On the more finance side of the industry maybe, but not in a situation like this. First of all, YC has at minimum hundreds of millions in their fund ready to i

On the more finance side of the industry maybe, but not in a situation like this. First of all, YC has at minimum hundreds of millions in their fund ready to invest out and I'm sure no shortage of LPs looking to give YC more money. When they are looking for partners they don't care about people that can bring new LPs in to raise money, they are looking for people who will actually help the companies they invest in. Second of all, I wouldn't be surprised if none of the people added as partners were significantly wealthy (unless it was independently). If your startup doesn't have a massive exit or you aren't an early employee at a massive public company (Google, FB, etc), you aren't going to have millions of dollars to throw around. And of course the fact that the people joining don't need to be rich is an advantage for YC. They can find people who fit the mold of what they'd like their partners to be. I've worked with a lot of people before and I don't think there has been that strong a correlation between successful exit and smart, helpful person.