So you know how startups are a star search with returns dominated by whether you invest in Google/FB/etc? This is apparently pretty true for YC as well: the AirbnBoxen/Dropboxes will swamp most everything. Given that everyone is trying to invest in that one best startup this year, the prior valuations of "we guess the best starup will be in this pool" are pulling away from the generic "two guys with a gleam in their eye" ones, as a consequence of market participants reacting to YC et al being ridiculously better at picking winners than previous screening mechanisms.

Yay capitalism, by the way.