An invite to a YC dinner is free The catering isn't. Besides, my point wasn't about suggesting something else, it was just remarking that the whole intent of

An invite to a YC dinner is free The catering isn't. Besides, my point wasn't about suggesting something else, it was just remarking that the whole intent of auctioning access to a business dinner is to sell some kind of percieved power to those who can afford it. If there wasn't percieved power there, then the prize wouldn't raise much money. Now it could also be that this prize was chosen precisely because it counterpoints the eventual use of the money, which would be as good a reason as any. At the end of the day there are many ways of getting rich people to pay into charity and this is just one of them, is also probably quite effective as it taps into the whole dynasty thing.