"Due to the fact that the entire program (was) remote, the founders are at different stages, and there is no dependency on each other in any way—no relationship or a sense of community is formed."

"due to the fact that there are not 20, but 400 companies, it will be difficult to sell even within the batch, because other members are already overloaded with unique offers from other YC companies."

"YC does not have any industrial partners, and YC partners themselves will not do external intros to clients/investors for you! (Maybe investors, in rare cases, but under the table)."

"Months after the program I still find answers to my questions there and I’m nowhere near exhausting it. This is a very useful and really ground-breaking resource."

"you, the founders, should only build a product and talk to customers, everything else is superfluous and waste of time."

"Demo day is where YC generates its main value, and what people go to YC for. Undoubtedly, YC companies receive extra attention from investors and the very fact of their pre-selection by YC makes the deal hotter and increases its valuation."

"now this trend is fading, and the valuations of YC startups do not go very far from the valuations of outside companies. Undoubtedly, a large number of companies in the batch and dilution of the YC brand work against it."

"Where the benefit of YC really feels is: publicity, more inbound from small funds, more opportunities to find an intro to anyone, and never again write cold emails, a slightly higher valuation."

"Don't expect big players to reach out to you after the demo day. They know about you, if they haven't reached out yet it means they're not interested."

"My subjective opinion is that it makes sense to do if you: A) A super young team of 2-3 people, with burning eyes, a crazy idea, but without experience and resources, and you want someone to give you a kick and help build up the moment. B) Sell your product to startups and see a lot of benefits from gaining access to the YC network."

"Remember: accelerators and their help are temporary but the equity you give away forever"

"YC teaches you one thing well—startups are all about growth, and if you didn’t grow today, it’s on you to find out how to grow tomorrow."