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The YC badge is part of what distinguishes "everyday small business owners" and "credible tech founders®". This is part of what YC is selling; a credential that identifies you as being a tech founder worthy of respect in the Bay Area.

(I don't personally put a ton of stock in this credential, but the reality is the tech world does.)

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oh, so a "founder" is not a founder. A "founder" is only one that is blessed by YC, and nobody else is a founder of a company unless it is through YC?

If someone goes through some other incubator or program, it doesn't count? Like, you could get an MBA from Harvard, PhD is astrophysics from MIT, win the Nobel Prize at 18 years old, start a company and make $800 billion dollars, and you still won't be a "credible tech founder®"? I'm just trying to understand this here. YC is the only font of "credible tech founderhood®"?

I think if you have all those things your title becomes “living genius” — no one will care about the founder part.

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