[CobrastanJorji]

Flock was valued at $7.5 billion last year, and it's probably worth more now. It's absolutely one of YCombinator's success stories.

YCombinator's goal is to make a lot of money by causing there to be more startups, and therefore more successor startups. "Make the world a better place" is not one of their success metrics. They're investors, not altruists.

[soperj]

It's only a success if all you care about is money.

[mikkupikku]

This is YC we're talking about. They'd fund payday loans with organs as collateral for African orphans if they could. Seriously, they have NO scruples.

(And yes, I know where I am.)

[cucumber3732842]

That sounds like honest business compared to getting paid by the government to circumvent the laws that prevent the state from spying on it's own citizens at scale.

[CobrastanJorji]

Yes. Therefore, for Y Combinator, this is a success story.

[LadyCailin]

Which is all a great deal of people in America care about, yes.

[unclad5968]

They could also care about mass surveillance.

[DavidPiper]

They do. The political and economic environment (edit: in the US) is currently supporting the idea that mass surveillance is an extremely lucrative investment opportunity.