Are you making the smart money vs dumb money argument? Mark does address that: YC argues their advice and connections are worth this premium. I respectfully di

Are you making the smart money vs dumb money argument? Mark does address that: YC argues their advice and connections are worth this premium. I respectfully disagree. Advice and connections for even idea-stage entrepreneurs are easy to find with a little initiative, and if you don’t have that, you’ll fail as an entrepreneur. YC’s connections, Demo Day, and brand are indeed value-added, but it’s hard to argue they’re worth ten times an angel and free advice and connections. Anyway, I think the real value YC brings is they give you an excuse to focus on your startup full-time like mad maniacs for 3 months. Try doing that outside of YC and people will just ridicule you. Being in YC also provides motivation during those post-idea-pre-prototype stages which are super hard.