In all seriousness, if these guys can actually find the time to reply to the avalanche of queries they're about to get, then more power to them for lending a hand where it's needed.
Let us know what you're looking for, and please include a prototype if at all
possible. This is an informal association and not a fund. If inclined, we may
provide feedback, advice, mentorship, hacking, investment and/or serve as
advisors or independent board members, on an individual basis.
Why do you assume 100% less funding? They have all had successful exits. It seems like an approach that's at least as flexible as YCombinator and perhaps better able to nurture over the long term.
I saw Roy Rodenstein speak at a BarCamp in Boston and chatted with him for a bit. Seems like a very cool guy. No ego, he had come off a successful exit and was just happy to share his wisdom with the audience.
It is an interesting approach, kind of a twist on the old line "If you ask for money, you'll get advice. If you ask for advice, you'll get money."
By not focusing on being a "fund" they will probably find a bunch of smart hackers working on interesting stuff who may not fully understand the commercial value of their projects, build trust and a working relationship, and ultimately find/help build good investment candidates.
I was introduced to Roy about a month ago. Awesome guy with no ego and no agenda who just wants to help. He also took the time to understand the product and logic behind it, which is something few people do. Seriously it was a relief from the usual people we've been pitching lately. Combined with joshu, gabe, jim young, and jeff miller this is a real win for startups.
On one hand, as a hacker myself, I like the idea. It's as free-form as possible. Which is exactly the right spirit of hacking: no forms to fill out, no rules and procedures.
On the other hand, they are bound to end up with thousands of weird requests. Sorting through those will be a lot of work, in order to find a handful of gems, I'm afraid.
But I hope it works out for them and trickles down to the entire hacker community.
On RWW Start the startups with exits are the headline grabbers. Delicious carries much more clickthrough appeal/legitimacy than AOL. Always lead with a grabber.
In all seriousness, if these guys can actually find the time to reply to the avalanche of queries they're about to get, then more power to them for lending a hand where it's needed.