1) Moved X out of woke censorship into a highly liberal (in the permissive sense of the word) free speech platform, while at the same time...

2) Improved the X brand safety such that nearly all advertisers are back on the platform.

We forget how much at odds these two goals were a couple years ago, but the overton window has shifted a lot since then so it doesn't seem as big a deal.

"Bolt-On Kit Wants To Turn Your ICE Car Into A Hybrid From $3,200" October 21, 2023

> The young Australian engineer behind the kit hopes to sell it for just $3,200 and enable buyers to have it installed in a single day

https://www.carscoops.com/2023/10/bolt-on-kit-to-convert-com...

Looks like a backyard operation so far "REVR (Rapid Electric Vehicle Retrofits)"

https://www.revr.tech/

https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/en-AU/2023/project/revr/

REVR-lutionising the car industry: RMIT student crowned national James Dyson Award winner with electric vehicle retrofit solution 13 September 2023 https://www.dyson.com.au/newsroom/updates/james-dyson-award-...

(Sorry for all the links! but looks like an interesting way to do the conversions!)

I wouldn't be here if it were—my cofounder Scott and I made it to YC from way outside elite circles, US or otherwise. It's really important not to go for these demoralizing assumptions, lest they become self-fulfilling prophesies.

Here's some better information: if you can build, can make something people want, and are willing to be coached in the way that YC coaches founders, you have as good a chance as anyone at getting funded by YC. (And certainly a far better chance at not being overlooked for prejudicial reasons such as 'not from elite university'.)

You may not be wrong in general—it's clear that class divides are increasingly organized around educational divides—but IMO this is less true of YC than society at large and it's a big part of YC's business for it to remain so.

Edit: while I'm at it, something I wish more people would know is that if you apply to YC and get rejected, you should keep applying. Most YC startups didn't get in on their first try. If you do apply more than once, the key thing is to demonstrate progress since your previous application.

So: don't give up, and definitely don't give up before you start!