One reason for this is that they&#x27;re working with tens of companies per batch, and the way the application&#x2F;interview process works doesn&#x27;t give them a lot of time to wait for people to accept. If you make the deal negotiable, people will try to negotiate.<p>Given that this is the. major. problem. with raising money from institutional venture capitalists, it&#x27;s not hard to see why someone trying to do lightweight capital for new companies would want to avoid that problem.<p>Remember also: they&#x27;re doing two batches per year, the batch lasts 3 months, there&#x27;s a <i>lot</i> of stuff that happens right after the batch, and the whole application&#x2F;acceptance process is condensed down to a month as it is. There&#x27;s not a lot of flexibility available in this calendar even as it is.<p>(Also: at least in earlier batches, there were IIRC companies that <i>did</i> negotiate the % YC was buying for their money).