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> At Rebel Fund, our job is to invest in the top 3–4% startups in each new Y Combinator (YC) batch.

I immediately closed the article after reading that.

Hmm... Why? It seems a bland, but rational statement. It's a simple way to say that they strive to pick the best ones. Yes, it's almost useless, but it's a way to get the conversation going.

It makes me a little queezy, but it's hard to put a pin on why.

Perhaps it comes across as a little uppity.

Sounds much like the old saw: "we only hire the best!"

Do any VCs strive to invest in, say, the second quartile of YC batches?

That captures it well.

I wonder. Perhaps by choosing the second or third quartile I’ll get more equity for a much lower price in companies that perform only marginally worse? Or, with some luck, even better? Like trying to find alpha in founders who are women or people of color and may get statistically less attention but have equally good ideas.

What company is going to say they only target the bottom tier or mid tier?

It’s such a dumb thing to say because it’s what everyone would love.

As a lottery player, I only strive to pick the winning numbers.

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