[ericand]

> the importance of the batch itself

This may be the most profound statement about YC relative to the rest of VC. YC provides founders with a founder community, which is very valuable and fairly inexpensive to offer. Traditional VC resources are variable in quality based on often based on expensive experts.

[akharris]

Even with how well I understand the batch - having been part of one and having seen 5 years worth as a partner - I'm still amazed by how powerful the structure is.

Part of what's cool is that the strengths of the batch have evolved and changed over time as the environment changes.