I know at least Spark and Lightspeed have incubators of sorts and that NEA at least does that sometimes.
I think the Sequoia thing has been a tempest in a teapot. It may have miffed some other firms, but I don't think that's affecting meetings we're getting and hasn't ever come up in talks.
Glad to hear. There are a ton of reasons why Sequoia might not invest in a company they have priority access to, many of which say nothing about the company. If I were an angel their lack of involvement wouldn't deter me.
On the other hand, I'm not an angel and probably don't think like most of them.
perhaps highland capital. i'm not sure if spark's program has invested in anything yet. could be lightspeed as well, although they generally fly below the radar (no press for their launches, etc.)
The other side of the story of course is maybe that the entrepreneur needs to rethink their product, reconsider their strategy and take it as a signal after it is passed on. Just because you got in to a prestigious program, doesn't necessarily mean that you have a product with a lot of potential. Funny thing with potential is that it doesn't always turn into something fruitful.
I'm really curious to see how the Sequoia thing shakes out for YC.