After YC - Customers? Please talk about Investors. Customers have no regard for YC. They look at your company and your product, your value addition. Which probably you've already proved, by the time you've gotten into YC.
Couldn't agree less. What's more, is see this advertisement of YC on this news channel, and tons of people who went to YC defending YC? 6% equity for doing nothing while the best employees work like slaves and get nothing more than bread?! (I don't count introductions/connections as work - Sorry guys.) - Clearly YC seems to have figured out how to get the good startups together and milk them of 6% for doing nothing! How hard is it to figure that out - oh here is one formula - "ou're growing your revenue and sales by 10% every week for 80 weeks - awesome - give us 6%" - these companies have already proved themselves. No Steve Blank's book is not worth 6%, nor is introductions. They will come for free, just decline your YC invitations.