Quite a bit of it has to do with YC and the tech community buzz and implicit validation. The founder of HipMunk mentioned that CNN contacted him out of the blue within a day after they launched.
If it was the same product done outside YC I don't think they would have got CNN coverage, at least not this soon.
If it was the same product done outside YC I don't think they would have got CNN coverage, at least not this soon.