Antler experience
Thoughts and observations, 63% into the program
In the previous post I described the reason I joined Antler. Many say Antler is a so-so program. Few say the investment conditions are poor (e.g. 100K EUR for 10% of the company at 1 MLN evaluation). After 7 of 11 weeks program, I am sharing my observations and experiences.
Here are my goals with Antler
To join an entrepreneurial community to shift my mindset back from corporate to startup one
To find a cofounder to build something together inside or outside the program
To challenge myself to go full on the business, rather than doing it as a side-project
My observations so far
Good caliber of people in the cohort. The selection process resulted in a group of 50 people (they say out of 3000 people, I don’t know how accurate it is) with a good background and motivation (no salary is paid during the program). For me this is the biggest value Antler gives me. Some people in the cohort don’t need money, as they already sold their previous company, and they are here mostly for a cofounder.
No teaching. There is close to no educational component at Antler as they suggest they expect you to know everything about startups. If you don’t - go through the startup school by Y Combinator. I like that they attracted people who already know the theory, and best practices around startups. There are still few events which feel more like knowledge refreshers.
Facilitated networking. During the first 2 weeks there is a collection of exercises and events helping future founders to learn something about each other, and work on some toy exercises, tiny projects, with the major purpose to detect those you want to talk to more, and those you don’t want working with.
Mixed feedback. The coaches at Antler are different people with their preferences, beliefs, and views. Because of that sometimes there is contradicting feedback. I find it funny, as talking to prospective customers this is exactly the experience you get: some love whatever you build, some consider it as absolutely useless.
Amsterdam is not San Francisco. The caliber of coaching, investment amount, investment conditions, and quality of founders will not be as high as in San Francisco. There is no point to compare Antler and YCombinator because of it, and because of the reason YC accepts ideas and teams, while Antler - individual people. I applied to YC in 2016 with an idea. Did not get in. If you have a strong idea, I would suggest to apply to YC first than Antler, and make sure to ask for feedback of other YC alumni before submitting your application (recommendation by Anna).
My experience so far
Was sick most of the first week
Met many awesome people. Did many brainstorming sessions
Explored few ideas around real-estate. Found an interesting idea, but it is not venture capital friendly.
Explored few ideas around mental health and healthy communication with Tom (previously cofounded a startup in mental health in Barcelona)
Had a fantastic week travelling to Berlin to meet members of their Antler cohort. Had a lot of hangover. What happened in Berlin stays in Berlin.
Tracked out with Tom in Amsterdam to work on an idea to help to improve communication and reduce conflict in companies.
Tracked back in. Continue working on the idea alone and looking for a technical cofounder.
I have an intention to write another post after the end of the program.