I think the problem somewhat isn't so much with YC being the gold standard, it's that the amount of differentiation of the various accelerators is less than des

I think the problem somewhat isn't so much with YC being the gold standard, it's that the amount of differentiation of the various accelerators is less than desirable. They all do pretty much the same cash, at the same time, with the same relatively wide net, for the same percentage. If on the other hand, one group focused, say, exclusively on mobile or e-commerce or B2B or infrastructure or started at a different time of the year, or offered more cash, or wanted a smaller slice I think suddenly they could make the time frame less relevant.