????2010年，柏妮瑪?維嘉亞申克在硅谷創(chuàng)辦網站Bizeebee，幫助瑜伽工作室和其他會員制公司實現業(yè)務擴張。很快有幾家孵化器公司聯(lián)系到她，希望吸納Bizeebee加入。維嘉亞申克曾是美國個人金融網站Mint.com 雇傭的第二位工程師。

????維嘉亞申克沒有接受這些邀請。她注意到很多孵化器公司高度關注技術發(fā)展，并不教授她希望掌握的創(chuàng)業(yè)技巧。“我和從這些孵化器畢業(yè)的很多人交談，大部分人仍在問很多根本性的創(chuàng)業(yè)問題，”她回憶說，“他們在談論‘我們如何營銷？我們如何找到客戶？’”隨著調查的深入，她發(fā)現在很多領域中，無孵化器背景的創(chuàng)業(yè)者們往往“具備更多的知識和經驗”。

????如今，她的Bizeebee已從最初的6位雇員發(fā)展到服務約500家客戶，并吸引了少量天使投資。

????保持獨立，使得維嘉亞申克能自由地嘗試各種商業(yè)模式，這是在傳統(tǒng)孵化器環(huán)境中難以做到的——加入孵化器的初創(chuàng)公司需要專注于打造一款產品，并迅速找到市場。“我真的非常希望能有半年到一年時間探索和嘗試新的點子，”她說。

????伴隨著初創(chuàng)公司的蓬勃興起，企業(yè)孵化器也同樣興起，提供的服務從辦公空間到專業(yè)企業(yè)咨詢等等。全美企業(yè)孵化器協(xié)會（The National Business Incubation Association）估計，目前美國有超過1,000家孵化器公司，遠高于1980年的12家。有些孵化器公司專注于某個細分市場，離開了科技行業(yè)，專門服務其他傳統(tǒng)行業(yè)的初創(chuàng)公司，比如糕餅行業(yè)。

????許多創(chuàng)業(yè)者都熱衷于申請孵化器項目，我本人作為200kfreelancer.com（一個幫助獨立專業(yè)人士打造個人企業(yè)的網站）的共同創(chuàng)始人，也對孵化器充滿了興趣。有許多創(chuàng)業(yè)者積極爭取加入Y Combinator等知名孵化器，把它當做敲開風險投資大門的敲門磚，也有些人選擇至少目前不加入。

????西雅圖創(chuàng)業(yè)者布魯斯特?斯丹尼斯勞表示，他和他的創(chuàng)業(yè)伙伴喬伊?考特金斯曾獲準加入一個跨城市的孵化器項目Founder Institute，考慮再三決定不參加。雖然認可孵化器可能帶來的人脈價值，但這位前華爾街人士認為，這一計劃允許參與者每周參加最少15個小時，是針對那些業(yè)余創(chuàng)業(yè)的企業(yè)家。“我辭去了工作，全職投入創(chuàng)業(yè)，”斯丹尼斯勞表示。他的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)是為內容發(fā)布商開發(fā)技術。

????有些人遲疑，是因為參與孵化器的活動可能需要占用一些時間。紐約的Money Crashers是一家擁有40名雇員的個人金融網站，成立于2009年，其共同創(chuàng)始人安德魯?史瑞奇也考慮過孵化器項目，但最終決定不參加。“作為一名小企業(yè)主，你必須要擠出每一秒鐘來保持競爭力，”他說，“加入企業(yè)孵化器項目，完全就是浪費時間。”

????搜索引擎優(yōu)化專家、創(chuàng)業(yè)資深人士西門?施耐德斯是特拉華州劉易斯Explore.to的共同創(chuàng)始人，但他住在英國。他和他同樣常駐海外的合伙人考慮過為他們的公司（一家提供小企業(yè)名錄的本地搜索引擎網站）申請英國的兩個孵化器計劃，最終也是決定不參加。

????施耐德斯有妻子和一個三歲的女兒，讓所有人每天都吃拉面，顯然行不通。“當你是一位有經驗的創(chuàng)始人，你有家庭，要搬離到幾百英里以外租房子住，顯然不可行，”他說。

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????When Poornima Vijayashanker started Bizeebee, a Silicon Valley site that helps yoga studios and other membership-based businesses expand, in 2010, several incubators approached her about joining. She'd been the second engineer hired at Mint.com.

????But Vijayashanker took a pass. She'd noticed that many incubators focus heavily on technology development but didn't teach the business skills she wanted to master. "I was talking to people who had graduated from these business incubators, and the vast majority were still asking business questions," she recalls. "They were talking about 'How do we market? How do we find customers?'" As she did her research, she found that entrepreneurs in a variety of fields who'd built a company outside of the incubator scene "had the most knowledge and experience," she said.

????Since she launched six-employee Bizeebee, it has grown to serve about 500 customers and has attracted a small amount of angel funding.

????Staying independent has freed her to experiment with her business model in a way that would be difficult in the traditional incubator environment, where resident startups are expected to focus on building a product and finding a market for it rapidly. "I really wanted that six months to a year to explore and try out a few ideas," she says.

????With the startup scene thriving, so are business incubators, offering everything from office space to professional business advice. The National Business Incubation Association estimates that there are more than 1,000 incubators in the U.S., compared to 12 in 1980. Some incubators are highly specialized, catering to startups beyond the tech scene in industries like baking.

????With many entrepreneurs clamoring to apply, I've been curious about incubators myself, as a co-founder of 200kfreelancer.com, a site aimed at helping independent professionals build their businesses. While many entrepreneurs vie for admission to the more competitive ones like Y Combinator as a calling card that can open doors to venture capital funding, some are opting out, at least for now.

????Brewster Stanislaw, a Seattle entrepreneur, says he and his business partner, Joey Kotkins, were accepted to the Founder Institute, a multi-city incubator program, but declined to enroll. Though he saw value in the networking opportunities it offered, the former Wall Streeter concluded that the program, which allows participants to join with a minimum 15-hour-a-week commitment, was geared to people who were working elsewhere while launching a business. "I quit my job to pursue the world of entrepreneurship full time," says Stanislaw, whose startup is developing technology for content publishers.

????Some are deterred by the prospect of devoting the extra time to participate in incubator-based activities. Andrew Schrage, a New York City-based co-founder of Money Crashers, a 40-employee personal finance website founded in 2009, considered incubators but ruled them out. "As a new small business owner, it's imperative that you squeeze every second out of every day to remain competitive," he says. "The idea of integrating a business incubator into my venture just seemed like a non-effective use of my time."

????Simon Schnieders, a search engine optimization expert and veteran of the startup scene, is co-founder of Explore.to, a Lewes, Del. startup, but lives inEngland. He and his business partner, also based overseas, considering applying to two U.K.-based incubator programs for the business -- a local search engine that features small business listings -- but decided against them.

????Schneiders has a wife and three-year-old daughter, and forcing everyone to live on Ramen noodles was not a viable option. "When you're an experienced founder and you've got family, being asked to move hundreds of miles away and live in digs is not viable for you," he says.