[kangaroo5383]

It's possible that because YC is now a recognized brand, it has access to lower-risk companies - i.e. those that have pretty much everything figured out. As such, that will increase their success because a. self-fulfilling prophesy of more leverage in the future by being associated with YC, b. they are already low risk to start with. IMO, they are the next Sequoia, not so much Google/Microsoft/IMB.

Contradictory, however, is these lower risk, already figured out, companies are not really in need of an incubator as much as some younger companies. Anyways, I'm really interested in seeing the next batch of YC companies and where they are going with that.

[man_bear_pig]

completely agree with your statement. long term zero economic profit theory should state though as they move up the spectrum / take less risk (new entrants in their own space will enter to fill the space they can't fill anymore and they will have a new type of brand (e.g. fb was exclusive for college kids and now it's to connect everyone. so naturally college kids want something their age bracket want to use and fb is struggling to get those kids to continue to think it's cool. but for fb it works bc they created the industry they expand into). problem with incubators as they move up the spectrum is do they think they're as good as the guys that have been doing it for a long time / are they going to be perceived as threats and no longer synergistic alliances.