Personally, having been in TechStars (founder of SocialThing), I think the programs are very different. Both have their merits, one is not necessarily better than the other, just different.
Why the TS vs. YC animosity? We're (startup founders) all in this game together. Of course there will be competition and such, but we're all at the same stage at one time or another, so why not help? Why not be happy that there are 10 more companies that will get funded than last year?
I don't think there is any animosity between founders for TS vs YC. I've intro'ed TS startups to our investors before, and if/when we need to go back and raise another round, they'll do the same.
I wouldn't say it's animosity. I just think they're sort of lame copycats. For fuck's sake man, they stole YC's application word for word. I think that gives lifetime exemptions to those of us calling them a me-too act.
Well, there's uninventive, and then there's directly copying every move, sometimes literally by cutting and pasting. Though I suppose they say good artists copy, great artists steal. Maybe TechStars are great and just seem lame to me.
TechStars requested videos this year, before YC's latest application opened, which also requested videos - are we to now start saying YC copied TS? Get over it.
If TechStars made a video or a paragraph explaining it, and YC actually cut and pasted that into their site, then yes, I would claim that.
I'm not knocking TechStars for doing a similar thing. I'm knocking them for copying it line by line (often by cutting and pasting) and not innovating at all. Good businesses often borrow ideas from successful competitors, but they never copy them entirely. They always seek to improve.
Why the TS vs. YC animosity? We're (startup founders) all in this game together. Of course there will be competition and such, but we're all at the same stage at one time or another, so why not help? Why not be happy that there are 10 more companies that will get funded than last year?