> that the biz model has remained basically the same for 50 years

The biz model has, if anything, become more risk-averse and more Finacialized (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financialization) over the last 20 years.

The industry is no longer self-funded by exits and large LPs, but funded by large institutional investors, sovereign funds and the like who demand a reliable IRR. This in turn, leads to ever larger rounds, fewer IPOs and less equity to employees.

I'm not sure I see the general public wanting to invest in startups, the success rate is just too low.

What if YC or 500startups were allowed to go public and people can buy their stock? Returns on YC model far exceeds S&P. I think pg has created an incredible framework which can be further evolved in open markets. I can absolutely see S&P index dominated by company-aggregators as opposed to individual companies. That seems to be the natural evolution.

YC should IPO. They can make a much bigger impact with bigger funding

The success probability for one startup is too low, but if you invest in a lot of them you still have a very good chance of making money

See Kickstarter.

Also see https://angel.co/syndicates

Or society collapses and innovation is taken to a personal survival level where capital is pointless.

that only holds true if financiers have no relationships with the companies they fund, but that isn't the case. E.g. people want to get into YC for the network and the relationships.