--there are lots of great startups there but it's no SF Bay) has more trouble getting hackers to take the plunge. HF seems to take the approach that they'll take a huge equity stake in the idea rather than a specific company and then pay you for a year to develop it. It's not clear that you'd have to do a real startup, they might just get someone else to do that once you've built substantial IP. I think the goal is to basically bring all the people who MIGHT produce something of value into one place, pay them like employees, and be a European Google in the sense that they'll try lots of projects and the ones that succeed will pay for the others.
It's not a program I'd ever be interested in, but I'm not European or afraid of risks, and I applied to YC. It may work really well in that culture, should be interesting to check back in a year or so to see how they're doing