Sam wasn't fired for doing a bad job at YC, he was fired because the compensation structure wasn't something he was happy with, which is why he was also "double dipping" with his own funds into startups - something that was common at the time across the whole org. Jessica Livingston even went on to put money into his next project (OpenAI) which is also counter to the characterization in your perspective. He has tons of friends in high places that continue to put a lot of their money into Sam's coffers, because Sam is really good at making money for himself and others