With so many companies like General Assembly offering part time bootcamps without one leaving the job can't YC follow the same approach where one can work on a startup without having to leave the job. This will bring in more ideas and products by people who don't want to quit their day-to-day job.
You know .. this is a quirky but interesting idea. PG started YC because of his experiences/challenges as a tech founder. Maybe someone can address this niche. Obviously, the funding terms would be different. There are legal issues having to do with existing employer contracts .. this could be a rathole. I am not sure doing a startup as a side project is at all useful .. but I might be wrong.
One comment I have to make .. risk is the name of the start up game. Maybe business in general. You cannot completely de-risk it and still call it a business.
Why is that? If a majority of businesses fail, then finding new ways to minimize that risk should be the priority.
In the context of a side project, can go both ways. The founder is minimizing their monetary/opportunity risks by maintaining their current job. YC should be minimizing their investment and/or offering the basics (the network, office hours, and invites to guest speaker engagements).
