No it's not. But neither am I here to please the universe.
I'm just saying that it's not a lot of money. Perhaps it is to you. I can make that money as pocket change in a very short amount of time in my normal consulting business. If YC wants to pay 10 bucks for their team members, more power to them. Not my call. They've got their math to do and I've got mine. Even families have profit/loss statements and break-even points. Their rates have consequences. After all the universe is not here to please them either, right?
Apply to YC and let's hypothetically assume you get in.
Spend 20% of your time making this ridiculous amount of money you can make doing consulting, the rest on your startup.
Problem solved. =) In all seriousness though, didn't Xobni have to do something like this for a while? (side consulting)
But you can't do both at the same time. Good one-on-one consulting (or anything, for that matter) requires you to be 24/7 thinking of your client and their problems, not yours. Perhaps other guys are better at multi-tasking among completely different things. To me, you've got to pour your heart and soul into it, or it's not worth doing. That's just the OCD-kinda guy I am :)
My biggest problem isn't the savings, it's the team. I chose to live in a really rural area, which is great for kicking back after getting off a jet from somewhere, but really sucks wind when it comes to meeting and forming teams. I'm waiting for one of these YC groups to help us hermit schmucks out with some good team-formation software.
Whether or not it is a "lot of money" is irrelevant. The relevant question is "Is it enough to meet YC's goals?" Maybe Markham's non-participation gnaws at PG, but I'm guessing that it doesn't.
BTW - The vast majority of YC particpants are foregoing significant income and the lifestyle that goes with it, a lifestyle not unlike Markham's. Why is only the latter worthy of consideration?
However, we have established that Markham can easily self-fund at the level that he requested from YC. I look forward to seeing the result.
For the record, I'm not saying I could do anything. I'm not saying PG or anybody else stays up at night worrying about my participation or lack of it.
You know nothing of my lifestyle, and you don't know me. I didn't post in here to make any kind of comment on YC, PG, or anybody else. I only wanted to point out that the cost of living is a factor for other people in whether they participate or not. That's it.
BTW, it's not a question of "is it enough to meet YC's goals" It's a question of whether it is enough to meet both parties' goals. That's the way business works -- both parties have capabilities and needs. Business is when there is a trade between these capabilities and needs. It's never a one-way street.
Higher overhead may not make someone a worse risk, but it does make them more expensive. That has consequences.
Is your participation worth twice as much as that of someone with half the overhead? If not, why should YC pay for your overhead?
As someone once said, "The universe is not here to please you."