[pg]

Don't have an idea? Don't have a startup.

I disagree with that. Some of the better startups we've funded changed their idea completely during YC.

It's the founders that matter, not the idea. So I'd say instead: if you're not the right sort of person to start a startup, don't start a startup. But of course that is a complicated matter to decide because (a) people often don't know if they are the right sort of person and (b) people change.

[jsdalton]

So, why not recruit small teams of awesome founders -- comprised of the right kind of people -- and "assign" them ideas?

[pg]

We already do, kind of. We know that a significant fraction of the groups we accept will change their idea, and that we can contribute as much of their new idea as necessary.

Sometimes we even tell people when we accept them that we'll accept them if they do something different. Greplin was one of those.

[Joakal]

Reddit is a more well known example. Do you know what the original idea by the founders was?

[pg]

Ordering fast food on cell phones.