&gt;I feel like people think if you&#x27;re in YC you&#x27;re a sure bet.<p>Did not mean to imply I feel YC makes success a sure bet, that is obviously and demonstrably false.<p>That said; non-monetary resources made available to YC companies are &#x27;mostly&#x27; available to every startup? Really?[0]<p>-Regular founders dinners(networking, helps with initial traction)<p>-Free legal counsel<p>-AWS&#x2F;Azure credit well above what the respective companies offer non-yc startups.<p>-Being YC alum helps with future funding rounds.<p>-&gt;but even YC companies that raise smaller-ish rounds fail all the time.<p>Yes...Of course they do, that&#x27;s the point of VC<p>Yes blog posts and AMA&#x27;s are great learning material, but I&#x27;d argue they aren&#x27;t nearly as valuable as regular 1on1&#x27;s with the people that wrote them.<p>I&#x27;m not trying to say YC is a magic bullet or that YC alum &#x27;have it easy&#x27;, it&#x27;s hard as hell to create a successful startup. I am saying that there are not-so-trivial advantages to being incubated at&#x2F;by YC<p>[0]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&#x2F;3042861&#x2F;the-y-combinator-chronicles&#x2F;the-secret-million-that-y-combinator-invests-in-all-its-startups" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&#x2F;3042861&#x2F;the-y-combinator-chronicl...</a>