Thanks for reading the article and for the feedback.

Most founders I know work long nights and weekends to turn side projects into startups. Many live very cheaply for months (or years) to make it happen. Not everyone can do that and there are certainly certain business models where that is harder, but it works for more than it doesn't from what I've seen.

For the MVP, the main problem I see is founders trying to pack way to much into the first version - which takes a lot of time and money. I've seen scoping it down, getting a product out, and getting traction work very well.

Not sure where you're getting your data on YC.