Yes -- if you're serious about starting your own business, you will never need anyone's approval or permission (except your wife's, if applicable!).
The community part of YC would indeed be cool, but personally, I'm going to start my company without YC. Moving across the country for 3 months isn't really practical after you have a wife and kids.
But the process is more are or less the same -- you just need to look for a community of peers and mentors yourself, if you can find them. And you need to work even harder to get yourself noticed by people who can fund you.
