At the start of the S23 batch we interviewed 50 founders about why they applied to Y Combinator. It's a look at the program through the people that YC helps the most: our founders. The deadline for Winter 24 batch is October 13! Apply below. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/FounderFAQ-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/FounderFAQ-jobs Special thanks to the founders of these companies: Wayfund, Sweep, Righpage, Paylane, KinoAI, Sidenote, Fiber AI, Simbie Health, Flint, Elyos Energy, Happy Robot, Kobalt Labs, Revamp, Strada, Envelope, Automorphic, Quill, Gleam, Homey, Trayd, SpineAI, Eden Care, Greenlite, Cercli, Fortuna Health Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Intro 00:14 - Mentorship and Support 00:39 - Working with Partners 01:02 - Community and Network 01:29 - Following YC and it's Reputation 01:58 - Hiring and Funding 02:27 - Building Network Outside Bay Area
Geoff Ralston interviews YC founder Paul Graham and draws out startup wisdom. Startup School is YC's free online program for founders. Sign up to access the full curriculum and over $100k in deals! https://www.startupschool.org/
How to Start a Startup is a series of video lectures, initially given at Stanford in Fall 2014. Lecture Transcript: http://www.tech.genius.com/Paul-graham-lecture-3-counterintuitive-parts-of-startups-and-how-to-have-ideas-annotated Paul Graham delivers an informative (and highly amusing) talk, addressing counterintuitive parts of startups, in Lecture 3 of How to Start a Startup. See the readings at http://www.startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec03 Discuss this lecture: http://www.startupclass.co/courses/how-to-start-a-startup/lectures/64032
For the first time in over two years, YC was in person. We take a look at the latest evolution of the YC batch, featuring the founders of Summer 2022. Apply to the next batch here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ #startups #business #entrepreneur Photo: Albert Law Video: Zach Both
Two decades, thousands of founders, hundreds of thousands of jobs and $800B in value created — and one mission that hasn’t changed: helping founders make something people want. Thank you Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, and Robert Morris!
YC President Geoff Ralston concludes Startup School this year with some parting advice, as founders continue on their journey to make something people want. Transcript and lecture slides here: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6u-startup-school-parting-advice This lecture is part of YC's Startup School, a free online program and global community of founders. Register and join the community at https://www.startupschool.org/ Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:46 There is no one path - Things to think about in the next phase of your company 00:03:28 - Find your path and make it yours 00:03:35 - - Focus on what matters 00:04:20 Startups are hard 00:04:52 - Things will go wrong 00:05:17 - Geoff experience 00:07:07 - - La La Media 00:08:14 Important quality of a startup founder - Overcoming adversity with determination 00:08:26 - Examples - YC companies 00:10:32 - When in difficult situation - Default to action (write code and talk to users) 00:11:31 - Keep control of your own destiny 00:11:40 Think about the kind of company you are building 00:11:51 - Paul Graham quote and essay on 'Be good' - https://www.paulgraham.com/good.html 00:12:23 - Being good 00:12:28 - - Good and kind to yourself 00:12:39 - - Be good to your co-founders 00:12:57 - - - Founder communication (https://www.slideshare.net/InnerspaceSF/innerspace-founder-communication-workshop-june-23-2017) 00:13:03 - - Be good to your employees 00:13:27 - - Be good to your customers 00:13:38 - - Be good to your investors 00:13:59 - - Be good for the world 00:14:06 Summary 00:15:03 End
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel take a look at Paul Graham's essay "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" and share tips on how to be more effective and productive on the journey to creating a billion dollar business. Read PG's essay here: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done 00:38 - PG Essay 01:18 - Maker Schedule 03:59 - The Right Time 05:01 - Structure of YC 05:59 - Manager Schedule 06:36 - Meetings 07:38 - Visible KPIs 09:38 - Your Main Focus 10:51 - Great founders not do 👇 11:01 - Social Media 13:33 - Tools for Time 14:10 - Startup Mentorship 16:00 - Hedging Bets
YC Group Partner Jared Friedman shares a framework for how to get and evaluate startup ideas. He shares many examples of YC companies and the inside stories of how they came up with the ideas that turned into billion dollar companies. Even if you have an existing idea, this talk helps founders confirm that their idea is good and/or provide framework for a future pivot. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Finding a promising idea 00:51 - Where does this advice come from? 01:44 - 4 most common mistakes 06:29 - 10 key questions to ask about any startup idea 14:40 - 3 things that make your startup idea good 19:42 - How to come up with startup ideas 21:25 - 7 recipes for generating startups ideas #startup #tech #entrepreneur
YC Partner & Former Head of Growth at Airbnb, Gustaf Alströmer, gives tactical advice to answer the question: how do I get my first customers? Gustaf will cover this topic for all kinds of companies - whether you're B2B or B2C. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Introduction 00:20 - Outline 00:44 - Do things that don't scale 03:40 - Founders should learn how to do sales 08:45 - The sales funnel 13:50 - Charging your first customer 15:24 - Working backwards from your goal 19:51 - Summary #startup #tech #entrepreneur
YC has become a surprising force in the hard tech world, funding startups building physical products from satellites to rockets to electric planes. In this episode of Lightcone, we go behind the scenes to explore how YC advises founders on their ambitious startups. We also take a look at a number of YC's hard tech companies and how they got started with little time or money. Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Coming Up 02:42 - YC's Model for Hard Tech 04:19 - Mindset Shift and Proving Technical Feasibility 08:30 - Examples 21:09 - Evaluating Risk in Hard Tech 22:18 - More Examples 37:12 - Vision Breakdown 44:09 - Mission-Oriented and Prototyping 46:25 - Robotics and Fundraising 47:58 - Outro
Y Combinator is well-known for producing companies like Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase and more. But what's the real story behind the success of YC and the companies they fund? This is everything you need to know about the program. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/MainFunction-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/MainFunction-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Intro 00:57 - What's It Like to Be at YC? 01:09 - Chapter 1 - Speeding Up 02:08 - Product Market Fit 02:44 - Chapter 2 - Exclusive Community Knowledge 04:31 - Chapter 3 - The Capital
Instead of “fail fast,” it’s about following your curiosity and building with the latest tech. Jared talks about why living at the edge of the future makes discovering great startup ideas much easier.
Jessica Livingston opens Startup School Silicon Valley 2014 View the annotated transcript, and add annotations of your own, on Genius: http://tech.genius.com/Jessica-livingston-jessica-livingston-introduces-startup-school-sv-2014-annotated
In this lecture, YC Partner Kevin Hale goes over how to package up your idea and communicate it to an investor. He shares his tips on how to craft your pitch in a clear and concise way that effectively grabs your audience's attention. Transcript and lecture slides here: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6q-how-to-pitch-your-startup This lecture is part of YC's Startup School, a free online program and global community of founders. Register and join the community at https://www.startupschool.org/ Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 Introduction 2:09 YC application 5:08 Be clear 12:30 Example pitches 16:35 "X for Y" 20:09 Be concise 27:09 Conclusion
What's happening in startups right now and how can you get ahead of the curve? In this episode of the Lightcone podcast, we dive deep into the major trends we're seeing from the most recent batch of YC using data we've never shared publicly before. This is a glimpse into what might be the most exciting moment to be a startup founder ever. It's time to build. YC is accepting late applications for the Summer 24 batch: ycombinator.com/apply Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Coming Up 01:51 - AI companies in the batch 02:40 - Consumer ideas 04:46 - B2B ideas 06:45 - Developer tools 13:37 - Technical founder 16:41 - Platform shift 20:31 - What has YC funded less of? 31:56 - New initiatives 41:42 - Outro
Office Hours at Startup School 2013 with Paul Graham and Sam Altman CodeCombat: George Saines, Nick Winter 100: Karen Cheng and Finbarr Taylor Flexport: Ryan Petersen
Talk at Startup School Europe 2014 at The Brewery in London
Paul Graham, the Founder of Y Combinator, speaks live from Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. He covers two topics -- if you should you go to Silicon Valley and what Sweden can do to thrive as a Startup hub. Originally recorded on 4.29.2026 Chapters: 01:01 – Why the Big Center Matters 02:45 – The Power of Serendipitous Meetings 04:36 – Investors Move Faster in the Valley 06:03 – Respect Follows the Move 07:59 – The Dropbox Story 09:10 – Measuring Yourself Against Big Fish 12:21 – Silicon Valley's Pay-It-Forward Culture 15:36 – How to Help Stockholm Thrive 17:24 – YC as the Optimal Path 19:54 – Could Stockholm Become The Silicon Valley of Europe? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
What I learned from reading "How To Do Great Work" (https://www.paulgraham.com/greatwork.html) by Paul Graham. https://www.founderspodcast.com/ Full Transcript and Show Notes: https://www.founderspodcast.com/episodes/82609084/senra-paul-graham-how-to-do-great-work?prod-episode%5Bquery%5D=314 David Senra: https://x.com/FoundersPodcast?s=20
What I learned from reading Paul Graham’s essays (http://www.paulgraham.com/index.html) https://www.founderspodcast.com/ Full Transcript and Show Notes: https://www.founderspodcast.com/episodes/96913281/senra-paul-grahams-essays David Senra: https://x.com/FoundersPodcast?s=20
What I learned from reading Paul Graham’s essays (http://www.paulgraham.com/index.html) https://www.founderspodcast.com/ Full Transcript and Show Notes: https://www.founderspodcast.com/episodes/91666180/senra-paul-graham-lessons-from-his-essays-pt2 David Senra: https://x.com/FoundersPodcast?s=20
What I learned from reading "Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas From The Computer Age" by Paul Graham (https://a.co/d/e5Jdev5) https://www.founderspodcast.com/ Full Transcript and Show Notes: https://www.founderspodcast.com/episodes/79145535/senra-paul-graham-lessons-from-his-essays-pt3 David Senra: https://x.com/FoundersPodcast?s=20
YC founder Paul Graham details a few mistakes that founders often make early on. Learn how to tackle common startup pitfalls from experts and YC partners in Startup School. Sign up now for this year's course at https://startupschool.org.
In the beginning, startups should do things that don't scale. Here, YC founder Paul Graham explains why. Join the community and learn from experts and YC partners. Sign up now for this year's course at https://startupschool.org.
When should you launch your startup? YC founder Paul Graham shares his advice with Startup School. Join the community and learn from experts and YC partners. Sign up now for this year's course at https://startupschool.org.
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss Paul Graham's essay "Default Alive or Default Dead." They share strategies to cut your company's burn rate and keep your startup alive to see another day. Paul Graham's essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/aord.html Trevor Blackwell's startup growth calculator: http://growth.tlb.org Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Introduction 00:23 - Default alive or default dead 02:14 - The calculator 02:59 - Founder's distraction - Fundraising game 07:32 - Fundraising leverage 09:57 - Math are different 11:29 - Kill or cure 15:37 - The fatal pinch 19:22 - Tough decisions when default dead 19:40 - Headcount 20:46 - Ad Spend 22:50 - Raising prices 25:16 - Personal bankruptcy - Taking a big hit to growth rate 26:28 - Twitch's pirate ship 32:22 - Takeaways 32:27 - Survive to thrive 33:15 - To burn or not burn 34:06 - 10x better if operationally intensive business #ycombinator #startups #burnrate
A little over ten years ago Paul Graham published the essay "Do Things That Don't Scale." At the time, it was highly controversial advice that spoke to the drastically different needs of an early startup versus the needs of a much larger, more established company. YC Partners discuss PG's essay, its influence on Silicon Valley, and some prime examples of YC founders that embraced the mantra "Do Things That Don't Scale." Read Paul Graham's essay here: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/OfficeHours-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/OfficeHours-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 Intro 02:09 Paul Graham's Essay 04:17 Prioritizing Scalability 05:38 Solving Immediate Problems 08:53 Fleek's Manual Connections 10:32 Algolia and Stripe 12:25 Learning Over Scalability 15:20 Embrace Unscalable Tasks 17:41 Experiment and Adapt 19:06 DoorDash's Pragmatic Approach 21:26 Swift Problem Solving 22:33 Transition to Scalability 23:30 Consulting Services 25:05 Outro
In this episode of the Lightcone Podcast, YC Group Partners chart the evolution of San Francisco as the center of the startup world and how AI has brought everyone back to the city. They also talk about why YC chose to open our new HQ in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco and share their advice for new founders moving to the city for the first time. Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Coming Up 01:50 - Startup Base Shift 04:22 - Y Combinator's Impact 07:51 - Twitter's San Francisco office transformed startups energy 10:06 - Startup Culture 14:38 - Culture of Ambition 17:19 - San Franciscos after COVID hit 19:18 - AI's Central Role 20:05 - Silicon Valley hub 21:43 - Emerging Neighborhoods 25:33 - Proximity to Y Combinator 28:14 - San Franciscos Hacker House 30:18 - Success Odds Maximization 31:00 - Hyper-Inclusive Environment 33:05 - Outro
Sign Up for "Writing Examples" and Learn From The Best Writing of All Time: https://www.writingexamples.com Paul Graham is one of the most successful writers and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Sure, he sold a company to Yahoo and co-founded Y Combinator, which has created hundreds of billions of dollars in value. But more than that, Paul is a renowned essayist and his thoughts on what makes good writing are worth paying attention to. So, how has writing led to Paul Graham's success? I've deconstructed 11 of his best lessons and we're going to go through them one by one. Ultimately, you’ll learn the writing secrets behind this mega-successful investor, how he engages and delights his audience, and how you can, too. Also, if you listen until the end, I have an unreleased goodie in here about what Sam Altman learned from Paul Graham. And I'm not going to share that anywhere else. SPEAKER LINKS: Website: https://www.paulgraham.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulg Book: https://www.paulgraham.com/books.html WRITE OF PASSAGE: Want to learn more about the next class for Write of Passage? Click here: https://writeofpassage.com/ PODCAST LINKS: Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:40 Write simply 00:08:00 Bootcamp 00:09:15 Great writing comes from great editing 00:26:25 Writing generates ideas 00:28:55 General and surprising 00:40:50 Try painting 00:44:35 Do hard things 00:48:40 Cultivate your taste for great writing 00:51:45 Copy what you like 00:57:30 Don't try to develop a personal style 00:58:40 When an ending appears, grab it 01:10:00 Special clip with Sam Altman ABOUT THE HOST: I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. How I Write is a podcast by Write of Passage // Production by Adam Soccolich
Many startups fail because they run out of money. So how should you think about how to spend the money you raise? In this episode of Office Hours, YC General Partners Brad Flora, Pete Koomen, Nicolas Dessaigne, and Gustaf Alströmer discuss how to spend responsibly at each stage of a startup— including advice on when to hire, whether to invest in marketing and what spending mistakes to avoid. Apply to Y Combinator: https://ycombinator.com/apply Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Intro 01:40 - How to think about money 02:42 - Funding 03:00 - Hiring 07:00 - Spending 10:45 - Speed 13:00 - Mistakes 16:04 - Waste of money 19:34 - Missed opportunity 23:44 - Runway 26:38 - Being honest 28:40 - Outro
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about Paul Graham's essay "Do Things That Don't Scale" and what it really means for founders. Read the essay here: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Do things that don't scale 00:58 - Reddit 02:54 - DoorDash 04:39 - Cruise 06:19 - What is the life and job of a CEO in the pre product-market fit stages? 08:01 - Customer support 09:30 - Criticisms 11:02 - Learn at Google - Before startup I need to work at a big company? 13:46 - Mental prep - How do we help founders prepare their minds for this zone? 16:13 - Wrap-up
Step inside the group partners' lounge to hear Y Combinator Partners Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel and Brad Flora discuss how startups should approach launching and the exceptions to the rules. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Inside the partners' lounge 01:00 - Why don't startups like to launch early and move quickly? 01:30 - What is fast? 02:18 - V1 of Instacart 03:18 - V1 of Brex 03:59 - Founders perfect launch and why can't they move fast? 05:54 - What's the worst case scenario? What founders are afraid of? 07:42 - V1 of Magic 08:08 - Devils advocate 08:39 - Rippling 10:33 - Zenefits 11:42 - Founders common trap 12:34 - Wrap-up #ycombinator #startup #launch