The other big difference on check sizes is that YC started during now documented collusion in silicon valley. Now, the check size really doesn't matter a ton to

The other big difference on check sizes is that YC started during now documented collusion in silicon valley. Now, the check size really doesn't matter a ton to the FANG engineers looking for a sabbatical. Building a 100k cushion to fund said sabbatical is pretty easy when you're making 400k at Google. I think there's no real way for reducing checks to have meaningful impact at this point.