No, you can't really buy the connections and press that YC companies get. You can buy mediocre connections and press, but YC companies get a lot of good access

No, you can't really buy the connections and press that YC companies get. You can buy mediocre connections and press, but YC companies get a lot of good access to good connections, and the press they get (many good links and discussion from established websites) is better than you can buy, certainly better than you can buy for ~$15,000