Wha? Y Combinator and random Silicon Valley angels are somehow responsible for something big banks did over forty years ago? Before many of them were even born?
"Sometimes the kafkatrap is presented in less direct forms. A common variant, which I’ll call the Model C, is to assert something like this: “Even if you do not feel yourself to be guilty of {sin,racism,sexism, homophobia,oppression…}, you are guilty because you have benefited from the {sinful,racist,sexist,homophobic,oppressive,…} behavior of others in the system.” The aim of the Model C is to induce the subject to self-condemnation not on the basis of anything the individual subject has actually done, but on the basis of choices by others which the subject typically had no power to affect. The subject must at all costs be prevented from noticing that it is not ultimately possible to be responsible for the behavior of other free human beings." - http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=2122
I'm sorry to hear you got rejected from YC, but:
- there's a good bit of randomness in the process; no one could possibly have a 95% chance of getting an interview, even if they were young Elon Musk;
- as pg and co. will be the first to tell you, they make mistakes and don't fund promising groups all the time;
- simply getting a degree from any school (even Harvard) isn't a strong predictor of whether someone has all the skills to succeed at a startup (http://paulgraham.com/colleges.html), because colleges and YC are looking for somewhat different types of skillsets
"Sometimes the kafkatrap is presented in less direct forms. A common variant, which I’ll call the Model C, is to assert something like this: “Even if you do not feel yourself to be guilty of {sin,racism,sexism, homophobia,oppression…}, you are guilty because you have benefited from the {sinful,racist,sexist,homophobic,oppressive,…} behavior of others in the system.” The aim of the Model C is to induce the subject to self-condemnation not on the basis of anything the individual subject has actually done, but on the basis of choices by others which the subject typically had no power to affect. The subject must at all costs be prevented from noticing that it is not ultimately possible to be responsible for the behavior of other free human beings." - http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=2122
I'm sorry to hear you got rejected from YC, but:
- there's a good bit of randomness in the process; no one could possibly have a 95% chance of getting an interview, even if they were young Elon Musk;
- as pg and co. will be the first to tell you, they make mistakes and don't fund promising groups all the time;
- simply getting a degree from any school (even Harvard) isn't a strong predictor of whether someone has all the skills to succeed at a startup (http://paulgraham.com/colleges.html), because colleges and YC are looking for somewhat different types of skillsets