[faceyspacey]

exactly. a real genius wouldn't go to harvard. real geniuses don't need "stamps" of approval. fake geniuses do, and not to shit on Y Combinator startups, but these days they aren't that ground breaking. Though now there are more hardware startups, in terms of "app startups," every batch looks the same. The tech isn't that different from what was being done 3-4 years ago. Web app with a panel for a given industry, perhaps a marketplace. Rinse and repeat. That said, it is totally refreshing to see every industry appified, but coding-wise the vast majority aren't pushing the envelope. Let's just not pretend Y Combinator is at the cusp of application innovation like it was several years ago. Another way of putting it is: Y Combinator is more about "businesses" these day than technology.

[kkt262]

Not sure your logic is correct here. Real geniuses go to Harvard all the time and they like stamps of approval just like anyone else. Why would a genius not want a stamp of approval? Why would a good company not want a stamp of approval? Leonardo Dicaprio doesn't NEED an academy award but he wants one. Albert Einstein doesn't need to publicize his theorems for the world to gush over how smart he is, but he does it anyway. Genius chess players don't NEED to win competitions, but they want to for the recognition.

[vecter]

What are you talking about? Real geniuses go to Harvard all the time (or to other elite educational institutions).

Y Combinator has always been about business. That's the point of a startup: to build a successful business, not to build useless technology that no one wants.

[seibelj]

I believe that the purpose of YC is to start new businesses. Starting a new business that successfully penetrates an existing market or creates a new market is extremely difficult. The new business brings something unique to the market. In YC's case that is usually technology. For example, if a company creates a website that brings new efficiencies to a market by applying the latest open source technology, that's a great boon to society and absolutely should be funded by YC, even if it isn't "cutting edge" in your definition.