[hinkley]

Isn't the origin story for Stanford University that the founders wanted to be benefactors for another Ivy League school but were snubbed (classism)?

There are a lot of adversities that steel a person's resolve. Rejection is one of them, if not as sexy as personal or family trauma ("I became a neurologist because my childhood friend died of seizures").

And what if that's part of his schtick? If he specializes in YC's blind spots, then he has an ice breaker. Hey YC didn't want to talk to you, get in line to talk to me instead.

We the public get some data points on whether YC's blind spots are rational or not. We all avoid things we are bad at. Some of those things everyone is bad at, so nobody would fault you for avoiding them too. But if you are good at it, people will throw money at you to deal with the situation.