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If Sam and Paul are honest part of the magic of YC is their because they did the first "successful" accelerator they have a positive feedback loop. Sort of like
by s_dev 11y ago
If Sam and Paul are honest part of the magic of YC is their because they did the first "successful" accelerator they have a positive feedback loop. Sort of like how Harvard attracts the best because its the best. The best founders want the YC brand and so apply. YC gets the best applications compared to other lower tier accelerators.
They are the incumbent now, others would have to innovate hugely to surpass YC.
- paulsutter 11y agoAre you saying they could just cancel office hours, and all their events, and just coast from here on out? Cranking out successful companies on inertia alone?
- ethbro 11y agoI don't think he's saying that. He's just observing that if after the initial successes YC had coasted and another not-YC accelerator had coasted, YC would still continue to be more successful as a result of the brand & network effect.
- paulsutter 11y agoIf he'd actually read the article he'd know that Sam directly admits they have a positive feedback loop > A lot of the best entrepreneurs in the world want to join YC. There's a ton of evidence (for example, many founder testimonials) that YC has a great deal of authentic value add. So his comment comes across as uninformed sour grapes to me and I stand by my question.