This reminds me of the "fellowship" programs such as those offered by Bain Venture Capital Group (http://www.baincapitalventures.com/startupacademy/) and Greylock Partners Network (http://www.greylock.com/careers).

For those who haven't heard of either - essentially they allow candidates to apply to a broader "portfolio" of companies that Greylock or Bain represents. Internal recruiters then try to match the candidate skillset and interests with a company from the portfolio for a potential placement.

So why can't Developer Auction candidates go through a more rigorous selection process? I would assume it is not nearly as easy to scale. But certainly, as many others have echoed, their screening process is a far cry from something that will produce 25x candidates.

I applaud the effort and look forward to seeing this develop.