Interesting. I haven't heard of anyone actually being asked for this.
Perhaps it's because they're so big now that they get a lot of fraudulent applications, so they reserve the right to check that people have really done what they say they've done. I.e., it's just to ward off bullshitters.
It may also be needed for applicants proposing ideas based on deep tech and/or bleeding-edge research, in which it would be hard for the YC interviewers to be sure the applicant really knows enough about the field to deliver what they claim they can.
Given that the thing YC was being dunked on over last week was for not doing enough due diligence on a startup trying to build an "MMO metaverse" [1] that has been unable to deliver, I guess there are still cases where they need to verify capabilities to some degree.
That said, it's still very much part of the YC ethos that founders who are self-motivated to work on interesting and ambitious projects in their own time is the best indicator of potential. They'd never make a funding decision based substantially on someone's academic record.
Perhaps it's because they're so big now that they get a lot of fraudulent applications, so they reserve the right to check that people have really done what they say they've done. I.e., it's just to ward off bullshitters.
It may also be needed for applicants proposing ideas based on deep tech and/or bleeding-edge research, in which it would be hard for the YC interviewers to be sure the applicant really knows enough about the field to deliver what they claim they can.
Given that the thing YC was being dunked on over last week was for not doing enough due diligence on a startup trying to build an "MMO metaverse" [1] that has been unable to deliver, I guess there are still cases where they need to verify capabilities to some degree.
That said, it's still very much part of the YC ethos that founders who are self-motivated to work on interesting and ambitious projects in their own time is the best indicator of potential. They'd never make a funding decision based substantially on someone's academic record.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27319457