As an anecdote, I went through YC twice: once in 2009 with 30 companies and again in the last batch with 65 companies. I was skeptical at first as well, but if

As an anecdote, I went through YC twice: once in 2009 with 30 companies and again in the last batch with 65 companies. I was skeptical at first as well, but if anything, the value my company got out of advising in the last batch was greater than the first time around. We could still meet with PG whenever we really needed him specifically, and the partners are really just as useful as PG in most cases. In many, they're better - being able to rap with Justin Kan about PR or Garry Tan about design is gold. The one noticeable weakness is the decreasing familiarity between founders in the batch. My first time through, all the founders knew each other by name. This second time, there were other founders I still had trouble recognizing in the bathroom line at demo day. That's not necessarily as bad as it might sound - niches formed that grew close, and the camaraderie of this last batch was much better than in 2009. I don't really know why that is - just a more gregarious bunch in general, I think.