As a current applicant, I'm glad to see that YC is thinking hard about scaling. With rising application numbers, I'm sure the noise to signal ratio gets worse and considering that funding a bad startup is probably better than missing a good one, I can only applaud any measures that help in that direction.
Actually, the cost of funding a bad startup are relatively low, aren't they? It's more the time of the partners and the resources of the alumni network, I'd personally be concerned about.
As another current applicant patiently awaiting the yay/nay email I wish you luck! I know it's got to be difficult for them to sort through all of the applications with so many great teams/companies. I tried to condense mine to make it easier on them but if you do the math (Number of questions * 180 Words) they still come out 3-4k words each! Now I know not all of the questions will fill 180 limit however it's still a lot of reading.
Actually, the cost of funding a bad startup are relatively low, aren't they? It's more the time of the partners and the resources of the alumni network, I'd personally be concerned about.