The process definitely did this for us.

Hmmm. Wonder if that's why my post got killed yesterday? I posted for people who weren't accepted this round to check out Startup City in Baltimore and some info and links about Baltimore neighorhoods. I'm not affiliated w/Startup City in anyway and am unsure why the post was "deaded"?

If you applied to YC and weren't accepted this round, this may be a good option; there are similarities in the app process.

I grew up in Baltimore County and own a home in the city. My husband and I are moving back this summer, largely because of the emerging tech and startup environment and are SO excited about this project. There was a post about it here last month that I missed where people expressed concern re: the crime rate, The Wire etc

The reality is that most of the crime (violent and other) happens in specific areas of the city. I work with at-risk kids and have spent a lot of time in those neighborhoods during a period spanning nearly 20 years and will be happy to answer questions if anyone has concerns/questions about what's "real" about the Baltimore experience.But I want to reassure you here that you'd be unlikely to ever even see one of those areas unless you wanted to.

I own a home in Federal Hill http://bit.ly/hh93w2 , have also lived in Canton http://bit.ly/fa9y2C and Locust Point http://bit.ly/fCmbUZ , worked in Mt. Vernon http://bit.ly/dO1K2u and played (a lot!) in all of those places... and Fells Point http://bit.ly/eMEHDj ... and Hamden http://bit.ly/hjElbI ... and Little Italy http://bit.ly/eNQvzV ... Each of these neighborhoods is a great reason to consider Baltimore. If you are interested in learning more, shoot me a note.

I'm not affiliated w/ Startup City in anyway, but will be applying. I'm just sharing this because I think it's an awesome opp for those of us that were hoping for YC...

Thanks for clarifying this. I'm sure it sounds oversimplified to non-beginners but I didn't fully get the difference until I tried out Code School's Rails for Zombies and they directed me to "Tryruby.org" 1st.

Just checked it out! How great - loved your "about" ... "to take control of my destiny"... are you by yourself in SF?

I thought the same thing. Exciting to know, and I do remember reading something like "the earlier you apply, the more time we have to interact with founders". Too bad for us though, because we only learned about YCombinator shortly before the app. was due and got it in at the last minute. But last week lots of Alum were writing about their experiences and at least a few reported slapping their app together at the last minute so we remain hopeful!

That's pretty exciting! By phone or email? We haven't. I wonder if they review in order received? How early did you submit?

We submitted maybe an hour before deadline, it was within HN.

Best of luck! I took a look at your profile - great work.

I want to be able to contribute to our start up by writing code even if it's not as the lead... and certainly to know enough to be an asset for other developers... and also to know what good code looks like. I think I need to figure out if I can be any good at it to know how far I'll take it. Some people say anyone can write code but other people say being "math minded" is critical, and that's daunting to me.

Right? It's funny because I've used language programs to learn Italian, French, Spanish,and Vietnamese... just a bit of each and that's exactly what I have been thinking - about how Pimsleur would be great for this and Rosetta Stone would be great for that... I can definitely see traces of the same kind of teaching in TryRuby.Org

I am on it! I'm getting enough here to keep me busy for quite a while! How can I find the other thread? I'm going to keep track of all of the people that help me out on this post so I can shoot you a note when I finally build something cool! Thanks so much for sharing these resources.