And who would be that someone else ? There is really only YC, 500 Startups etc. which are highly competitive and accept you only at certain times of the year.
Plus fundraising is extremely time consuming and not every startups wants to throw away 3-6 months.
What you’re saying is explicitly false about the a16z START program, which says its applications are always open on a rolling basis.
Also, as much help as a program like YC can be, if you ‘wait’ between sessions, rather than keep making as much progress as you can, you may not be what they’re looking for. (Longtime YC observers will also know that for good applicants, they sometimes act outside the normal deadlines/cycles.)
Are you using your creativity, & skill in arguing, to convince yourself things are harder than they are?
No one is saying do nothing between applications. Just pointing out that it takes time to apply, opportunities coming around a few times a year and for many startups lack of funding can hurt/kill them.
there are thousands of pre-seed investors at this point
The advice I got, which helped me: Series A intros come from Seed investors. Seed intros come from domain specialist angels. So start with angels who know your niche.
If you don't know how to do that, join a pre-seed coaching program like https://www.lindsayt.com/ this costs $1000 for 6 months of weekly calls and comes with tons of training that you don't realize you need, and will put you into contact with dozens of other founders.
What is "market" - anyone able to put tangible numbers to this?