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What's implied in the question is that the YC would still get some percentage of the company. I'm assuming that people aren't applying to the YC just get money to live for a few months. If this assumption is the case, then, theoretically, people would come, give up some part of their company, take no money, and be perfectly happy.

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Many YC companies didn't need the money. We (Virtualmin) didn't (though it helped to offset the cost of my move from Austin where I had property to deal with and a car to sell--and the significant disparity in cost of living between there and here...I certainly didn't have any desire to turn down the money, but we signed on for the experience not the cash). pg has said about a third of companies don't need the money. The limiting factor is time for pg, tlb, and Jessica, not whether you need a measly 15 grand to survive long enough to launch.

But, frankly, nobody applies because of the money. There are cheaper sources of money.

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