According to the OP the interview process went quite smoothly. Since this appears to not be typical YC style I would think that this shows something else at pla

According to the OP the interview process went quite smoothly. Since this appears to not be typical YC style I would think that this shows something else at play here. It seems to be a matter of perception. They sound like a rather alternate bunch that don't appear to go to great lengths to sell themselves as a team. They were probably doomed in the first 10 seconds. The failure to stress test them out on their ideas would make it appear that the interviewers were just going through the motions to be polite. Not sure there is any blame to apportion here. The world is what it is and people are what they are. In an ideal world they would have been a given a thorough grilling about their ideas, enthusiasm, skills and approach despite an initial very negative perception - but in an ideal world they would have recognized their potentially negative appearance/behaviour and done something about it, so it would not have been an issue in the first place.