I completely agree. I'm in the planning stages of a startup right now and we think we can get investment from family that will match or exceed what Y Combinator offers. To me what I really want isn't so much money as access to people, smart, well-connected, people that can help get things off the ground.

Of course I understand that typically those people want a piece of the pie in exchange for their advice.

In my case, I really need programming (read: technical co-founder) help to get the project started, that's my primary obstacle right now more than money.