Investors pay 520x ARR for YC S26 startups vs 47x for everyone else, an 11x premium
garrytan · x · 2026-09-05
Investor @kul highlights a striking valuation gap: YC S26 batch companies are being valued at roughly 520x ARR, while comparable startups outside YC get 47x — an 11x premium on the same traction.
He argues this alone answers the question of whether YC is worth it for founders, before even counting the network effects and the time saved by compressing a fundraise into 10 days.
More from Venture
- A赚钱 niche on Xianyu: charging to install open-source AI tools for non-techies — sven_ai · 2026-10-23
- AI wrapper founder's revenue chart ends with 'OpenAI shipped it as a feature' — ThePeterMick · 2026-10-23
- Thousands of developers paid up to $1,000 for his boilerplate he was told wouldn't sell — kylegawley · 2026-10-23
- SK Hynix Pulls Plug on Solidigm US IPO as Chip Stocks Slide, Shares Down ~30% This Quarter — rohanpaul_ai · 2026-10-23
- AI builds your SaaS in days, but ops and marketing eat the savings — sven_ai · 2026-10-23
- Solo Dev Shows a Two-Year Subscriber Who Keeps Re-Subscribing and Cancelling — gefei55 · 2026-10-23