Not PG specifically, but unless you operate on the premise that getting into YC does nothing to help your startup OR that YC's acceptance processes are flawless (two assertions I'm 100% certain PG would not make) then there is a layer of gatekeeperdome inherit in what YC does.
I would personally argue it's a large one, but it certainly IS one.
If you think like this, even a little, I think you can find a way to see everything in life as having a gate. Can't get on TV, radio, on some blog, etc. ... gatekeeper present. That's the wrong mindset to have IMO.
Um, yeah - gatekeepers are WAY more present in TV, radio, and blogs than even at YC. At least at YC there are lots of partners, in those examples it's usually one person who decides to have you on. Patriarchy is a way bigger problem in those places.
It's not about an attitude about life - I don't worry about gatekeepers at because practically you can't. You've got to give gatekeepers no choice - give YC no choice but to accept you, Techcrunch no choice but to write about you, etc. etc. But as a matter or discussing how our SOCIETY should work, gatekeepers need to examine their biases, strongly and often.
1. That's what YC almost always does, invest as the first and only investor in their own round where they take 7%-ish equity in exchange for a bit of money and all the other things they do. There are rare occasions where that's not what happens, but that's the norm. There's also a follow up from the YC fund that is convertible debt of some kind and always comes from the investors, but that's still 100% based on YC's decision
2. Gatekeeper might not be the perfect term, but it's darn close. YC is a gate, they are the keepers of the gate, and it's an important gate. Not the gate TO doing a startup but a gate IN startupdome.
Edited original comment to be more clear, I can see how the insinuation the being in YC is a gate you must cross to do a startup would cause confusion.
I would personally argue it's a large one, but it certainly IS one.