"Odds are, nothing your VC does, no matter how helpful or well-intentioned, is going to tip the balance between success and failure." The effect of VC advice i

"Odds are, nothing your VC does, no matter how helpful or well-intentioned, is going to tip the balance between success and failure." The effect of VC advice is in principle measurable. That would suggest an empirical approach is possible to determine whether YC is really 10x better than a 'regular' angel. Of course you'd have to consider the effect of how being chosen by YC might affect the performance of a startup. Also, whether YC is better at picking 'winners' than a regular angel. YC is really the first angel/excubator to sell themselves on the idea that they are mostly not money. They have to, because they don't give a lot of it.