I think you've clarified it better, thanks for that. But take the MBA: the narrative typically goes something like, "I want power/money, being a corporate execu

I think you've clarified it better, thanks for that. But take the MBA: the narrative typically goes something like, "I want power/money, being a corporate executive is one of the best means of achieving that, getting an MBA at Harvard makes that much easier, therefore I'll do whatever it takes to get into Harvard." The narrative here is "I want to succeed/win, getting into YC is going to help me, therefore I must get into YC and I'll do whatever it takes even though every time I've tried so far I've failed." The seemingly obvious question here is: what are you trying to succeed/win at? It obviously wasn't a product you're passionate about (although going into the fourth try, it sounds like the latest pivot is growing on you). Fame, power, money, personal validation? 2.3 kids and a white picket fence? YC isn't the only way to get it, and it's probably one of the harder ways to do it. If it's common to treat YC as a Harvard MBA—something like "if I have it, everything in life will almost magically work out for me"—that's pretty interesting and surprising to me. I always thought it was more about speeding up getting a specific vision or idea to market, or at the very least iterating on an idea until it grows into something huge.