This makes me wonder if there's a perception issue: many of the companies are doing very well and delivered solid presentations, so no one really looks "10x" ahead of the rest. Especially since each company gets only 2:30 and many share the same structure. "This is what we do. Look, we have awesome traction. And we're making a bunch of money. And our growth is very healthy. There's a big potential market to capture. And this is how we see ourselves changing the world." And on top of that, you don't get a very strong sense of product and user experience within that narrow timeframe, sitting in an audience of a few hundred.
My guess is that if the quality distribution was more like what an angel/vc sees outside of YC, it'd be more obvious that that there are some amazing companies in the W13 batch.
My guess is that if the quality distribution was more like what an angel/vc sees outside of YC, it'd be more obvious that that there are some amazing companies in the W13 batch.