Ask HN: Is really Y Combinator selection process fair?

Thanks for asking. We have some stocks (Founder stocks + Advisor Stocks) that we will give to YC in case they are interested in us without screwing the angel investors. There are a lot of things that YC adds that money can´t buy and without affecting previous investors.

YC became a very good brand that attracts best startups all over the world. I believe, you could make good make good portfolio from rejected companies. It could be good market for crowdfunding.

Problem is that not many investors have sellection skill and experience that YC or some other industry leaders have. That's why investors prefer to follow, 'lemming role' is safer and psychologically more comfortable. Difficult to fing reason to be the first investor in the pool.

What would help for everybody in ecosystem - more transparency in YCombinator selection process. Min Scoretable - team score, market score, product score, stage. Startups could opt-out from public scoretable while applying.

This will become point of reference for other investors and crowdfunding platforms and valuable feedback for entrepreneurs. YC as industry leader could bring this public good to the table.

After a bit more thought, I see a potential "product-market" disconnect.

Rightly or wrongly, YC's template is to invest in people more than companies. While on the one hand, a track record of successfully raising capital makes the team more attractive, having raised a substantial amount prior to applying places the team in a position where they are pitching the company rather than themselves.

A team which has to devote time to placating investors has less energy for product development. In addition, a team with substantial outside investment is less able to pivot, and may therefore present itself as less likely to succeed.

I would add that the tax liability for YC under the proposed stock transaction might be several times their normal investment.

Finally, relocating your current venture to Silicon Valley might provide improved networking opportunities and better access to technical capital.

Unfortunately, very few things are in life are actually "fair". "Fair" is also very relative term. The definition of “fair” means one thing to you, one thing to Y-Combinator and something very different to an applicant who got an interview. There are several hundred people across the world right now who had the wind blown out of their sails like you. While I do not personally know anyone at Y-Combinator, from everything I have read, I imagine this is the best system that they have at the moment and are continually refining it. That being said, like anything man-made, it is not perfect and great entrepreneurs will always fall through the cracks. Prove them wrong and be one of those that fell through the cracks.