At the end of the day, if you can't get angel money - and I reiterate, there is no active angel money in Chicago, only a bunch of self-proclaimed angels that don't cut checks - a YC-style program won't work. What's the point of having a program in Chicago, or Cambridge, or Northern Virginia if you have to fly everyone out to the Valley anyway for a Demo Day?
If you can forswear ever, ever raising money, sure, do your company here. Chicago's the best city on earth. But if you need the option value of maybe raising money someday, you should go West. (And if you want to start a YC company, contact me. I'm in the market for a technical co-founder for the Winter 2010 batch.)
At the end of the day, if you can't get angel money - and I reiterate, there is no active angel money in Chicago, only a bunch of self-proclaimed angels that don't cut checks - a YC-style program won't work. What's the point of having a program in Chicago, or Cambridge, or Northern Virginia if you have to fly everyone out to the Valley anyway for a Demo Day?
If you can forswear ever, ever raising money, sure, do your company here. Chicago's the best city on earth. But if you need the option value of maybe raising money someday, you should go West. (And if you want to start a YC company, contact me. I'm in the market for a technical co-founder for the Winter 2010 batch.)