[balaselvam]

This argument holds true for most VC firms in general. My contention is that YC's stance on defining the "bar for acceptance" seems to be on how much cash they have. So a mediocre company and founders could have got in the previous batch and a deserving one may not this year. I agree that this is fair and square in market economics. I simply expected more from this institution.

[anu7df]

I am not sure how you came to that conclusion. This reduction can still be consistent with a fixed bar for acceptance. Say that earlier everyone who cleared the bar got funded. Now, only 60% of those who clear the bar gets funded. The further selection can be on the basis of a performance criteria like value expectation or risk of failure, or it could be on the basis of investor preference to certain areas.