How not to get accepted to YC or Techstars

Linkbait and strawman. "Why didn’t we apply to what seems like a necessary program to launch a startup these days?" Even PG would not claim that YC is "a necessary program to launch a startup."

I think this statement is very powerful by itself for YC, TS and all other accelerators:<p>"From all apparent sources they have seemed be similarly aligned with founders after the same things, successful companies. If this trend continues of more accelerators, and more startups applying to them, and the primary benefit becomes out of reach of non participating companies, then it would likely have the opposite effect."<p>and this...<p>"It appears though that it is becoming more and more necessary to participate in these programs and pay the price of admission to gain entrance to the club. "<p>So will accelerators become the next Subway Sandwich franchise?

I'd like to hear more about how you rolled your nice little snowball. Did you have any VC? You didn't have YC, but you did get support from Gangplank (gangplankhq.com) right?