Do you believe YC will increase the value of your company by 5-8%? Yes.

Their brand brings better investors, more qualified employees, press and more qualified employees.

I'm not implying that YC isn't worth it, just asking. For the record, I think it probably is worth it, but I'm wavery on that thought. 5-8% is a lot.

Depends on 5-8% of what :)

I think YC would be great for several reasons.

1. First time entrepreneurs will learn a lot.

2. The network of friends you'll have access to after you graduate is great.

3. It seems to be easier to get meetings with investors when you've already been vetted by YC.

Which also means that tech entrepreneurship is supposedly under sabotage, though some would call it a spell. It's the MITM thing that I don't like. It's like the age of shovel sellers to gold diggers for the Internet?

Something that is both good and bad depending on which side of application process you are.