[8BitArmour]

Yep,it has ,it used to be an underground platform and now it's gone mainstream. The same can be said for a lot of things,especially YC Earlier,it was hackers who made a product in their free time and then turned it into scalable,profitable products/companies,and now its MBA grads trying to get into YC by building ubers of somethings

[findingMeaning]

What is the alternative to YC that would still support hackers/builders?

[frfl]

Bootstrapping is one option that many still choose over external funding. In the lean startup sense, ie a slow burn, low burn rate.

Others may opt for non-VC financing (bank, personal loan, friends, family) or using their own savings as capital, where low burn rate isn't possible.

There's no silver bullet unless you're already rich.