[ivankirigin]

Why not just take applications and accept participants without charging? Preload the endorsements and use your own judgement.

If you want to help founders, this is what you should do. If you're trying to make money from conference fees, you're doing it wrong: no one reading this thread will apply.

[WarPaul]

I agree with you that this is another strategy and one the MC founders probably considered, however I think the purpose of the entry fee and endorsement process is to avoid a "Tragedy of the Commons" scenario and ensure that only the best startups make it into the competition.

Also, even with an entry fee last year, MC still saw 450 startups apply - imagine what that number would have been if it were free to all that apply? With such a small staff and the reliance on volunteerism for much of the operations, it would be very difficult to review thousands of applications and not let a few great ones slip through the cracks.

As a startup founder myself, I see the $199 fee as merely a cover fee to an awesome party with lots of brilliant, like minded, enthusiastic entrepreneurs and mentors.