I was laughed off of HN when I suggested a few years ago that YC was en route to becoming the world's first true 21st century university.

Applying pg's question of "What Microsoft Is this the Altair Basic of" to YC itself, the answer to me has always been a modern university. From the regular cohorts, to nascent investment in basic research, to residential component, to doing things that make a big impact on the world, to being highly profitable (yes, elite higher ed. is a fantastic business), always seemed to me that all the ingredients were there.

This is yet another small step in that direction.