> YC does that because it's in its business interests to do it and because it's good for the world.
See, this is where I disagree. This is all well and good, but only if you accept the fundamental premise that taking VC investment is the best way to become an entrepreneur and to do good for the world.
I would strongly challenge this premise. I think for the vast majority of tech entrepreneurs, aiming to build a slowly growing business that doesn't have the aspiration to become a unicorn and 1000x everything is much, much better. I think that many great businesses failed because they were convinced by the VC-marketing-hype-machine to take on venture capital.
If YC's goal truly is to do good for the world, they would think about ways to help entrepreneurs make that happen, not force them into the VC world. I know that there are cases where VC-type capital is extremely valuable, and I'm glad that it exists, but for the vast majority, it's the wrong tool for the job.
YC's whole business model is based on the venture capital investment model. As you mentioned, they make a VC-type investment themselves initially. Then, at demo day they invite VCs. Then, they have their follow on VC investment rounds (not sure what it's called). In their educational materials, they preach hyper growth and even define a "startup" as a company that's designed to grow quickly.
Sure, but they're also happy to let founders do their own thing too rather than blinding preaching get big now like most VCs. As pointed out they've already got their cut so they'd rather have a success than a business that burnt out by trying to scale too big or too soon.
Yes sure, they don't force you to take additional VC money. But we all know that if all of their startups never raised VC again and grew slowly and profitably, their whole business model wouldn't work. So, let's cut the BS :-)
See, this is where I disagree. This is all well and good, but only if you accept the fundamental premise that taking VC investment is the best way to become an entrepreneur and to do good for the world.
I would strongly challenge this premise. I think for the vast majority of tech entrepreneurs, aiming to build a slowly growing business that doesn't have the aspiration to become a unicorn and 1000x everything is much, much better. I think that many great businesses failed because they were convinced by the VC-marketing-hype-machine to take on venture capital.
If YC's goal truly is to do good for the world, they would think about ways to help entrepreneurs make that happen, not force them into the VC world. I know that there are cases where VC-type capital is extremely valuable, and I'm glad that it exists, but for the vast majority, it's the wrong tool for the job.