I mention that because the pitch says:
"We know that great founders can come from anywhere — any city, school, country or background"
But the application form says:
"If we invest in you, your group is expected to move to the Bay Area for June–Aug 2017."
There's a bit of a disconnect, and I'm curious how it's reconciled.
I know this may be challenging in some situations, but I doubt YC could offer the same value remotely. For starters, many of the talks given off the record would never happen if they were being streamed and could easily be recorded. You also would have less interaction with fellow batchmates, be less involved in group office hours, and a myriad of other small details that come from being present.
For remote to work (at YC or in the workplace) I believe it needs to be fostered and prioritized, and YC as it is now was never built around making remote work. If that is ever going to work I suspect an entire batch would need to be remote and the entire experience redesigned for that batch, and that doesn't appear to be a priority for YC.
It feels to me that there's an incredible untapped potential of talent that simply can not relocate or even come to an office on a regular basis (due to disability, economic reasons, visa status, age, family obligations, etc).
If we can unlock that potential then there is so much more we can do as a society.
If anyone at YC (or anyone else) is interested in talking, please reach out.
The question to me is this: can we make it better for people who can't be there? (I.e., raise the foundation, not debate the ceiling.)
Also appears they have done away with the fellowship, which did not require a fellow to relocate.