The websites of all the YC companies look similar. Have they all been worked on by the same designer?

No, but they've all been nagged to fix the same things, which tends to produce a certain similarity.

I think it's just a matter of following a few core design principles in the early stages. Many of the founders aren't designers and the sites were somewhat built learning from each other.

It's the "Web 2.0" fashion, kind of like punk kids all making the same kind of skinny jeans.

I'd be curious if you think that of our new site at <a href="http://www.virtualmin.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.virtualmin.com</a><p>We were in WFP07, and just launched the new site this past weekend...it was designed during the time when we were talking to YC companies every week...I wonder if those discussions bred conformity.