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> In reality they "graduate" 500-1000 startups every year. I think people think otherwise because they used to be more selective, and haven't noticed just how

> In reality they "graduate" 500-1000 startups every year. I think people think otherwise because they used to be more selective, and haven't noticed just how much their volume has grown over the years. Early on it was a few dozen startups per year, then a hundred or so, and eventually the current state of greenlighting almost two startups every day on average (we're 275 days into the year and YC has racked up 509 companies in this years batches so far). They're less of a startup accelerator and more of a startup shotgun at this point.

jessriedel 2y ago
Yea I sorta figured YC was more like Harvard in that the brand and selectivity are super important. Isn’t this eating the seed corn?
- paxys 2y ago
  Harvard admits 2,000 students every year, so it isn't all that different. The reputation is always built/sustained by the outliers rather than the average graduate.
  - rtkwe 2y ago
    That's still selective compared to the volume of applicants though and the output isn't universally stellar but generally regarded as pretty high. Compared to YC's recent batches with a large number of ChatGPT and other gen AI model wrappers.
  - Kon-Peki 2y ago
    Harvard admits 2,000 undergraduates every year, but it's actually a very large school, granting just about 10,000 degrees per year. The annual commencement ceremony in Harvard Yard only goes through the graduates school-by-school; once dismissed all the graduates decamp to school-specific ceremonies all around campus, where they get their names called and walk across the stage to receive the handshake and (empty) envelope. Perhaps more like YC than you think?
    - jessriedel 2y ago
      The number of undergrad and graduate students in the US is vastly larger than the number of startups.
  - azinman2 2y ago
    How many students apply and go to college a year? And how many startups try to get funding a year? These are vastly different numbers.

jessriedel 2y ago

Yea I sorta figured YC was more like Harvard in that the brand and selectivity are super important. Isn’t this eating the seed corn?

paxys 2y ago
Harvard admits 2,000 students every year, so it isn't all that different. The reputation is always built/sustained by the outliers rather than the average graduate.
- rtkwe 2y ago
  That's still selective compared to the volume of applicants though and the output isn't universally stellar but generally regarded as pretty high. Compared to YC's recent batches with a large number of ChatGPT and other gen AI model wrappers.
- Kon-Peki 2y ago
  Harvard admits 2,000 undergraduates every year, but it's actually a very large school, granting just about 10,000 degrees per year. The annual commencement ceremony in Harvard Yard only goes through the graduates school-by-school; once dismissed all the graduates decamp to school-specific ceremonies all around campus, where they get their names called and walk across the stage to receive the handshake and (empty) envelope. Perhaps more like YC than you think?
  - jessriedel 2y ago
    The number of undergrad and graduate students in the US is vastly larger than the number of startups.
- azinman2 2y ago
  How many students apply and go to college a year? And how many startups try to get funding a year? These are vastly different numbers.