[wtvanhest]

I have to agree. I applied to YC a few years back, failed, and subsequently shut down the business. If I ever start another company, I doubt highly that I would apply to YC. I'm not even really sure why. I just don't equate it with prestige anymore.

[brilliantcode]

It's probably due to the higher number of YC backed companies that it's losing that exclusive nature coupled with the market correction in the startup labor market-people are becoming increasingly less obsessed with playing lottery with their time and more likely to bootstrap to control their own destiny or find a stable job-we've seen enough of what "acquisition" really means.