| > YC’s purpose is not to educate I think education is a core part of their mission. That is why they run startup school for free and provide almost all of their lectures online for anyone to have for free. Sure, startup school can lead to deal flow for them, but I don't think that's the main purpose. > It is to acquire, at dirt cheap valuations, slices of every single startup in Silicon Valley, this guaranteeing a few big winners I think that's a fair assessment. But is that so wrong? They provide value in return. Besides the actual cash, they also provide guidance and connections. So they're not just taking their slice for nothing. > the vast majority of these fruit fly startups fail (and are a waste of time for their founders Even a failed startup is not a waste of time. At the very least we learned that the market isn't ready for that product by that team at that time. Hopefully the founders also learned a lot about business and maybe even technology along the way. I'd much rather hire someone who started a failed startup than someone who worked for BigCo for a couple of years. > A bit exploitative, really. To be exploitative, there would need to be an information asymmetry. I'd say YC is pretty transparent as far as what their share will be and what they will give you. I don't see how it could be exploitative given that the startup can see the terms of the deal well in advance. |