"We'd have to be willing to fund 10x more startups than they would."
The contracted 'we would' is key. They WOULD have to be willing to do that IF they were going to pursue that goal. They aren't. He's positing the idea that if they were properly optimized for the black swans then they would see a much lower funding rate. Not that they should aim for a low funding rate for it's own sake. But, as he discusses, actually performing such an optimization is hard, not to mention the fact that making money isn't their only reason for running YC.
"We'd have to be willing to fund 10x more startups than they would."
The contracted 'we would' is key. They WOULD have to be willing to do that IF they were going to pursue that goal. They aren't. He's positing the idea that if they were properly optimized for the black swans then they would see a much lower funding rate. Not that they should aim for a low funding rate for it's own sake. But, as he discusses, actually performing such an optimization is hard, not to mention the fact that making money isn't their only reason for running YC.