Ask HN: What protects YC (or others) from dilution?

I don't think YC ever asks for no-dilution. A founder can not cheat because of various reasons: 0. Founders will have to dilute themselves to dilute YC 1. Investment is done based on a contract, which defines and controls the power that founders have. They can't issue any number of shares to themselves without putting in more money. 2. If somehow, founders are able to cheat YC that would destroy their credibility and their market valuation, resulting in huge financial loss.

EDIT: read this: http://www.paulgraham.com/angelinvesting.html

Nothing. No. They don't.

Everyone gets diluted. VC firms and investors get diluted. There are ways to add anti-dilution clauses. It's complicated and I don't understand how they work. But AFAIK they are extremely rare and their presence will dissuade investors from investing. What prevents abuse? Trust. If you're a VC firm and you screw someone over, word will get around and all the good deals will dry up. If you're an entrepreneur and you screw someone over, word will get around and you'll never be able to raise money again (from the top firms, at least).

Ycombinator, invest in me and I will never do that to you.