[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.