[ig1]

I don't want to sound harsh but if your application read like your message here it's not surprising that you got rejected. Investors want people who are hungry for success, not people who feel entitled to it.

Regarding your actual suggestion, I'm not sure how restricting the number of applicants would help, after all it seems far better to have a first-level filter (i.e. alumni network) than to just impose some arbitrary limit based upon a lottery or a first-come-first-served basis.

YC has commented before that the no-idea applications are essentially an experiment. Historically many YC companies have pivoted significantly over the three months of YC, this naturally carries an implication that the idea doesn't matter as much as good founders, so it seems like a reasonable experiment. There's no a priori reason to assume that teams who have launched are going to be more successful than ones who haven't, they're just at a different stage of their life-cycle.

I believe this is only the second season where they've had no application ideas, so it'll probably take them a couple of years to measure if it works or not, but presumably from the fact they're still doing it the initial indications are positive.

[rbargagli]

Thank you for your point of view, but again, I am not saying that I am entitled for success. The only thing that I am saying in my humble opinion is that applications should be reviewed in full (Alumni network or Partners, etc.) That is because probably applies in our case, we are really bad with words in our application but watching a video or how it works and full blown beta demo could increase the chances... my 2 cents.

[ig1]

Get better at words. The internet is largely driven by the written word, from social to ads to the sales copy on your website, being good at conveying yourself in writing is important.

I'd really recommend working on your skills or finding someone (either on a permanent or freelance basis) who can bring written skills to the table.

Forget YC, you can't expect your customers to watch your intro video or to test out your product if your written text doesn't convey the value it will deliver.