I put that line in there to make the point that we're open to everyone. People email us all the time about their submissions and we're happy to help. The help varies depending on how strapped for time we are and depending on what people are trying to submit. (It might range from 'that's not a good fit for HN' to 'holy is that cool can we help you repost this'.) But it's an important part of what we do and definitely not just for YC startups—we're trying to optimize HN for curiosity and YC startups are a small portion of what's out there.

Currently though, it's a case of squeaky wheels getting the grease. I'd like to reach the quietly creative users who would never dream of emailing us because it feels too demanding.

Edit: when we notice a particularly good Show HN and the submitter has an email address, we often email them a repost invite. Some of the best threads have originated this way. So everybody, (a) please make sure you have an email address in your account, and (b) please don't delete submissions that don't get traction.