Got Any Plans For the Start of 2012?

Got a good startup team, an idea with a clear market a some notion of how to make it profitable? Then why not apply to Y Combinator winter 2012 program? If you don’t have a clue what Y Combinator is then here is the what, when, how of it all.

What

****YC is a seed stage funding program. If accepted you get roughly $20,000 funding  for 7% (although these figures can vary) of your company and then on top of that 3 months of expert help and guidance to turn your business into an opportunity that investors cannot turn down.

Started in 2005 some of the most successful tech companies of late have graduated from YC, such as Hipmunk, Reddit, Dropbox, Disqus and Airbnb.

If you were to need more convincing then this video explains it all pretty well:

When

Now!! The application process for 2012 has already started. To apply you need to first read this post by Paul Graham then submit your application before 8pm PT on the 10th of October.

How

The application process consists of an online form (sooner you submit the better) then there is a face to face interview. If you get to this stage, firstly congratulations, you need to get your team to Mountain View and be prepared to be grilled by Paul Graham and the rest of the YC partners.

But…

But nothing. There have been plenty of teams accepted from the UK, in the summer 2011 program Baked Code makers of Interstate App were made of a UK team – Greg Cooper (a Scot) and Simon Fletcher. Other notable teams from the UK are MinoMonsters and Heyzap.

It’s an amazing opportunity if you can get on the program (there is only a 2-3% acceptance rate) but there is nothing to lose in trying.

Are you going to apply then?