A new type of Y Combinator
medium.com
medium.com
I'm skeptical that this would work.
I think this has been tried before, with nReduce[1]. And failed. Story of taking a company off the ground is not so simple. And that story doesn't separate the role of investors and founders in such a discreet unattached manner:
> Founders focus exclusively on the startup. Investors care primarily about traction and who else is investing, so these decisions can be made remotely
No it doesn't work like that. Founders and investors together focus on the startup == traction i.e. building something that people want. That sense of togetherness gives the baby startup a chance of survival. Success is not guaranteed even then, mind you.
For other points:
> 1. Everything is remote.
I doubt this is even possible. Incorporation, paperwork is but one moment/small step of creating a company. It could be done remotely even today.
> 2. Cohorts are rolling.
Perhaps this is possible, however it's important not to discount the energy, vibe and support system of the batch psychology.
> 3. Partners are decoupled. You can book time with anyone and you know exactly what they specialize in, so there are no wasted meetings.
I think this would be hard on partners simply because he/she would be bombarded and not have enough time to digest and respond effectively. Also there is a saying that when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
> 4. Decisions made in 48 hours.
Handling anxiety and calm is one great attribute to have in entrepreneurship. That said, quicker decision making is always good unless rushed too soon.
> 5. Demo days all over the world. Demo days would be expanded out to metro hubs: LA, SF, NYC, etc. Kickstarter operates well and it’s run entirely online.
By 'all over the world' and LA, SF, NYC I think you mean just America. There could be a solution to demoing all over the world. Getting covered on Tech news and blogs is a form of it. The question is whom do you want to demo to?
But opening the pool of players beyond those who are or can be co-located can also increase the odds. There will always be more smart players outside of any region than within.
The problem is that removing the co-location constraint also increases the pool of potential posers.
Telling the difference is a key challenge. If a distributed organisation can take advantage of greater pool of resources without being taken advantaged of by the posers, the in-person advantage might come to be less important than it has traditionally been.
Think about your best friends. I would hazard a guess they are probably from school and college. Now compare to friends you've made taking MOOCs (i.e., remote) and at work (i.e., rolling cohorts). Over simplified but you get the idea.