This is a great idea because great teams can find great markets and then build great products. Investors care about 3 things in order of importance.
First, is market size. If you have a great team and a great product in a small market, you won't make much money. Conversely, you can have a bad team with an okay product in a large market, and still make a decent return. The market is assessed first because you can't change it. It is what it is.
Second is team; the quality of the team is more important than the product in the earliest stages of a company. It's the second hardest thing to change. It's really hard to replace a cofounder.
Third, and last, is product. It's really easy to change a product. The classical/somewhat cliched pivot.
With this in mind, YC can attract stellar talent, point them at a big market and say "innovate and iterate!"
As PG mentioned, this has already happened to some extent. I think this is a clear pathway for exceptional engineers to come together.
First, is market size. If you have a great team and a great product in a small market, you won't make much money. Conversely, you can have a bad team with an okay product in a large market, and still make a decent return. The market is assessed first because you can't change it. It is what it is.
Second is team; the quality of the team is more important than the product in the earliest stages of a company. It's the second hardest thing to change. It's really hard to replace a cofounder.
Third, and last, is product. It's really easy to change a product. The classical/somewhat cliched pivot.
With this in mind, YC can attract stellar talent, point them at a big market and say "innovate and iterate!"
As PG mentioned, this has already happened to some extent. I think this is a clear pathway for exceptional engineers to come together.