Our company interviewed for W13 and was not accepted. Some thoughts: If you want to make important changes that could affect a startup's interest in accepting

Our company interviewed for W13 and was not accepted. Some thoughts: If you want to make important changes that could affect a startup's interest in accepting YC (financial terms) or make it much harder to get in (even at the interview stage) than it has been in the past you have a duty to do so before you hook hundreds of entrepreneurs into committing to sit with you for 10 minutes. It was a good experience to prepare for and attend YC's interviews. However, it took valuable time away from the most important people in our company, both from a preparation standpoint and a distraction from execution. Our company is based on the west coast, and the $800 in travel reimbursement did not cover our costs to attend (we went ~$200 over and were very lean. You upped the criteria, lowered the reward and didn't completely cover the cost to try out. Small dollars and a few days matter a lot to a company at our stage. It is one thing to tweak your program and make it harder to get in. It is another to do so in secret or after you've gotten entrepreneurs' hopes, dollars and time committed to trying. I hung out at the YC office before and after our interview, and the environment is not like you project: http://static.picwing.com/18075/e_106219_t540.jpg http://static.picwing.com/18075/e_106219_t540.jpg It is actually pretty ruthless, and I picked up a sense of realized power and eliteness. As an example, YC put a really nice selection of organic-looking food right next to entrepreneur registration table. This food was not for the entrepreneurs, yet it was on full display. I approached this food by accident and was actually told by a YC staff member (in a tone that suggested a silly mistake) that there were "bits and scraps" available on the other table for us. That is kind of what it felt like in this process. A bounty of food that is kept within sight, but actually quietly kept quite far out of reach. It ended up feeling not that much different from pitching a traditional VC.