And you can really feel all of that sentiment when working with Jessica and the rest of Y Combinator. They're not just doing it because it's the next-generation, paradigm-shifting, game-changing micro-investment model (I call that buzzword-dashing).
It's also one of the reasons why, with all these similar funds cropping up, YC cannot be completely duplicated.
It could be duplicated a lot better if people didn't drop the most important thing, which to my mind is the part about helping creative people make better lives for themselves than the default paths through the soulless wasteland usually afford.
I wondered for a bit if this was unfair. Motivation isn't something you can turn on or off, so it's not within the duplicators' control to duplicate that. But it is within their control to observe better. If I were going to make a YC clone and I didn't have that piece, I'd think twice about bothering.
Incidentally, I'm just basing this on what I've read. I haven't met any of the people involved.
It's also one of the reasons why, with all these similar funds cropping up, YC cannot be completely duplicated.