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I see your point, PG could focus on relentlessly increasing the quality of each batch - if his aim is too just establish a high quality brand for no other reason than he likes to (the elite college model).

However, from a purely profit perspective, PG would stand to make a lot more profits from scaling. After all, Walmart is younger than Harvard by hundreds of years, but makes a lot more money.

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YC's biggest benefits - the network and the credibility with investors - is somewhere between hard and not possible to replicate everywhere under a franchise model. Lots of incubators all over the world based themselves on what YC pioneered mostly with lackluster results.

If there was a YC here in Costa Rica the startups would be heading to SV to raise money. Multiply that by dozens of other countries that can't provide the complete ecosystem and the name becomes worthless and the network no more beneficial than HN.

Well, I don't know about that. A lot of that is based on the PG brand, which the other incubators don't have. PG and Buchheit's connections come in to play when selling shares at first round and after. Their handshakes count more than whether the startup's based in beijing, boston, or bangalore.

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