Training Example: Y Combinator – Review the Data, Give Your Score & Compare to the Real AI Evaluation

YC turns builders into formidable founders[1]AirbnbBrian, Joe, and Nate did YC in W09.Airbnb went public in 2020 at an over $100B valuation.YCNowOpenAISam was part of YC's inaugural batch in S05 and founded OpenAI as YC Research in 2015.Sam built OpenAI into a $500B company.YCNowStripeThe Collison brothers did YC twice—first in W07 and then in S09, when they started Stripe.Stripe is now the internet’s $107B payments backbone.YCNowCoinbaseFred and Brian met on Reddit and did YC in S12.Coinbase went public in 2021 at a $86B valuation.YCNowDoorDashAndy, Stanley, Tony, and Evan did YC in S13.DoorDash went public in 2020 at a valuation of $39B.YCNowScale AIAlexandr and Lucy did YC S16 and pivoted during the batch.In 2025, Meta acquired 49% of Scale for over $14B.YCNowDropboxArash and Drew started Dropbox at MIT and did YC in S07.Dropbox had the biggest tech IPO of 2018 at a $9B valuation.YCNowRedditAlexis and Steve were in the inaugural YC batch in S05.Reddit went public in 2024 at a $6.4B valuation.YCNowInstacartApoorva, Max, and Brandon did YC in S12.Instacart went public in 2023 at a $10B valuation.YCNowGitLabSid and Dmytro did YC in S14.GitLab went public in 2021 at an $11B valuation.YCNowKalshiTarek and Luana did YC in W19.Kalshi reached an $11B valuation in 2025.YCNowReplitHaya and Amjad interviewing for the YC W18 batch.Replit became a leading AI coding platform valued at over $9B.YCNowTwitchMichael, Justin, Kyle, and Emmett in YC W07.Twitch was acquired by Amazon for nearly $1B.YCNow[1] “A formidable person is one who seems like they’ll get what they want, regardless of whatever obstacles are in the way.” — Paul GrahamYC turns builders into formidable founders[1][1] “A formidable person is one who seems like they’ll get what they want, regardless of whatever obstacles are in the way.”— Paul GrahamDuring YC
[IMG: OpenAI during YC]
Sam was part of YC's inaugural batch in S05 and founded OpenAI as YC Research in 2015.During YC
[IMG: Airbnb during YC]
Brian, Joe, and Nate did YC in W09.During YC
[IMG: Stripe during YC]
The Collison brothers did YC twice—first in W07 and then in S09, when they started Stripe.During YC
[IMG: Coinbase during YC]
Fred and Brian met on Reddit and did YC in S12.During YC
[IMG: DoorDash during YC]
Andy, Stanley, Tony, and Evan did YC in S13.During YC
[IMG: Scale AI during YC]
Alexandr and Lucy did YC S16 and pivoted during the batch.During YC
[IMG: Dropbox during YC]
Arash and Drew started Dropbox at MIT and did YC in S07.During YC
[IMG: Reddit during YC]
Alexis and Steve were in the inaugural YC batch in S05.During YC
[IMG: Instacart during YC]
Apoorva, Max, and Brandon did YC in S12.During YC
[IMG: GitLab during YC]
Sid and Dmytro did YC in S14.During YC
[IMG: Kalshi during YC]
Tarek and Luana did YC in W19.During YC
[IMG: Replit during YC]
Haya and Amjad interviewing for the YC W18 batch.During YC
[IMG: Twitch during YC]
Michael, Justin, Kyle, and Emmett in YC W07.
[IMG: Airbnb]
[IMG: Stripe]
[IMG: OpenAI]
[IMG: Coinbase]
[IMG: Scale AI]
[IMG: Dropbox]
[IMG: DoorDash]
[IMG: Reddit]
[IMG: Instacart]
[IMG: GitLab]
[IMG: Twitch]
[IMG: Brex]
[IMG: Rippling]
[IMG: Docker]
[IMG: Flexport]
[IMG: Deel]
OpenAIAirbnbStripeCoinbaseDoorDashScale AIDropboxRedditInstacartGitLabKalshiReplitTwitch$1.3 Trillionin combined valuationAll companiesNow
[IMG: OpenAI now]
Sam built OpenAI into a $500B company.Now
[IMG: Airbnb now]
Airbnb went public in 2020 at an over $100B valuation.Now
[IMG: Stripe now]
Stripe is now the internet’s $107B payments backbone.Now
[IMG: Coinbase now]
Coinbase went public in 2021 at a $86B valuation.Now
[IMG: DoorDash now]
DoorDash went public in 2020 at a valuation of $39B.Now
[IMG: Scale AI now]
In 2025, Meta acquired 49% of Scale for over $14B.Now
[IMG: Dropbox now]
Dropbox had the biggest tech IPO of 2018 at a $9B valuation.Now
[IMG: Reddit now]
Reddit went public in 2024 at a $6.4B valuation.Now
[IMG: Instacart now]
Instacart went public in 2023 at a $10B valuation.Now
[IMG: GitLab now]
GitLab went public in 2021 at an $11B valuation.Now
[IMG: Kalshi now]
Kalshi reached an $11B valuation in 2025.Now
[IMG: Replit now]
Replit became a leading AI coding platform valued at over $9B.Now
[IMG: Twitch now]
Twitch was acquired by Amazon for nearly $1B.
[IMG: Substack]
[IMG: Replit]
[IMG: Rappi]
[IMG: Gusto]
[IMG: PagerDuty]
[IMG: Benchling]
[IMG: Vanta]
[IMG: Front]
[IMG: Faire]
[IMG: Ironclad]
[IMG: Zepto]
[IMG: Stoke Space]
[IMG: PostHog]
[IMG: Flock Safety]
[IMG: Kalshi]
[IMG: Zapier]
In 2005, Y Combinator developed a new model of startup funding. Four times a year we invest $500k in a select group of startups. They move to San Francisco for three months, where we work intensively with them to get the company into the best possible shape, before they present to a large audience of investors on Demo Day.But YC doesn’t end on Demo Day. We and the YC alumni network continue to help founders for the life of their company, and beyond.
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]
[H2] In Founders’ Words
YC compresses months of growth into weeks.
[IMG: Aman Mishra]
The sense of urgency is so infectious among founders that it becomes the most productive period in most people’s lives.
[IMG: Adith Reddi]
It’s a community of founders that you can’t find anywhere else.
[IMG: Bishesh Khadka]
It feels like having the entire world at your back—from Partners to batchmates.
[IMG: Justin Lee]
Being surrounded by the top 1% of founders in the world just completely resets the bar.
[IMG: Fern Morrison]
You leave with a completely new sense of how fast ‘fast’ can be.
[IMG: Aman Mishra]
[H2] Be in the room with …
Brian CheskyAirbnbSam AltmanOpenAIGreg BrockmanOpenAIMichael TruellCursorPaul GrahamY CombinatorGuillermo RauchVercelDylan FieldFigmaEmmett ShearTwitchTony XuDoorDash
[H2] All partners were YC founders first
Garry TanPosterous, S08Co-founder of Posterous (acquired by Twitter) and Initialized Capital. Early engineer at Palantir, designed company logo.Harj TaggarAuctomatic, W07Co-founder and CEO of Triplebyte (acquired by Karat) and Auctomatic (acquired by Live Current Media). Graduated from Oxford.Jared FriedmanScribd, S06Co-founder of Scribd, one of the top 100 sites on the web. Harvard CS dropout.Aaron EpsteinCreative Market, W10Co-founder of Creative Market, generating over $100M in sales for independent creators worldwide.Diana HuEscher Reality, S17Co-founder and CTO of Escher Reality (acquired by Niantic). Shipped AR tech for Pokémon GO to 100M+ users and grew up in Chile.Gustaf AlströmerHeysan, W07Led Growth at Airbnb for 4.5 years. Co-founder of Heysan. Previously Head of Growth at Voxer.Nicolas DessaigneAlgolia, W14Co-founder of Algolia, a Search API used by millions of developers. PhD in Computer Science.Tom BlomfieldGoCardless, S11Co-founder of Monzo (£500M raised, 10% UK population). Founded GoCardless. Awarded OBE in 2019.Brad FloraPerfect Audience, S11Co-founder and CEO of Perfect Audience (acquired by Marin Software). Active angel investor and Slate contributor.Pete KoomenOptimizely, W10Co-founder of Optimizely, grew to $100M+ ARR before acquisition. Master’s in CS from UIUC.Ankit GuptaReverie Labs, W18Co-founder and CTO of Reverie Labs (acquired by Ginkgo Bioworks). Deep learning researcher in language, vision, and biology.Tyler BosmenyClever, S12Co-founder and CEO of Clever (acquired for $500M). Used by 60% of US students.David LiebBump, S09Co-founder and CEO of Bump (150M+ users, acquired by Google). Co-founder of Google Photos (1B+ users).Andrew MiklasPagerDuty, S10Co-founder & CTO of PagerDuty (NYSE:PD), the first incident management platform and used by half of the Fortune 500. University of Waterloo & Toronto grad.Harshita AroraAtoB, S20Co-founder of AtoB, a fintech startup worth $800M. Moved from India to SF on an O-1 visa at 16 y/o.Jon XuFutureAdvisor, S10Co-founder and CTO of FutureAdvisor (acquired by BlackRock). Built robo-advisor platform for financial institutions. MIT EECS grad.
[H2] Knowledge & News
[IMG: Lightcone Podcast - Billion-Dollar Unpopular Startup Ideas]
[H3] Billion-Dollar Unpopular Startup Ideas
[IMG: Karpathy on AI]
[H3] Andrej Karpathy: Software Is Changing (Again)
[IMG: How to Build the Future]
[H3] How To Build The Future: Sam Altman
[IMG: Office Hours Series]
[H3] YC Partners Answer Your Questions
[H4] Startup News
Announcing the YC AI Stack›Emergent Raises $70M Series B at $300M Valuation›Govdash Raises $30M Series B›Fleetzero Raises $43M Series A for Battery-Powered Cargo Ships›Deepgram Raises $130M Series C›
[H4] Paul Graham Essays
Default Alive or Default Dead›Do Things that Don’t Scale›Be Relentlessly Resourceful›How to Get Startup Ideas›Startup = Growth›
[IMG: Karpathy on AI]
[H3] Andrej Karpathy: Software Is Changing (Again)
[IMG: How to Build the Future]
[H3] How To Build The Future: Sam Altman
[IMG: Office Hours Series]
[H3] YC Partners Answer Your Questions
[IMG: Lightcone Podcast - Billion-Dollar Unpopular Startup Ideas]
LIGHTCONE PODCAST
[H2] Billion-Dollar Unpopular Startup Ideas
Lightcone is a twice-monthly podcast where YC's Garry Tan, Diana Hu, Harj Taggar, and Jared Friedman talk about the newest tech and how it could change the world. In this episode, they discuss contrarian bets — the ideas that look impossible until they work. From Uber and Coinbase to DoorDash and Flock Safety, they share how founders find opportunity where others see dead ends.It's never too early to apply.We fund companies with no revenue, product, or fully baked idea.Apply
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]
[IMG: Founder]

[H1] Legal
[H3] Privacy Policy
Last Updated February 2024Welcome to the website (including all websites to which this Privacy Policy is posted, the “Site”) operated by Y Combinator Management, LLC and its Affiliates (collectively “Y Combinator,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Site provides, among other things, information about our people, organization and application process, tools for applicants to submit applications and go through the application process, a platform for applying to work at Y Combinator startups, a free online course on how to start a company, our blog, and profiles of founders and companies that have participated in the Y Combinator program (collectively, the “Services”).This Privacy Policy explains what Personal Information we collect, how we use and disclose that data, and your choices concerning our data practices. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms of Use.For deletion requests, please contact us at privacy@ycombinator.com. See Section 4 for additional information regarding changes to accounts generally as well as deletion of Personal Information (defined below).For California residents (defined below), please click here for additional disclosures, our Notice at Collection and Use of Personal Information, and a description of your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (with any implementing regulations, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), and as may be amended from time to time, “CCPA”).Before using the Services or submitting any Personal Information to Y Combinator, please review this Privacy Policy carefully and contact us if you have any questions. By using the Services, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not access the Site or otherwise use the Services.
[H3] 1. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We collect information that alone or in combination with other information in our possession could be used to identify you (“Personal Information”).
Personal Information You Provide. We may collect Personal Information when you create an account, subscribe to our newsletter, sign up for an event, or communicate with us as follows:
Event Information: If you attend one of our events, or if you are an investor and you sign up to attend Demo Day, you will be asked to provide Personal Information, including your name, the name and a description of your company or your fund, your contact information and other information that we will use to manage and administer your participation in our various events (“Event Information”).
Work at a Startup Information: If you sign up for our Work at a Startup program (“WaaS”), we will collect your name, email, LinkedIn profile, and other information relevant to the type of job you are seeking, such as your location, eligibility to work in the United States, and your work experience, education, and skills (“WaaS Information”).
Startup School Information: If you sign up for our Startup School program (“SUS”), we will collect your name, email, location (city and country), LinkedIn profile, gender (only if you choose to provide it), education, area of expertise, company information, and cofounder email addresses (“SUS Information”).
Application Information: When a company submits an application to Y Combinator, we will collect Personal Information relating to the founders of the applicant company, such as names, email addresses, telephone numbers, education, employment history, and the city/country in which they live. We will also collect information about the applicant company, such as the name, industry, and status of the company (together with Personal Information relating to founder(s) and any other information submitted in connection with the application process, “Application Information”).
Hacker News Information: If you create a Hacker News account (ID and profile), we do not collect any Personal Information unless you choose to provide your email address and/or information in the "about" field (“HN Information”). Your submissions to, and comments you make on, the Hacker News site are not Personal Information and are not "HN Information" as defined in this Privacy Policy.
Communication Information: When you subscribe to our newsletter or otherwise communicate with us, we may collect your name, contact information, and the contents of any messages you send (“Communication Information”).
Personal Information We Collect Through Our Social Media Pages. We have pages on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn (“Social Media Pages”). When you interact with our Social Media Pages, we will collect Personal Information that you elect to provide to us, such as your contact details (“Social Information”). In addition, the companies that host our Social Media Pages may provide us with aggregate information and analytics regarding the use of our Social Media Pages.
Personal Information We Receive Automatically From Your Use of the Site. When you visit, use, and interact with the Site, we may receive certain information about your visit, use, or interactions (“Technical Information”). For example, we may monitor the number of people that visit the Site, peak hours of visits, which page(s) are visited, the domains our visitors come from (e.g., google.com, yahoo.com, etc.), and which browsers people use to access the Services (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.), broad geographical information, and navigation pattern. In particular, Technical Information includes the following, which is created and automatically logged in our systems:
Log data: Log data is information that your browser automatically sends whenever you visit the Site. Log data includes your Internet Protocol address, browser type and settings, the date and time of your request, and how you interacted with the Site.
Cookies: Please see the “Cookies” section below to learn more about how we use cookies.
Device information: Includes name of the device, operating system, and browser you are using. Information collected may depend on the type of device you use and its settings.
Usage Information: We collect information about how you use our Services, such as the types of content that you view or engage with, the features you use, the actions you take, and the time, frequency, and duration of your activities.
Session replay information: Session replay information includes Device Information, broad geographical information, and the contents of your screen.
Cookies: We use cookies to operate and administer our Site, gather usage data on our Site, and improve your experience on it. A “cookie” is a piece of information sent to your browser by a website you visit. Cookies can be stored on your computer for different periods of time. Some cookies expire after a certain amount of time, or upon logging out (session cookies), others survive after your browser is closed until a defined expiration date set in the cookie (as determined by the third party placing it), and help recognize your computer when you open your browser and browse the Internet again (persistent cookies). For more details on cookies please visit All About Cookies.Session Replay: We use PostHog for session replay on SUS to help us analyze how users use the Site and to improve user experience.Analytics: Among other service providers, we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use the Site and enhance your experience when you use the Site. For more information on how Google uses this data, go to www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. We also use New Relic, Amplitude, and PostHog.Online Tracking and Do Not Track Signals: We and our third party service providers may use cookies or other tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing activities over time and across different websites following your use of the Site. Our Site currently does not respond to “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) signals and operates as described in this Privacy Policy whether or not a DNT signal is received. If we do respond to DNT signals in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy to describe how we do so.Your Choices. On most web browsers, you will find a “help” section on the toolbar. Please refer to this section for information on how to receive a notification when you are receiving a new cookie and how to turn cookies off. Please see the links below for guidance on how to modify your web browser’s settings on the most popular browsers:Internet ExplorerMozilla FirefoxGoogle ChromeApple SafariPlease note that if you limit the ability of websites to set cookies, you may be unable to access certain parts of the Site and you may not be able to benefit from the full functionality of the Site.Advertising networks may use cookies to collect Personal Information. Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s online resources at http://www.networkadvertising.org and follow the opt-out instructions there.If you access the Site on your mobile device, you may not be able to control tracking technologies through the settings.
[H3] 2. HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION
We may use Personal Information for the following purposes:To provide and administer access to the Services;To grant access to and track attendance at our events;To respond to your inquiries, comments, feedback, or questions;To send administrative information to you, for example, information regarding the Services and changes to our terms, conditions, and policies;To analyze how you interact with our Services;To maintain and improve the content and functionality of the Services;To develop new programs and services;To prevent fraud, criminal activity, or misuses of our Services, and to ensure the security of our IT systems, architecture, and networks;To ensure compliance with sanctions regulations; andTo comply with legal obligations and legal process and to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our Affiliates, you, or other third parties.Aggregated Information. We may aggregate Personal Information and use the aggregated information to analyze the effectiveness of our Services, to improve and add features to our Services, and for other similar purposes. In addition, from time to time, we may analyze the general behavior and characteristics of users of our Services and share aggregated information like general user statistics with prospective business partners. We may collect aggregated information through the Services, through cookies, and through other means described in this Privacy Policy.
[H3] 3. SHARING AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
In certain circumstances we may share your Personal Information with third parties without further notice to you, unless required by the law, as set forth below:Vendors and Service Providers: To assist us in meeting business operations needs and to perform certain services and functions, we may share Personal Information with vendors and service providers, including providers of hosting services, cloud services, and other information technology services providers, event management services, email communication software and email newsletter services, and web analytics services. Pursuant to our instructions, these parties will access, process, or store Personal Information in the course of performing their duties to us.Business Transfers: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, sale of all or a portion of our assets, or transition of service to another provider (collectively a “Transaction”), your Personal Information and other information may be shared in the diligence process with counterparties and others assisting with the Transaction and transferred to a successor or Affiliate as part of that Transaction along with other assets.Legal Requirements: If required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements, (ii) protect and defend our rights or property, (iii) prevent fraud, (iv) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Services, or the public, or (v) protect against legal liability.Affiliates: We may share Personal Information with our Affiliates, meaning an entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with Y Combinator. Our Affiliates will use the Personal Information we share in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy.With Your Consent. We may disclose your Personal Information to third parties upon your request, at your direction, or with your consent.Other Users: certain actions you take may be visible to other users of the Services.Please note that for purposes of this section, “sharing” does not include “sharing” as defined under the CCPA. For additional disclosures and information on our CCPA practices, please review California Privacy Rights below.The following disclosures are intended to provide additional information about (1) the categories of Personal Information we collect, (2) the source of the Personal Information, (3) how we use each category of Personal Information, and (4) how we disclose Personal Information. These disclosures do not limit our ability to use or disclose information as described in Sections 2 and 3.

Category of Personal Information

Sources Of Personal Information

Use of Personal Information

Disclosure of Personal Information

Event Information

We collect Event Information directly from you.

We use Event Information to grant access to, and administer your
participation in, our events.

We disclose Event Information to our Affiliates and the companies
participating in and the vendors helping to host our events.

WaaS Information

We collect WaaS Information directly from you.

We use WaaS Information to help WaaS applicants get jobs at Y
Combinator- funded companies.

We disclose WaaS Information to our Affiliates and Y Combinator-funded
companies.

SUS Information

We collect SUS Information directly from you.

We use SUS Information to evaluate SUS profiles, to provide access to
the SUS forums and network, to compile and publish aggregated and
anonymized statistics, and to track participants, investments, and
companies.

We disclose SUS Information to our Affiliates. We make reasonable
efforts to treat your SUS Information confidentially, but given the
volume of participants we disclaim all responsibility for preventing
misuse or unauthorized disclosure of or access to SUS Information.

Application Information

We collect Application Information directly from you.

People often ask us what happens at Y Combinator. Here is an overview of what happens during the YC program and the benefits you get as a YC founder.
[H2] The YC Program
YC is a three month program. We now run YC four times a year, in the winter, spring, summer, and fall. Here's what happens during the three months of YC:The GoalThe overall goal of YC is to help startups really take off. They arrive at YC at all different stages. Some haven't even started working yet, and others have been launched for a year or more. But whatever stage a startup is at when they arrive, our goal is to help them to be in dramatically better shape 3 months later.For most startups, better shape translates into two things: to have a better product with more users, and to have more options for raising money.Startups at all stages benefit from the intensity of YC. That's probably the best word to describe the atmosphere. For 3 months, it's all startup, all the time. Everyone around you—us, the other founders in your batch, the alumni, the speakers, the investors—wants to help your startup succeed. In that atmosphere it's hard not to be highly motivated. And that kind of extraordinary motivation is what one needs to do something as difficult as starting a startup.Many founders describe the 11 weeks leading up to Demo Day as the most productive period in their lives. Though YC continues after the 3 month cycle, and the alumni community is an increasingly valuable resource, those 11 weeks are still the most important thing. You can't make people something they're not, but the right conditions can bring out the best in them. And since most people have way more potential than they realize, they're often surprised by what they're capable of.FundingYC invests $500k per company: $125k for 7% on a post-money safe and another $375k on an uncapped safe with an MFN.GroupsDuring the batch, startups are sorted into 3 groups. Each group is led by YC partners who advise the founders in one-on-one and group office hours. Each group is split into sections (6-10 companies), so that founders get the benefit of an intimate setting within the larger batch.Office HoursMuch of what takes place at YC happens during office hours. Partners host group office hours every two weeks and one-on-one office hours as often as founders want. What startups talk about at office hours depends on the stage of the company and where they are in the YC cycle.BookfaceBookface is the platform founders use to connect to one another—imagine a combination of Facebook, Quora, and LinkedIn. Each founder has a profile and can tag themselves as an expert in any topic. If you have a question, need an introduction, or want to poll for knowledge, you can post the request to the forum on Bookface. The knowledge base of the YC community is both broad and deep—the community includes founders who are the world's foremost experts in everything from security to community building to nuclear energy.Batch KickoffIn the first few weeks of the batch we host a 3-day, in-person kickoff. The kickoff gives founders the opportunity to get to know each other, their group partners, and the YC team.Alumni TalksEvery week, we invite an eminent person from the startup world to speak. Most speakers are successful startup founders — the founders of Airbnb, Stripe, Doordash and Ginkgo Bioworks often come back to tell the inside story of what happened in the early days of their startups. Talks are strictly off the record to encourage candor, because the inside story of most startups is more colorful than the one presented later to the public.Public LaunchesOnce a startup has something built that's ready to launch, we help founders figure out how to present it to users and the press. We prepare founders for launches on community sites like Product Hunt and Hacker News, and for their first press pitches and interviews.First CustomersB2B and consumer companies often get their first 40-50 paying customers from the YC community. With that, you not only get first customers, you get the smartest early product feedback possible.Weekly MeetupsThroughout the batch, we host weekly meetups in San Francisco. These events often feature special guests like the founders of YC and successful YC founders.Demo DayOn Demo Day, the latest batch of Y Combinator-funded founders present their companies to an audience of specially selected investors and press. We doubt there's another occasion when such a large percentage of the top startup investors have their attention focused on the same thing.In the weeks following Demo Day we keep in close touch with the startups as they negotiate the fundraising maze, and help them decipher the real messages in investors' sometimes deliberately ambiguous responses. Often we talk to the investors ourselves, to find out what they're really thinking about a particular startup. Because YC-funded startups are a known quantity to investors and get introduced to enough of them to create serious price competition, companies tend to get higher valuations than they might otherwise.
[H2] Advice
Ongoing office hoursOffice hours don't stop after the YC program. We have office hours year round, and startups from all previous cycles can book time whenever they want.
[H2] Community
Alumni communityToday the YC alumni community is probably the most powerful community in the startup world. It's powerful not just because of its size, but also because its members have such a strong commitment to helping one another. A culture of helpfulness has been an important part of YC since the beginning, and founders know that if they ever come across a challenge they need help with, they not only have the partners at their disposal, they have 6,000+ domain experts they can call on.Alumni ReunionEach year, YC hosts a formal gathering of alumni. Exciting things happen when you bring founders together — ideas are exchanged, deals get made, problem solving happens amongst peers.Founder CommunitiesFounders have access to WhatsApp groups and Bookface channels that reach specific communities. There are lists for hardware, biotech, edtech, international, women founders, Black founders, Hispanic and Latino founders, and more.Alumni Demo DayActive YC founders get an early look at the YC companies in each batch at Alumni Demo Day.DealsEach YC company receives access to discounts and free accounts for over 100 products. Some of these are highly significant, including hundreds of thousands of dollars of free hosting for each company provided by major cloud hosting companies.
[H2] Brand
CredibilityWhen one company in YC does well, the whole community benefits. Because YC has such a strong track record, early adopters, investors and press are often more willing to take a look at YC founders, even if they're first time founders.Company DirectoryYC companies are showcased in the YC Startup Directory. Our startups can be filtered and discovered by potential customers, investors, or hires.
[H2] Hiring
Work at a StartupWork at a Startup helps YC founders build their team — from first employees to VPs of product and operations. Thousands of jobseekers across hundreds of YC companies have landed roles through the platform and extended YC community.Hacker NewsHN is a news aggregator where users can find and discuss the latest news and submit content on anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. YC alumni also post engineering, product, and design jobs on HN.