OP here, I feel the information in my article got outdated too quickly, so wanted to quickly revisit my statements with respect to the current experience (as of 2025):

- I feel the in-person thing makes and breaks the YC magic, people who go through in-person cohorts feel much more connected to their batchmates and partners

- The batches got significantly leaner = more attention to each individual company

- Selling inside YC is a thing again (specifically for AI companies), since everyone around is doing AI and isn't lacking money YC companies basically buy from each other and get to 1M ARR together

- The investment premium is there, with YC startups getting avg cap of 25M comparing to 15M for non-YC startups of similar stage (even with greater traction)

- Bonus: the alumni events and off-site experiences became a nice addition, even for the previous cohorts

Overall, I feel we experienced YC at its lowest, and it's not fair to use it as a reference point. There are still challenges with dilution (MFN) and the alumni experience (you basically lose most of the access), but they definitely listened to the feedback and have made positive changes that founders can already feel.