Or young enough that there’s not much more to lose than a few years.

If you’re choosing between going to a masters/phd or YC, then you’re in the right place. Or if you got laid off from a FAANG and looking for something fun to do while your severance lasts, doing a YC startup will beat other things you could add to your resume during this time.

And if it works, great you’re on your way to something cool. If it doesn’t, then at least you had a fun gap quarter.

But the people who really build successful companies don’t need any of this stuff. If you’ve got traction, VCs will find you.

~15 years ago I really wanted to get into YC. Now I realize that was because I wanted to be a founder more than I wanted to build a successful business. These days I focus on making the money machine go brrr and that's been working much better for me.

500k is enough to get you by for a few years at least, even in the bay area. You might not be able to afford champagne at the club every weekend, though.

In the sense that everybody with an established career in this field is "wealthy" relative to most other working people in the economy, yes.