As a side note, the data in the graph "Number of applicants and startups accepted into Y Combinator", evidences two things: 1) the number of applicants is incr

As a side note, the data in the graph "Number of applicants and startups accepted into Y Combinator", evidences two things: 1) the number of applicants is increasing (which is what the graph was evidently made for) 2) the percentage of successful applicants is declining steadily actually halving from (roughly) around 3-4% until 2012 to (still roughly) 1,50-2,00 later This may be IMHO due to two factors (or a combination of both): 1) Too many startups lately apply without having a sound enough project or not original enough ideas 2) Y Combinator has become more picky when choosing who to accept Surely it is not as easy to be accepted (in the actual YC financing program) as it may sound, I thought that the success rate was higher than that.