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Comment by tikkun | Hacker News Reader

When YC started, startups weren’t mainstream, and the key skill needed was the ability to build things.

Now the ability to build things is more widely available, and there are lots of opportunities to make profitable companies without being on the cutting edge of tech skill. For those, being able to sell and reach customers is more critical. Hence what you are seeing.

In some domains of course, cutting edge tech skill is the key advantage, and for those kinds of startups, that’s where you’ll see YC fund the hacker types.

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That makes sense. My issue is that the MBA-types I have spoken to are mostly interested in YC for resume-building. They are typically not driven by mission, passion, or curiosity beyond advancing themselves. And they’re getting in. YC seems to be, more than ever, over-indexing on brand name experience for candidacy, when IMO that runs counter to the spirit of the program.

Natural progression of any ecosystem. Along with this step is increasingly heavy regulation and confusing BS.

Eventually, many areas will have locked in incumbents which can’t be dislodged using the existing tech and/or tactics. Those incumbents will get increasingly terrible to deal with due to red tape, MBA types squeezing every drop of profit out in a destructive way, internal core value prop folks (engineering, product, etc.) getting more disillusioned or whatever, etc.

Then along comes some change (in market or tech), and the cycle repeats, with much hand waving and gnashing of teeth from some folks (usually older and more establishment) and with much rejoicing from others (usually younger and more up and coming/flexible.).

Next time will YC be disrupting?

Maybe, maybe not.

Let them go at it, what's wrong with that? There are so few opportunities today for people to get ahead if they're not born into wealth. Why are people here criticizing startup entrepreneurs with an unexciting business idea and mostly profit motives, when people who do the same because it was given to them by their parents are never criticized?

I’m mostly talking about Harvard, Stanford, Wharton etc MBA grads who run the treadmill of BigTech and see YC as another badge to collect.

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