> But once you go through the actual application you feel focus shift towards [2] - metrics and $. That is to say (with admittedly some not-having-been-selected

> But once you go through the actual application you feel focus shift towards [2] - metrics and $. That is to say (with admittedly some not-having-been-selected bias), I feel [2] is a significant factor in deciding on applications. While the application does ask about that (and I'm sure it's very helpful for getting in if you've already demonstrated traction) it's absolutely not required to have any revenue or users when getting accepted into YC. I'm in the current batch. We applied before we'd built anything and definitely before we had any users (we didn't even have a name yet -- we had to pick one in order to submit the application). Across the batch there are a few companies that came in with strong traction but they're definitely in the minority.