When Y Combinator launched in 2005, they flipped investing criteria on its head, making micro bets on young, inexperienced kids, instead of funding people with proven track records.

Now their venture fund has a portfolio of winners including Dropbox, Zenefits, Airbnb, and Stripe.

And next year they’re thinking a little bigger

In 2018 they’ll accept 10k companies (up from 234 last year) into their free, online Startup School, aimed at getting entrepreneurs up to speed from anywhere.

Like a 10-week course on steroids, their software lets participants upload weekly metrics, work with mentors, and participate in lectures they might otherwise not have access to.

*Slowly raises hand*

Is this actually going to work? YC’s mission is to help more people solve more of the world’s problems by lowering the barrier to entry for startups.

A noble cause, but it raises the question of whether a one-size-fits-all approach will create a path to success, or just a boulevard of broken dreams.

Online education is getting hotter by the second — Coursera just raised $64m at a $800m valuation — but this still feels a little like teaching KIDs about KPIs, ordering some hoodies, and telling them to go disrupt something.

This article originally appeared at: https://thehustle.co/Y-combinator-startup-school?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6%2F8%20-%20LaCroix&utm_content=Y-combinator-startup-school.

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