The proliferation of cookie-cutter incubators isn't a good thing for London or any other city.
The value of Y Combinator is a combination of its brand, connections and the huge experience of the partners there. Compare the experience of the various YC partners[1] with those of any other incubator, and it's quickly apparent there's no competition. UK incubators seemed to be staffed by accountants, bankers and lawyers who emphasise teaching applications how to "write a business plan" rather than "make something people want"
The value of Y Combinator is a combination of its brand, connections and the huge experience of the partners there. Compare the experience of the various YC partners[1] with those of any other incubator, and it's quickly apparent there's no competition. UK incubators seemed to be staffed by accountants, bankers and lawyers who emphasise teaching applications how to "write a business plan" rather than "make something people want"
1 - pg - Viaweb, pb - friendfeed & gmail, Garry - Posterous & Palantir, Geoff - RocketMail & Lala, Sam Altman - Loopt, Harj - Auctomatic. Etc.