And that post shows exactly why you should never trust a TL;DR: it entirely misses the point.
1) YC's "formal application process" isn't some kind of heavily argued constitution that has centuries of tradition behind it and will never be changed. It's what a few people thought was a good idea and has changed with every intake (whether it be the questions that were asked or the way they were reviewed). I suspect YC would say of course the application process it broken, but it is what we have now, and next intake will fix something we saw wrong with this intake.
2) The "new application process" has ALWAYS been to show initiative and that what you have is something that people want.
3) I'm not a HN partner, but I'll tell you a secret way into YC anyway: deliver them 100kg of moon rocks. If you can do that I guarantee they will fund you, and if they don't then I'll do it myself[1].
4) If you wonder what moon rocks have to do with YC then understand this: Instacart did something impossible: they made YC consider accepting them late. In itself that make them interesting to YC. Yes, this is a circular argument, but action when there is incomplete knowledge is something YC has to be comfortable with.
TL;DR: missed the point entirely.
[1] This post has the legal standing of something someone wrote on the internet. That said, if you can give me 100kg of moonrock, then I'll do anything possible to give you $12,000 for 8% of whatever your (appretnyl working!) anti-gravity/space elevator/alien trade port company is. Hell, I'll take 1%.
1) YC's "formal application process" isn't some kind of heavily argued constitution that has centuries of tradition behind it and will never be changed. It's what a few people thought was a good idea and has changed with every intake (whether it be the questions that were asked or the way they were reviewed). I suspect YC would say of course the application process it broken, but it is what we have now, and next intake will fix something we saw wrong with this intake.
2) The "new application process" has ALWAYS been to show initiative and that what you have is something that people want.
3) I'm not a HN partner, but I'll tell you a secret way into YC anyway: deliver them 100kg of moon rocks. If you can do that I guarantee they will fund you, and if they don't then I'll do it myself[1].
4) If you wonder what moon rocks have to do with YC then understand this: Instacart did something impossible: they made YC consider accepting them late. In itself that make them interesting to YC. Yes, this is a circular argument, but action when there is incomplete knowledge is something YC has to be comfortable with.
TL;DR: missed the point entirely.
[1] This post has the legal standing of something someone wrote on the internet. That said, if you can give me 100kg of moonrock, then I'll do anything possible to give you $12,000 for 8% of whatever your (appretnyl working!) anti-gravity/space elevator/alien trade port company is. Hell, I'll take 1%.