The folks that YC funds, by and large, have no business experience at all, so it is likely well worth it for them. But you can "go to school" (the school of hard knocks, that is) to learn those things YC brings too. That learning process takes time - time you may not have.
Ironically, in a serious downturn you turn out to have plenty of time. Companies like Flickr came out in a fairly relaxed time - nothing much was happening anyway. They actually took their time (Flickr was a side project of a site they called Game Never Ending which was on for a long time ...)
By comparison, we are now in a relatively frenzied times, and success is necessarily harder to achieve, so every bit of assistance you can get may be worth it.
To visualize the kind of "no body cares" times, look at the business of starting a classy restaurant right about now (with restaurant chains all around folding). You have to be pretty passionate to keep going at it. Funding? Unlikely.