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Y Combinator is already known as one of the most successful startup incubators in the tech industry. But just how successful is YC? And how successful are the 316 companies that have gone through the program?

According to co-founder Paul Graham, very successful. The combined value of the top 21 startups that have graduated from the program is $4.7 billion.

As location-based social networks have become more popular, we've grown fairly comfortable with checking in places and letting friends know where we are or where we've been. Some of those services also allow users to leave reviews and recommendations, notifying others about our experiences there. But none of these sites are really ideal for keeping track of locations you might want to visit in the future, events you might want to attend, or experiences you might want to have. If a friend tells you, "Next time you're in Eugene, Oregon, try the pulled pork sandwich at Papa's Soul Food Kitchen," you might make a mental note, but there isn't really an app that will help you keep track of these sorts of recommendations and plans from friends all in one place- until now.

WhereBerry, a Y Combinator-backed startup, launches today to tackle this problem of tracking and sharing plans - both specific and "someday." Friends can be invited to join the activities and can comment on the proposed plans as well.

A number of new startup accelerator and incubator programs have popped up lately, a response no doubt to the success of the Y Combinator and TechStars programs and the success of the programs' participants. At some level, many of these programs offer similar features: networking, mentoring, office space, and funding.

Many of these new programs are modelled on YC or TechStars, but that doesn't really guarantee their success. So in order to help entrepreneurs have a better understanding of which programs were really worth the time and effort, Aziz Gilani from DFJ Mercury, working in conjunction with Tech Cocktail and the Kellogg School of Management, undertook a research project to actually rank the accelerator programs in the U.S.

On one hand, I'm a big fan of the gift card. I never know what to buy people, so gift cards always seem like a good option. On the other hand, gift cards can be frustrating, particularly if I want to get one to a particular local business and not just a major chain. A lot of sites don't offer gift cards, and if they do, you have to actually go into the shop to purchase one - that's a pain when your family is spread all over the country. And it's a pain for recipients to have to keep track of little gift certificates or plastic cards.

Thankfully, GIftRocket has rebooted the whole process, with a really innovative solution that should please merchants, gift-givers, and recipients alike.

Hallmark spends some $60 million a year on designs for its greeting cards, and yet - with apologies to those artists - it can still be quite a challenge to find the just the right card. Frankly, a lot of cards are ugly. They're tacky. They're sappy.

So Y Combinator alum Chirply is taking on the greeting card industry by crowdsourcing stationery designs. Chirply had its soft launch a few weeks ago, soliciting designs and voting, and the startup is now ready to open its doors to the retail business.

As of June of 2010, the total U.S. consumer debt was $2.40 trillion. As much as 98% of the revolving debt in the U.S. is credit card debt, and the average household carries about $8000 in credit card debt. As daunting as those statistics are for the country as a whole, the choices faced by the individuals who are in debt and who want to eliminate it are just as depressing.

Information about debt reduction can be difficult to find, and there are plenty of questionable practices by banks and by debt consolidation companies that just serve to muddy the waters.

So making the task of tackling your debt easy and transparent is a big part of the mission of the YC-backed company Ready for Zero. Ready for Zero a free service with a very simple interface that helps clarify your financial status and plan your way out of debt.

The Y-Combinator-backed startup Convore launches today, boasting one of the easiest ways to handle group-chat.

Convore is a real-time communication tool, but unlike many other apps that offer group chat, Convore runs in your browser and doesn't require a download or chat client. "Basically, it's a contemporary version of IRC," says co-founder Leah Culver.

Last week we wrote about the services that Y Combinator startups use. For hosting, Amazon Web Services and Rackspace were the most popular services.

Windows Azure was noticeably absent. But why? A topic turned up on Quora, citing our post and wondering why the lack of adoption.

The topic has sparked a bit of discussion. The consensus: Azure is better suited for larger enterprise operations.

A domain profiler document on GitHub is providing some interesting insights into the services that Y Combinator startups use to host its services.

The breakdown is according to Web host, Email host, DNS Host, Registrar, SSL Issuer and Certificate type.

Y Combinator, the seed investing and startup incubating powerhouse, announced this morning that it has added its first two new investment partners since launching five years ago.

They are: Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail, the prototype for Adsense and the Google slogan "don't be evil" and Harj Taggar, a Y Combinator employee who previously built and sold an eBay auction automation software company. Buchheit will reportedly leave Facebook to join the incubator. Y Combinator helps build small startups, runs the widely-appreciated Startup School and owns the startup-focused social news site Hacker News, among other projects.