I recently stumbled upon an article in the San Jose Mercury News, (April 13, 2007), called Combining Technology Talents, written by Constance Loizos. The article is about a company called Y Combinator where a group of 7 individuals live together in a San Francisco building and work together. In 1998, the entrepreneur of Y Combinator sold his company Viaweb to Yahoo for about $50 million. That is quite an achievement, which has won him a following of programmers. Y Combinators objective is to find future entrepreneurs.

" Here's how it works: twice a year, Y Combinator invites ''hackers,'' or programmers, to fill out an online application, outlining who they are and a business idea. One winning batch of teams is funded in winter and the other in summer. With Y Combinator's help, each becomes a real company -- one that is expected to create its product within three months. The amount of money Y Combinator gives each group -- $5,000, plus an additional $5,000 per founder -- is a pittance for what it asks in return, which is, on average, a 6 percent stake in their start-up. That money has to really stretch. Beyond their living and working expenses, it must also cover relocation costs, as the winter winners must relocate to the Bay Area and the summer winners to the Boston area. ''It's no accident that we make people move,'' said Graham, 42. ''It's a test of commitment.'' "

Then the winning group is given the opportunity to present their proposal to a group of investors. (Only 10 Minutes) If they like it, they are given the money to make the business happen and the actual product to be released in only months.

It is cool and also an inspiration to know that Y Combinator is a startup company creator. They give people the chance to start something brilliant and succeed in life as he has done with his. Some Alumni of Y Combinator is Reddit.com which was sold for $12 million just last year. There are dozen others that have been created through the genius minds of Y Combinator.