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Supply and Demand. The issue that's being ignored by this article is that there is an explosion of interest in technological entrepreneurship, and because of A

Supply and Demand. The issue that's being ignored by this article is that there is an explosion of interest in technological entrepreneurship, and because of Angel List and many other factors, a much more efficient market for early startup equity than has ever existed. The fact YC has thousands of applicants for only 40 slots, and the fact that Angel List has helped get 280 companies funded in the past year means that the YC model isn't scaling to meet the demand both on the investor side and on the founder side. There are holes in the market that are being filled with competing incubators, and as with any market, I believe that competition and innovation is a good thing. <rant>But, "Copycats and Incubator Raiders"??? Really? Since Murdoch took oer the WSJ, there has been a marked decrease in quality of writing.</rant>

beagle3 16y ago
> The fact YC has thousands of applicants for only 40 slots, and the fact that Angel List has helped get 280 companies funded in the past year means that the YC model isn't scaling to meet the demand both on the investor side and on the founder side. The founder side "demand" isn't (at least not in the usual economic sense of "supply and demand"). The founders supply risk. YC has limited demand for risk. For all we know, out of these thousands, only 80 are going to have positive returns. There could be millions, and still only 80 worth funding. It only makes sense for YC to scale up if they lose out on supply for "positive return" risk. While it is clear that there are great companies applying to YC all the time and getting rejected, it is not at all clear that YC can be more successful (by some metric they care about) than they are now.