YC does issue invitation letters for founders traveling from outside US. We interviewed with YC and 2 of our co-founders flew in from India (they already had their B1 visas).

Just write to them and they should be able to send you the letters through HelloSign.

Good luck for your interview!

Thanks PNR. We got our invitation letters.

What does PG mean by "being an animal"?

"It means someone who takes their work a little too seriously; someone who does what they do so well that they pass right through professional and cross over into obsessive.

What it means specifically depends on the job: a salesperson who just won't take no for an answer; a hacker who will stay up till 4:00 AM rather than go to bed leaving code with a bug in it; a PR person who will cold-call New York Times reporters on their cell phones; a graphic designer who feels physical pain when something is two millimeters out of place."

- http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html

Thanks, aviv!

Maybe this is timely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMdHDHEuOUE

In addition to all the wonderful resources already suggested above, you should check out the MOOCs on Mathematical Thinking (https://class.coursera.org/maththink-2012-001/class/index) and Algorithms (https://class.coursera.org/algs4partI-2012-001/class/index) on Coursera.

Be sure to check out Loosecubes.com, which is a great source for finding free co-working spaces.

Great idea! Would also be fun to fly there together!?

OK, I RSVPed - ping me - contact info in my profile - doing some simple mad science experiments around doing a social aggregator for financial market news, so far it's sort of a semi-useful mashup of YC and TechMeme. Maybe grab drinks in NY the Wednesday or Thursday before heading out? or maybe meet up out there!

When we set a date can announce for any other folks from NY.