I understand the timing thing. The Y Combinator schedule is rigid, it's not always going to fit your situation perfectly. After that though, the rest of the downsides listed just seem like quibbling compared to the list of upsides.
I am one of the Pretheory Founders, and I agree the downsides are not that strong. This is why we generally think Y Combinator is still a really good move for us. Since we aren't sure if it is as large of benefit to our company as it can be to others, we wanted to think about it, and start a discussion. Seeing if any other founders would add potential positive or negative issues that we haven't been evaluating.
I guess the biggest point is the benefits are far more than the money. The advice is probably priceless, but if you feel your on a pretty good track with momentum, is it worth the change up? Possibly having to move away from established local relationships (banks, lawyers, advisers)...
Is there some angles we are missing when evaluating the decision?
No, it's not anything you're missing, just your conclusion from the data given. In my opinion, if we're talking about value here, the negatives listed in that blog entry just don't stack up against the value add YC brings (e.g., as mentioned, connections, exposure, advice...).
That's not to say that YC is right for you. There are plenty of potential reasons that YC is not a good fit and obviously plenty of ways to succeed without them. Some of the negative points you bring up have a lot of bearing on your lives as founders and probably should be considered. I'm just skeptical that, were you accepted into the Summer Founders Program tomorrow, it would be a sound business decision to turn YC down. Then again, maybe there is something you know that I don't...
