One reason Y Clone-ators may fail is lack of imagination. YC was not handed their recipe from the heavens. If these clones had any creativity, they'd be modifying the recipe to see if their ideas could make it better.
For example, why not a 4 month boot camp preceded by a 1 month crash course in business, presentation skills, etc. I'm not saying this is a better implementation, only that if the clones thought for themselves, they'd be doing more interesting things, which would tell me they were smarter and actually people I'd want to learn from. I'm afraid to take creative advice from someone whose big innovation is copying YC. I think YC's model is better, and it may be a good thing for it to spread, but none of the clones I peeked at have impressed me much so far.
Really? That's what college and working a regular job is for. If you're starting a company, taking two weeks off to be exposed to the corporate world would be worse than a waste of time.
For example, why not a 4 month boot camp preceded by a 1 month crash course in business, presentation skills, etc. I'm not saying this is a better implementation, only that if the clones thought for themselves, they'd be doing more interesting things, which would tell me they were smarter and actually people I'd want to learn from. I'm afraid to take creative advice from someone whose big innovation is copying YC. I think YC's model is better, and it may be a good thing for it to spread, but none of the clones I peeked at have impressed me much so far.