I was hoping YC might be interested in an experiment. The idea being to publish a list of runner-ups to YC, and have them be adopted by HN. A primary goal being to increase the number companies which have some form of “YC approval”. Since picking winners out of a stack of excellent applications is such an imperfect process, these companies that just miss the final cut are probably just as good as the ones who make the final cut. By publishing a bubble list (the top 10 or 20 companies that just missed the cut), these companies gain the YC seal-of-approval, and a level of recognition. I’d like to propose that they then become adopted by HN, where they can lean on the HN community for strategic advice, constructive feedback, and networking---many of the things YC provides. This could foster some friendly competition with YC, where the HN crowd supported companies and the YC supported companies race to the finish.

Obviously, there would need to be some form of permission granting process so that the bubble list companies agree to take part.

Some of the benefits I see: 1. Good will towards entrepreneurs; you double the number of “winners“. Less rejection letters. 2., Winnowing that last pile of 40 applications to 20 becomes easier, perhaps enjoyable. Its not “which great team do we have to reject” but “which great team will go to the bubble list”. 3. Friendly competition. HN vs. YC. 4. Fun (At least for me :), hopefully for others) 5. Learn about “crowd wisdom” as applied to biz-dev. (Nothing like a good experiment) 6. Motivation and support for the entrepreneurs involved means more completed companies.