Most investors think because a YC Partner invested, that must be the best company. And the YC Partners should know, they've spent the last three months with every company!
I'm sure the YC Partners' track record of "picking" is no better than SV Angel, a16z, Greylock, etc.
I think this tweak to the investment policy will contribute to eliminating the sub-par angel investors who base a majority of their investments on which companies received funding from YC partners. PG taking action to make his dreams a reality [1]
I don't think this is the case; they only need to infer "better than average" or "not a lemmon". The problem is everyone else is trading-off the research of others and abnormal volatility# results, which has dis-utility to the companies involved. In fact, it eventually would become a dis-incentive to join YC. It is this latter outcome that surely YC wants to avoid. They are not going to benefit from the pricing of current companies, so much as they would lose long-term value of their franchise. Ie, if it becomes a very "hit or miss" investment of Founder's time, the more capable founders may seek to mitigate their exposure to such a process.
I'm sure the YC Partners' track record of "picking" is no better than SV Angel, a16z, Greylock, etc.
I think this tweak to the investment policy will contribute to eliminating the sub-par angel investors who base a majority of their investments on which companies received funding from YC partners. PG taking action to make his dreams a reality [1]
[1] http://paulgraham.com/invtrend.html