I love the creativity, though I have to admit, I'm a little confused.
YC already does a great job of releasing great startup ideas (see links below in the off chance that you haven't read them already). And it seems like everyone I met who got in was accepted because of the awesome things they created. So if you're short on ideas, read the lists, and then get to work and have something to show for it by application time! Whether or not you get in will probably matter less and less once you're cranking away at a company you're really into.
Our team has been talking, and we've decided that even if we don't hear back from anyone at Y Combinator we're doing a 72 hour hackathon sometime in the next week using something on one of those list. :)
Good point. If you wanna show you're capable of executing, just pick one of the well known pain points. Build something cool. Then use that as a proof of your abilities. Investors look for good teams. There's no better curriculum for your team than a track record of great projects.
Instead of telling us that you can build something, just build something. :)
YC already does a great job of releasing great startup ideas (see links below in the off chance that you haven't read them already). And it seems like everyone I met who got in was accepted because of the awesome things they created. So if you're short on ideas, read the lists, and then get to work and have something to show for it by application time! Whether or not you get in will probably matter less and less once you're cranking away at a company you're really into.
http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html
http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html