I agree it would be good to have more blog posts with that message -- I worry that good founders won't apply due to the mistaken impression that alumni connections are required.

Here's one for you: https://twitter.com/joseluisnuno/status/770711984543244288

I not only had zero connections to YC.. I actually had zero connections to silicon valley! We (RedCarpet.Cash) are a India-based fintech startup - IMHO the third to ever get funded by YC.

We were also unusual because we are probably the first Indian YC startup with on-ground operations. We went through 3 rounds of YC interviews (not just the one!) .. because the interviewers had to learn about India. Our first interviewer was mwseibel !

What impressed me was that YC learned about India, invested in us and supported us through a pivot back in India. Big shout out to Aaron Harris, who is probably the resident Asia expert now [1]

[1] http://www.aaronkharris.com/carts-without-horses

We don't have any blog posts about it, but the company my friend's and I started got into YC with 0 connections and we're pretty much all from the midwest USA. No one took a risk on us until YC, every penny the company had came from 2 of the cofounders' pockets. While we're not out of the woods yet, there is no way we would still be at it w/o YC.

We applied and got in without any connections whatsoever to YC.

We hadn't ever been to Silicon Valley or to the United States, and no company from our country (Brazil) or even our continent had ever joined YC before us.

Having no connections is no reason not to apply.