I think there is a fallacy in being a "tech co-founder". If your idea is simple enough that you can package it and sell it (because you are adding some type of

I think there is a fallacy in being a "tech co-founder". If your idea is simple enough that you can package it and sell it (because you are adding some type of value), then you could just hack away at some pre-existing solution and live with that. Granted, it may not be very exciting to say you built a decent 7-figure business by using some bland CMS and excel spreadsheets, but who cares at the end of the day? For every unicorn that comes out of Silicon Valley, there are thousands of smaller enterprises making due with some pre-existing solution that they modify and resell. Perhaps as a solo founder, YC is not for you. I think if analysis were to be done on founder happiness, non-investor lifestyle founders would say that they are generally more happy than a founder who has just raised $600 million and lives on lifes edge with a "sink or sail the world" mantra that his investors have placed om him. Try forging your own path without their $12,000 and "fellowship" see where that takes you (there will always be next year).