Like a lot of things that come up time and time again, not because it's true.
A lot of people assume that because we've funded some companies valued in the billions, this is the only thing that counts as success to us. But that isn't true:
A lot of people assume that because we've funded some companies valued in the billions, this is the only thing that counts as success to us. But that isn't true:
YC was never about the money.
For an insight into PG's motivations, you might want to re-read his essay on cities (it's more likely to be "power", as in your influence on the world). The footnote in the Black Swan essay linked above seems to corroborate that.