You also really want to take the time to think about how the market is going to evolve.You need a market that's going to be big in 10 years.
You want an idea that not many other people are working on, and it's okay if it doesn't sound big at first.
You want an idea that turns into a monopoly. But you can't get a monopoly, in a big market right away; too much competition for that.
... you want to be proud of how much you can get done with a small numbers of employees.
What you want to do is innovate on your product and your business model, management structure is not where I would try and innovate.
You want an idea about what you can say. I know it sounds like a bad idea but here's specifically why its actually a great one. You want to sound crazy but you want to ask to be right.
You want to continue to be run by great products, not process for it's own sake.
You only get points when you make something the market wants. So if you work really hard on the wrong things, no one will care.
... the thing we see wrong with YC apps most frequently, is that people have not thought about the market first and what people want first.
You cannot create a market that doesn't want to exist.
You want to sound crazy, but you want to actually be right.
In addition to relentlessly resourceful, you want a tough and a calm cofounder.
You really want to know your cofounders for a while, ideally years.