> There is a small group of companies that create the reputation on which everybody lives >> Also called luck. Startup skill is a necessary but not sufficient

> There is a small group of companies that create the reputation on which everybody lives >> Also called luck. Startup skill is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success. You also need luck. I doubt YC would claim otherwise. Let's say each startup is a planet. Whoever gets hit with the most asteriods wins. Every conscious right decision and technical prowess that constitutes skill increases the size of the planet. The bigger the planet the more likely that more asteriods hit it. But space is a hig place, the largest planet is not guarenteed to have the most asteriod hits. A smaller planet could actually win. So it is with luck. >YC investors cannot articulate what made them successful, or else they'd have better results. Again, I doubt YC would contest this. But the power law so far has allowed them to be successful without having to guess correctly who in their pool would become the unicorn. >You could flip a coin and beat YC Where are you flipping this coin exactly? Are you flipping a coin in a pool containing all the startups in the world? If that's the case I'd like to see you take that bet. But if you flip a coin on Demo day, I'm sure you can beat some YC partners who additionally invest in a personal capacity.