These days, it seems as though YC is the new Harvard business school.
YC made startup journey feel like going to b-school (“application deadline”; “acceptance rate”; “alumni and cohort network”; etc). And that helps tremendously when new people enter the unfamiliar territory of startups.
But don’t go too far and think doing a startup is the same as going to school. There are no definitive right or wrong answers, or perfect problem sets to solve. In school, teachers grade your work with ultimate authority; for startups, external validators such as mentors, investors, or even YC itself can’t determine the success of a startup with a final authority. Only the product and customers can.
Getting into YC is an incredible achievement, but don’t equate this with the success of your startup. There are no problem sets to solve, and no one can guarantee your startup’s success except your product and customers.