"did some clunky work on it. That was their entry to YC"
For more context, YC doesn't judge your code, never has. It was never a code quality competition. Orthogonally, they do judge the results (user metrics).
Did they? YC regularly funded competitors. This was always true. Fundamentally, YC is betting on founders. They're optimizing for founders who can move fast enough to find a moat before they die, that's it.
They fund competitors because most YC companies usually pivot out anyway.
For more context, YC doesn't judge your code, never has. It was never a code quality competition. Orthogonally, they do judge the results (user metrics).