Ask HN: Startup School — is it worth it?

[tomcavill]

I've been invited to Startup School. However, given I'm in the UK, it will likely cost a total of about £1000 to attend (if frugal). That is to say, flights; AirBnb; travel when there; sustenance. Also as a freelancer (building a product on the side), I will miss out on ~4 days paid work. Incidentally, I also have a weekend trip booked for those dates that would have to be discarded (flights are booked and non-refundable so that's an extra £200 down).

Is Startup School worth the cost? I would love to see the speakers and meet like-minded folk, as well as seeing Cupertino and hopefully spending a day or two in SF. But it's a lot of expense.

Thanks.

[argonaut]

I'm not too sure if it is worth it. The talks will be posted online. The total amount of time that you have to network is only about 3 hours. I don't think the event is any more or less of a networking opportunity than any other meetup or conference in Silicon Valley.

I do think, however, that it's useful to visit SV and network at meetups and conferences in general. So I think going to Startup School requires a little more advance planning in the future. I think the best thing to do would be to plan a several week-long networking trip to SV that happens to coincide with Startup School (and for it to be affordable, the trip would have to be booked well before acceptances are sent out. That being said, Startup School is not very selective as long as you are an engineer).

[metanoia]

:( I'm an engineer and wasn't accepted. I probably didn't fit the heuristic of "top school" and "under 25".

[argonaut]

Hardly. Without knowing more details, it's impossible to know why you didn't get in. But certainly pg has openly acknowledged that there is a higher bar for older/more experienced applicants, and that's because more is expected out of them.

[friendstock]

I believe the talks will be posted online. You can also find previous year's talks online on youtube.

I don't know about Startup School by itself... but in general, I think it's worth it to visit the bay area (perhaps for several weeks) to network and understand the place.

[agibsonccc]

I would say it is. Just pre networking with others in the group alongside the talks makes me think going in person could be worth while. Sometimes you can't quite replace face to face. That being said, I streamed the talks last year since I didn't apply on time and loved it.

Perspective: I'm in a similar position to you with missing some work and what not. It's a lot easier for me since my pay is project based rather than hourly though..so take this with a grain of salt. Best of luck with your decision!

[andrewhillman]

As with any event, it's what you make of it. If you go to sit in the corner, then its probably not worth it. But if you "work it" then it will probably be worth the money.