Paul GrahamVerified account

I mean that’s one response. It’s totally reasonable to say that “these are all businesses that will make us money if we invest”. My point isn’t that these aren’t good investments. My point is that YC went from investing in Boom to 200 niche uninspiring SaaS businesses

It's worth noting that a significant number of world changing tech companies started with products for very niche (and usually high net worth) groups. Facebook, Tesla, Uber - even cell phones. The starting point may seem small, doesn't mean there isn't a bigger vision.

Maybe it's me changing, not the world, but I have a gut feeling that repairing and improving our political institutions is going to be "where it's at" for the foreseeable future, in terms of doing the most good

That’s not what he meant @paulg. YC went from literally funding insane ideas like http://Justin.tv , Boom, and Airbnb to funding run-of-the-mill SAAS companies that are extremely low risk for the amount they’re being seeded with.

We funded a company in this batch developing psychedelic-derived drugs to treat mental illness. I think that is a bit more “out there” then a live video platform.

One of the biggest reasons why I won’t apply to YC if and when I do build something again. It’s just a waste of time these days unless you want to hear “Talk to your users” for 3 months straight and get seeded with 120k

It sounds like what @paulg is saying is you have the power to change the world, but you can only do that by building. He’s avoiding taking a stance on current YC, but he’s written so much you could just read his writing and approximate what he would think