[neilv]

YC could offer this as a paid service.

For $100 million, you can boost a post with fake upvotes.

(Hey, it could be the big break that turns into a $1B startup. And the cost to provide this service is high, since YC thrives on reputation, which this erodes.)

Now that it has a price tag, sue others for theft of service.

[zitterbewegung]

They do this in an an opposite way . Launch HN and Job postings for startups are the reason why this website exists at all . But now the website is large enough that people will pay to promote things on it. This has replaced my usage of Reddit even before the drama.

[paradite]

You might be joking but it is already offered by YC.

YC-funded companies get special hiring threads which appear on front page of HN.

In terms of backlinks and traffic to website, those should function similarly to buying upvotes.

[pclmulqdq]

I'm not convinced that YC doesn't put their thumb on the scale for YC companies, but whatever the effect is, it's definitely subtle.