[7e]

Being in the first batch wasn’t being in the right place at the right time. Look at all the failures in that batch.

YC succeeded in collecting all the companies that were going to be founded anyway, but were too inexperienced/naive to get real VC money. YC took a big cut of all of them for peanuts.

And they exploit those types of founders to this day. It’s a sweatshop wrapped up in a cult of the fruit-fly startup. The odds of success are low, but YC has a share every lottery ticket, so they come out ahead even though most everyone they support fails.

Altman realized what a great business that is, so he wisely pivoted away from his failed startup to exploit startups instead.