We look forward to seeing you in person next year!</p>","comment_id":"694457decf4b6800016fd4f6","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2025/12/BlogTwitter-Image-Template--1-.png","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2025-12-18T11:37:02.000-08:00","updated_at":"2025-12-18T11:44:54.000-08:00","published_at":"2025-12-18T11:44:54.000-08:00","custom_excerpt":"We’re excited to share the Demo Day dates for 2026 so founders, investors, and our broader community can plan ahead.","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71179","name":"YC Events","slug":"yc-events","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-events/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/2026-demo-days/","excerpt":"We’re excited to share the Demo Day dates for 2026 so founders, investors, and our broader community can plan ahead.","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"67d344f069c1fe0001271630","uuid":"480eecc3-7955-4522-9a0a-6631d93268e9","title":"East Coast College Tour 2025","slug":"east-coast-college-tour-2025","html":"<p>YC is going on a college tour! We're visiting Harvard, Yale, MIT, Columbia, Cornell, and Cornell Tech. </p><p>If you're a current student at any of those schools and interested in startups, we'd love to meet you.</p><p>Here are dates and links to sign up - please note these events are only for current students at these schools:</p><p><strong>Cornell</strong> - Mar 23, 2025 <br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/yc-cornell/">Sign up link</a></p><p><strong>Cornell Tech</strong> - Mar 25, 2025 <br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/yc-cornell-tech/">Sign up link</a></p><p><strong>Columbia</strong> - Mar 26, 2025<br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/yc-columbia/">Sign up link</a></p><p><strong>Yale</strong> - Mar 27, 2025 <br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/yc-yale/">Sign up link</a></p><p><strong>Harvard</strong> - Mar 28, 2025 <br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/yc-harvard/">Sign up link</a></p><p><strong>MIT</strong> - Apr 18, 2025 <br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/yc-mit/">Sign up link</a></p>","comment_id":"67d344f069c1fe0001271630","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2025/03/BlogTwitter-Image-Template--1-.jpg","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2025-03-13T13:49:52.000-07:00","updated_at":"2025-03-13T14:26:52.000-07:00","published_at":"2025-03-13T14:26:20.000-07:00","custom_excerpt":"YC is going on a college tour! We're visiting Harvard, Yale, MIT, Columbia, Cornell, and Cornell Tech. \n\nIf you're a current student at any of those schools and interested in startups, we'd love to meet you.","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71179","name":"YC Events","slug":"yc-events","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-events/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/east-coast-college-tour-2025/","excerpt":"YC is going on a college tour! We're visiting Harvard, Yale, MIT, Columbia, Cornell, and Cornell Tech. ","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"66fed3c0d896210001baba58","uuid":"9744fe1c-686a-4276-90c3-5fea6f663027","title":"Join us at Startup School Europe in London - November 23","slug":"startup-school-europe-2024","html":"<p>Applications for Startup School Europe are now open! Apply <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/suseurope/">here. Last chance to apply for YC’s S24 batch by Y Combinator6/5/2024 If you were interested in applying for S24 but thought it was too late, it’s not. If you apply by June 13, we’ll still have time to look at your application. YC in the UK by Y Combinator4/15/2024 YC will be visiting London and three universities in the UK – Cambridge, Imperial, and Oxford. If you’re interested in starting a startup, or are in the early stages of building one, we hope to see you there. Want to start a startup? Meet all the YC partners in Boston - Apr 20th by Y Combinator3/27/2024 Join us for Startup School East on April 20. One-off Early Interviews for Summer 2024 - Apply by Feb 21st by Y Combinator2/16/2024 We’re planning to do a special one-off round of early interviews for the next YC batch. If you want to do the next batch of YC, you should consider applying now by Feb 21 so you can get a faster decision (and earlier funding). New year, new company - 10 additional spots in W24 for late applicants by Y Combinator12/7/2023 The end of the year is a time of reflection and when many founders decide it's time to make a change and get serious about their startup. Thus, we are opening up at least 10 additional spots in the W24 batch for companies that apply now via a special application process. FTC Chair Lina Khan on AI regulation, startup acquisitions, and more by Y Combinator11/7/2023 FTC Chair Lina Khan stopped at YC's SF office last week to talk with Garry Tan about startups, AI, and more. Here's that interview! 10 Questions to Discuss with a Potential Co-founder by Y Combinator4/27/2023 When you're trying to figure out if someone is a good co-founder match, it helps to start by asking the right questions. We’ve compiled a list of the 10 questions that we think are the most important ones to answer.
STARTUP SCHOOL</a></strong><br>Saturday, November 23, 2024<br>10am-4:00pm<br>London, UK<br><br>Startup School is <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com//" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Y Combinator’s</a> free-to-attend, one-day conference for college students and recent grads, where you’ll hear stories and practical advice from founders and YC partners. For the first time in YC history, we’ll be hosting this event in London!</p><p>If you're a student or recent grad who has been thinking about starting a startup one day (or are in the very earliest stages of building one), we hope to meet you there!</p><p><strong>This year’s speakers include:</strong></p><ul><li><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.paulgraham.com//" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Paul Graham, Co-Founder of Y Combinator</a></li><li><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield/" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Tom Blomfield, Co-Founder of Monzo and Y Combinator Group Partner</a></li><li><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://posthog.com//" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">James Hawkins, Posthog</a></li><li><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.photoroom.com//" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Matt Rouif, Photoroom</a></li><li>and more!</li></ul><!--kg-card-begin: html--><center>\n<a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/suseurope/" class=\"ycdc-btn mt-2 ml-[13px] mt-[-10px] items-center justify-center\">Apply To Attend</a>\n</center><!--kg-card-end: html-->","comment_id":"66fed3c0d896210001baba58","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2024/10/BlogTwitter-Image-Template--9-.jpg","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-10-03T10:26:24.000-07:00","updated_at":"2024-10-03T11:30:00.000-07:00","published_at":"2024-10-03T11:30:00.000-07:00","custom_excerpt":"Applications for Startup School Europe are now open!","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a7117f","name":"Startup School","slug":"startup-school","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/startup-school/"},{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71179","name":"YC Events","slug":"yc-events","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-events/"},{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a7117f","name":"Startup School","slug":"startup-school","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/startup-school/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/startup-school-europe-2024/","excerpt":"Applications for Startup School Europe are now open! Apply here.STARTUP SCHOOLSaturday, November 23, 202410am-4:00pmLondon, UKStartup School is Y Combinator’s free-to-attend, one-day conference for college students and recent grads, where you’ll hear stories and practical advice from founders and YC partners. For the first time in YC history, we’ll be hosting this event in London!","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"665fad1c5df3e40001fdc835","uuid":"ef354f76-c084-4ee6-bfc8-934b90b943ce","title":"Last chance to apply for YC’s S24 batch","slug":"apply-ycs24","html":"<p>We’ve almost finished selecting the S24 batch, but we’ve still got time to accept a few more companies.</p><p>Usually by June we would be done with selecting the batch, but starting this year, we’ve pushed the summer batch a month later so it runs from July to September. With the new schedule, we have a couple of extra weeks to read last-minute applications before the batch starts.</p><p>So, if you were interested in applying for S24 but thought it was too late, it’s not. If you apply <strong>by June 13</strong>, we’ll still have time to look at your application. If you apply by June 13, we’ll get back to you by June 20.<br></p><!--kg-card-begin: html--><center>\n<a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://ycombinator.com/apply/" class=\"ycdc-btn mt-2 ml-[13px] mt-[-10px] items-center justify-center\">Apply Now</a>\n</center><!--kg-card-end: html--><h3 id=\"faq\">FAQ<br></h3><p><strong>What if I’ve already applied for S24, should I reapply?</strong></p><p>Probably not. If you think something radical has changed since you last applied, use your best judgment.<br></p><p><strong>Are there special instructions for these applications?</strong></p><p>No, just go to the <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/">website and apply.<br></p><p><strong>I’ve already applied for YC and am waiting to hear back. What do I need to do?</strong></p><p>Nothing. We’re working through all late applications now, and you’ll hear back by June 20. If in doubt, you can always check the status of your application at <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://apply.ycombinator.com/">https://apply.ycombinator.com. <br></p><p><strong>Why did YC move the summer batch a month later?</strong></p><p>If you’re curious, here’s the story. YC has typically had the winter batch run from January to March and the summer batch run from June to August. The problem with that schedule is that it’s asymmetric. Because we use the time between batches to select the next batch, this gave us only 2 months to select the summer batch, versus 4 months to select the winter batch. Moving the summer batch one month later equalizes it.<br></p>","comment_id":"665fad1c5df3e40001fdc835","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2024/06/BlogTwitter-Image-Template--9-.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-06-04T17:11:08.000-07:00","updated_at":"2024-11-08T09:29:36.000-08:00","published_at":"2024-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00","custom_excerpt":"If you were interested in applying for S24 but thought it was too late, it’s not. If you apply by June 13, we’ll still have time to look at your application.","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a7117d","name":"Admissions","slug":"admissions","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/admissions/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/apply-ycs24/","excerpt":"We’ve almost finished selecting the S24 batch, but we’ve still got time to accept a few more companies.","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"661cac87eba13d0001fb3124","uuid":"a478d7f3-074d-4b6a-a815-effbbaa102b0","title":"YC in the UK","slug":"yc-in-the-uk","html":"<p>We’re excited to announce we’ll be visiting London and three universities in the UK – Cambridge, Imperial, and Oxford.</p><p>If you’re interested in starting a startup, or are in the early stages of building one, we hope to see you there. </p><p>Paul Graham, one of the co-founders of Y Combinator, will kick off the trip with a talk in London. </p><p>At our university events, you’ll meet two YC partners – Tom Blomfield and Surbhi Sarna. They’ll tell their stories, share what they wish they’d known when they were getting started, and answer questions. </p><p><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield/">Tom is the co-founder of Monzo and GoCardless (YC S11), two massively successful UK-based companies, and <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/people/surbhi-sarna/">Surbhi is the founder of nVision Medical, which developed a first-in-kind microcatheter for the early detection of ovarian cancer. </p><h3 id=\"sign-up-to-join-us-at-the-links-below\">Sign up to join us at the links below: </h3><p><strong>Paul Graham in London</strong><br>Tuesday, April 30 - 6:00pm<br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/pglondon/">Sign up</a><br></p><p><strong>University of Cambridge</strong><br>Wednesday, May 1 - 6:30pm<br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/yccambridge/">Sign up</a><br></p><p><strong>Imperial College London</strong><br>Thursday, May 2 - 5:00pm<br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/ycaticl/">Sign up</a><br></p><p><strong>Oxford University</strong><br>Friday, May 3 - 5:30pm<br><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/ycatoxford/">Sign up</a></p>","comment_id":"661cac87eba13d0001fb3124","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2024/04/YC-UK.png","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-04-14T21:26:47.000-07:00","updated_at":"2024-04-15T06:00:00.000-07:00","published_at":"2024-04-15T06:00:00.000-07:00","custom_excerpt":"YC will be visiting London and three universities in the UK – Cambridge, Imperial, and Oxford. If you’re interested in starting a startup, or are in the early stages of building one, we hope to see you there. ","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71179","name":"YC Events","slug":"yc-events","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-events/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71179","name":"YC Events","slug":"yc-events","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-events/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/yc-in-the-uk/","excerpt":"We’re excited to announce we’ll be visiting London and three universities in the UK – Cambridge, Imperial, and Oxford.","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"The text \"YC in the UK\" below the dates \"April 30th | May 1st through 3rd\"","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"66047a2aeba13d0001fb3002","uuid":"76213e32-bc0c-4566-b06a-2fccb3b26e41","title":"Want to start a startup? Meet all the YC partners in Boston - Apr 20th","slug":"startup-school-east-boston","html":"<p>Join us in Boston for Startup School East on April 20!</p><h3 id=\"startup-school-east\">STARTUP SCHOOL EAST:</h3><p>On April 20, we’re hosting Startup School East, a one-day event where you’ll hear stories and advice from founders and YC partners. </p><p>Hear how some of the most successful people in Silicon Valley got started, the mistakes they made along the way, and what they wish they’d known at 22. </p><p>All of YC’s partners are flying in for this one — so if you’ve been looking for an opportunity to meet them, this is it.</p><p><strong>> </strong><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://events.ycombinator.com/suseast24/">Apply to attend Startup School East by April 12</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>We’ll be chartering buses to travel to and from schools around the Northeast. Sign up early if you’d like a seat on one of the buses.</p>","comment_id":"66047a2aeba13d0001fb3002","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2024/03/Startup-School-East.jpg","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-03-27T12:57:30.000-07:00","updated_at":"2024-06-03T11:12:10.000-07:00","published_at":"2024-03-27T13:23:47.000-07:00","custom_excerpt":"Join us for Startup School East on April 20.","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a7117f","name":"Startup School","slug":"startup-school","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/startup-school/"},{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71180","name":"#startup-school","slug":"hash-startup-school","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"internal","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/404/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a7117f","name":"Startup School","slug":"startup-school","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/startup-school/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/startup-school-east-boston/","excerpt":"Join us in Boston for Startup School East on April 20!","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"65cf7b6f377b9c0001ddf1fc","uuid":"3fb39e78-9666-44a0-b968-fde9a4e29eb3","title":"One-off Early Interviews for Summer 2024 - Apply by Feb 21st","slug":"early-interviews-summer-2024","html":"<p>We’re planning to do a special one-off round of early interviews for the next YC batch. If you want to do the next batch of YC, you should consider <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://ycombinator.com/apply/">applying now</a> by Feb 21 so you can get a faster decision (and earlier funding).<br></p><p>The reason we’re doing these is that earlier this week, we published a brand new list of <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/ycs-latest-request-for-startups/">Requests for Startups</a> to share ideas that we’d be excited to fund. A lot of people told us this had inspired them to apply to YC, so we decided to do a round of early interviews for them.<br></p><p>For simplicity’s sake, we will be considering applications for all ideas, not just ones directly related to the requests for startups.<br></p><p>By the way, if you think you’re too early to apply to YC, you’re likely not. Last batch, 56% of the teams we funded came in with just an idea. If you have a cofounder and an idea you’re excited about, you’ve got what you need to apply.<br></p><p><strong>To be considered for this one-off round of early interviews, you should <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://ycombinator.com/apply/">submit an application</a> by Wednesday, February 21 @ 8PM PT. We will run the early round of interviews in late February. </strong><br></p><p>(P.S. For those founders who are building ML/AI startups and need GPU resources for training models, we’ve put together new deals worth over $1M+ — in addition to YC’s <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/deal/">standard deal </a>investment of $500,000 — that can be used to access GPU compute resources with Microsoft Azure and AWS.)<br></p><h3 id=\"faq\">FAQ</h3><p><strong>Who is this for? What if my startup is not related to any RFS?</strong></p><p>The early deadline is open to everyone; your startup idea doesn't have to fit any of the categories mentioned in the <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/ycs-latest-request-for-startups//">new RFS</a>. We expect that ideas related to our RFS’s will only ever make up a small percentage of the companies in the batch.<br></p><p><strong>If I get accepted to YC in this early decision process, when does the actual YC investment happen? Do I have to wait until the batch starts?</strong></p><p>If you are accepted to YC, we start the process of investing in your company immediately, the very day you are accepted. We wire the money as soon as the docs are signed, it has nothing to do with the date the batch program starts. </p><p>We also start doing office hours with companies as soon as they are accepted, and make all of YC’s resources available to them.</p><p><strong>If I don’t get selected for an early interview, what happens?</strong></p><p>If we don’t select you for an early interview, we will notify you in the following weeks.</p><p><strong>Do I need a referral code to be considered for the early round of interviews?</strong></p><p>Nope!</p><p><strong>What if I’ve already applied for S24?</strong></p><p>You're all set. We read all applications continuously and will pick out relevant applications for early interviews.<br></p>","comment_id":"65cf7b6f377b9c0001ddf1fc","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2024/02/BlogTwitter-Image-Template--4-.png","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-02-16T07:12:47.000-08:00","updated_at":"2024-02-16T07:31:05.000-08:00","published_at":"2024-02-16T07:31:05.000-08:00","custom_excerpt":"We’re planning to do a special one-off round of early interviews for the next YC batch. If you want to do the next batch of YC, you should consider applying now by Feb 21 so you can get a faster decision (and earlier funding).","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/early-interviews-summer-2024/","excerpt":"We’re planning to do a special one-off round of early interviews for the next YC batch. If you want to do the next batch of YC, you should consider applying now by Feb 21 so you can get a faster decision (and earlier funding).","reading_time":2,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"657108d90b1f200001225194","uuid":"f3f8b3ed-246a-4a41-9e35-3f706d09e8f0","title":"New year, new company - 10 additional spots in W24 for late applicants","slug":"new-year-new-company","html":"<p>The end of the year is a time of reflection and when many founders decide it's time to make a change and get serious about their startup. </p><p>Even though the official YC W24 application deadline was in October, we know there are founders that haven't already applied but are interested in being a part of the batch. These founders have decided <strong>now </strong>is the time to get serious about their startup. We didn’t want those people to miss out on the chance to participate in the W24 batch.</p><p>Thus, we are opening up at least <strong>10 additional spots</strong> in the W24 batch for companies that apply now via a special application process. </p><p>Here are the details on this process:</p><ul><li>To apply for these late W24 interviews, just start a regular application on our website. In your answer to the question “If you have a referral code”, include the string: <em>NYW24</em></li><li>The deadline to apply is December 13 at 5pm Pacific Time.</li><li>Founders that participate in this process will hear back from YC by December 20th. (Yes, that’s a 7 day turnaround time)</li><li>This is for founders that did not already apply for the W24 batch at some point in the past. </li></ul><p><br>p.s. For those founders who are doing ML and need GPU resources for training ML models, in addition to YC’s <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/deal/">standard deal</a> investment of $500,000, we’ve put together new deals worth over $1,000,000+ that can be used to access GPU compute resources with Microsoft Azure and AWS.</p><p></p><p><strong>FAQ</strong></p><p><em>What if I already applied to W24?</em></p><p>Unfortunately, you won’t be eligible. This is only for founders who did not already apply for W24, since we already sent out notifications for our regular application cycle.</p><p><em>What if I apply before December 13th?</em></p><p>That's fine. You’ll hear back from us by December 20th.</p><p><em>Am I too early to apply to YC if all I have is just an idea? Should I wait until I have more traction?</em></p><p>No, if you have at least one co-founder and you are all excited to do a startup, it would be a mistake to wait to apply. On average, 40% of the companies we fund in each batch are just an idea. </p><p><em>Who is this for?</em></p><p>For founders that did not already apply for the W24 batch but recently decided they are ready to do YC.</p><p><em>If I don’t get selected for an interview, what happens?</em></p><p>If we don’t select you for an interview, we will notify you by December 20th</p>","comment_id":"657108d90b1f200001225194","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2023/12/late-1.png","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2023-12-06T15:50:49.000-08:00","updated_at":"2023-12-07T09:55:00.000-08:00","published_at":"2023-12-07T09:55:00.000-08:00","custom_excerpt":"The end of the year is a time of reflection and when many founders decide it's time to make a change and get serious about their startup. Thus, we are opening up at least 10 additional spots in the W24 batch for companies that apply now via a special application process. ","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71173","name":"YC News","slug":"yc-news","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/yc-news/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/new-year-new-company/","excerpt":"The end of the year is a time of reflection and when many founders decide it's time to make a change and get serious about their startup. ","reading_time":2,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"6549783bc404610001e135a1","uuid":"7eab6423-49c1-4999-9213-a8c12104f758","title":"FTC Chair Lina Khan on AI regulation, startup acquisitions, and more","slug":"garry-tan-interviews-ftc-chair-lina-khan","html":"<p>As we've said before: you may not be interested in government, but the government is absolutely interested in you. For anyone working in startups and tech, this only gets more true by the day.</p><p>FTC Chair Lina Khan went on a whirlwind tour of Silicon Valley last week as she looks to better understand and strengthen the relationship between Silicon Valley and DC. </p><p>One of her stops was at our office in San Francisco, where she sat down for an on-stage chat with YC president Garry Tan. We invited a number of founders and press to attend, and the topics discussed were important enough that we figured we’d share the audio recording with everyone. In the interview, Chair Khan dives into how the FTC thinks about startup acquisitions, AI regulation, maintaining a \"level playing field\" for future startups, and more; in the latter half, we opened up the Q&A to the audience.</p><p>Enjoy!</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-embed-card\"><iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/9CWbc6pekd8?feature=oembed\%22 frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen title=\"FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan at Y Combinator\"></iframe></figure>","comment_id":"6549783bc404610001e135a1","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2023/11/Lina-Khan.png","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2023-11-06T15:35:23.000-08:00","updated_at":"2023-11-07T10:00:00.000-08:00","published_at":"2023-11-07T10:00:00.000-08:00","custom_excerpt":"FTC Chair Lina Khan stopped at YC's SF office last week to talk with Garry Tan about startups, AI, and more. Here's that interview!","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/garry-tan-interviews-ftc-chair-lina-khan/","excerpt":"As we've said before: you may not be interested in government, but the government is absolutely interested in you. For anyone working in startups and tech, this only gets more true by the day.","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"FTC Chair Lina Khan in front of the text \"A conversation with FTC Chair Lina Khan\"","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"6449bc5a7c0a9600010742da","uuid":"51b954f9-8f66-4253-8bd3-4ef4fb8b48d9","title":"10 Questions to Discuss with a Potential Co-founder","slug":"10-questions-to-discuss-with-a-potential-co-founder","html":"<p>Y Combinator runs a <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching/">website where we help people find potential co-founders. </p><p>While running that, we’ve had a lot of people ask for a set of questions to help figure out whether they’re a good match with a potential co-founder.</p><p>We’ve compiled a list of the 10 questions that we think are the most important ones to answer. The best time to go through these is after you’ve gotten to know someone, have found an idea you’re both interested in working on, and are deciding if you’re ready to commit to working together.</p><p>We’ve split this document into two sections: the 10 most important questions to discuss before deciding to work together, and other questions that will help you get to know each other. We also included a checklist of things to do when bringing on a co-founder.</p><p>Note that no questionnaire can be a substitute for actually spending a lot of time together in person to determine if you like working together and get along well in practice. That’s the only way to know if you’re actually compatible with someone, and it usually takes several months to know for sure. This questionnaire is designed to supplement that, not replace it. <strong>Here's the <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ERZ48P1MvHDD6vLUCxLdoXb_tf9YPve0mfHwYAXosD4/edit?usp=sharing\%22>Google Doc</a> version of this questionnaire if you'd like to use it as a template.</strong></p><h3 id=\"10-key-questions-to-discuss-before-deciding-to-work-together\">10 key questions to discuss before deciding to work together</h3><p>We derived these 10 questions by talking to many teams who met on YC’s co-founder matching, and by looking at the most common reasons founding teams break up. </p><p>For a lot of these, you may not know the answer yet or may not have a strong opinion. That’s fine! Most things in startups you figure out as you go.</p><p>The goal here is to detect situations where you might have strong differences, so you can discuss them early, rather than being caught unawares later on.</p><p>The best way to go through this is for each founder to copy this document, write answers independently, then share your answers and discuss.</p><ol><li><strong>Why do you want to do this startup? What are your personal goals here, both financial and non-financial?</strong></li><li><strong>What will our roles and titles be? How will we divide responsibilities? Who will be CEO? </strong><br>Roles inevitably change a lot over time, but you should have a plan for what you’ll each work on for the first 6-12 months, and decide on who will be the CEO (and what the CEO’s responsibilities are).</li><li><strong>How will we split up equity?</strong><br>It’s important to resolve this one early. This <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rXUOP-FcnIE8eNTkKlELkakZ-MLaIvEyIxUlBOLNZPw/edit#heading=h.bwvaj6au48s2\">section</a> of the co-founder matching manual may help.</li><li><strong>Where will the company be based? Where will we each live? Will we work together in-person or remotely? </strong></li><li><strong>What idea will we work on? If that idea doesn’t work out, are you willing to change the idea? Are you only interested in working on ideas in certain areas?</strong></li><li><strong>What needs to happen for each of us to go full-time (quit other jobs or school commitments)?</strong><br>I.e., We’d have to raise at least $xx from investors, we’d need to validate the idea with a paying customer, we’ll do it if we’re enjoying working together in two months. Obviously, this is N/A if you are both full-time already.</li><li><strong>What is your personal financial situation? Are you willing to work for free and live on your savings? For how long? If you'll need a salary to work on this full-time (either now or at some point), how much do you need to feel comfortable? Will either of us put money into the company? </strong></li><li><strong>What will our typical working schedule be (what days we work, what hours / day, etc)? How long do we want to keep that up? Are there any things outside of work that are important to you to make time for?</strong></li><li><strong>If we are successful enough to get to build a team of employees, are there things that are important to you about how we do that? I.e., building an in-person vs remote company, having certain cultural values, having a particular approach to hiring or managing people?</strong><br>It’s fine if you don’t have strong opinions on this yet.</li><li><strong>What will we do if we’re having trouble agreeing on an important decision? What will happen if we decide we don’t want to work together anymore?</strong></li></ol><hr><h3 id=\"questions-to-get-to-know-each-other-better\">Questions to get to know each other better</h3><p>These are questions that are designed to teach you things about each other that are important for having a good relationship. These are good ones to go through once you’ve decided that working together makes sense.</p><ul><li><strong>How would your friends or colleagues describe your strengths and weaknesses?</strong></li><li><strong>What are you proud of having accomplished (can be work-related or not)?</strong></li><li><strong>What do you do with your free time? What are your hobbies and interests? </strong><br>One of the surprising things about successful co-founders is how consistently they have overlapping outside-of-work interests.</li><li><strong>What are companies, founders, or products you really admire - especially ones that you want to model this company after?</strong></li><li><strong>What were your experiences like at your past jobs or past startups? What did you like and not like about how the companies were run? What lessons did you take away?</strong></li><li><strong>What is your life story and how have your experiences shaped your values?</strong></li><li><strong>Have you worked with a co-founder previously? What was that experience like?</strong></li><li><strong>What kind of work is so fun for you it doesn’t feel like work? What kind of work do you avoid doing?</strong></li><li><strong>What are your long-term goals in life? What is your overall life plan and how does this startup fit into it?</strong></li><li><strong>What makes you most excited about working with me?</strong></li><li><strong>What makes you concerned about working with me?</strong></li><li><strong>What environment do you work best in? What can we do to help you create it?</strong></li><li><strong>What’s the best way for me to give you feedback? </strong></li><li><strong>When you feel stressed, do you tend to want to talk about what’s going on or avoid talking about it? </strong><br>Psychologist and founder coach <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/author/\"mailto:amy@thefoundercoach.com/">Amy Buechler</a> wrote an <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.notion.so/Anxious-3-Avoidant-Know-your-Attachment-Style-31964247e3274807a32b44caea38db19/">excellent article</a> on this and how these two styles affect co-founder relationships.</li><li><strong>Are there pressures in your life that you’re dealing with now?</strong><br>Often pressures or challenges in your life create pressure on your startup. If you’re dealing with a family issue, a visa / immigration issue, a health issue, etc., you should really tell your co-founder because it’s important for them to know what’s going on.</li></ul><hr><h1 id=\"checklist-of-things-to-do-when-bringing-on-a-co-founder\">Checklist of things to do when bringing on a co-founder</h1><p>Ok, you’ve gone through the questionnaire and everything seems promising. Great! Here are some related things you’ll want to do.</p><h3 id=\"before-deciding-to-work-together\">Before deciding to work together:</h3><p><strong>☐ <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rXUOP-FcnIE8eNTkKlELkakZ-MLaIvEyIxUlBOLNZPw/edit#heading=h.pwa6ul87hjl1\">Meet in person</a> and <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rXUOP-FcnIE8eNTkKlELkakZ-MLaIvEyIxUlBOLNZPw/edit#heading=h.3bb3os1nfo2\">do a trial project</a>.</strong></p><p><strong>☐ Do reference calls on each other. Ask people who have worked with your potential co-founder what it was like working with them, and for advice on how to work with them effectively. It’s best if you do this transparently – agree on when you are ready to take this step and then swap suggested references.</strong></p><p><strong>☐ Given how important this person is going to be in your life, if you have a spouse or a serious relationship, you should have your significant other meet your co-founder.</strong></p><h3 id=\"after-deciding-to-work-together\">After deciding to work together:</h3><p><strong>☐ Create a system to prioritize tasks and decide what to work on.</strong><br>This is a great post on <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4e-product-development-cycle-fundamentals/">one such system</a>. You don’t have to adopt this one, but it’s important to have <em>some</em> system.</p><p><strong>☐ Set up a recurring 1-1 with each other (typically once a week) to talk specifically about how things are going with working together.</strong><br>This concept was created by Amy Buechler, who named them “Founder syncs”. She wrote a <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.notion.so/The-Founder-Sync-54f855a12de749fa9e74e928ca7fa5a5/">detailed guide</a> to how to run them. Done correctly, these can really help avoid co-founder breakups.<br><br><br><strong>Here's the <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ERZ48P1MvHDD6vLUCxLdoXb_tf9YPve0mfHwYAXosD4/edit?usp=sharing\%22>Google Doc</a> version of this questionnaire if you'd like to use it as a template.</strong></p>","comment_id":"6449bc5a7c0a9600010742da","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2023/04/BlogTwitter-Image-Template--2-1024_1-1.png","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2023-04-26T17:05:46.000-07:00","updated_at":"2023-04-27T09:01:08.000-07:00","published_at":"2023-04-27T09:00:00.000-07:00","custom_excerpt":"When you're trying to figure out if someone is a good co-founder match, it helps to start by asking the right questions. We’ve compiled a list of the 10 questions that we think are the most important ones to answer.","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"}],"tags":[],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a7106f","name":"Y Combinator","slug":"yc","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/yc.png","cover_image":null,"bio":null,"website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/yc/"},"primary_tag":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/10-questions-to-discuss-with-a-potential-co-founder/","excerpt":"Y Combinator runs a website where we help people find potential co-founders. ","reading_time":5,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null}],"filter":"By Y Combinator","featured":null,"pagination":{"page":1,"limit":10,"pages":3,"total":29,"next":2,"prev":null}},"url":"/blog/author/yc","version":"86a82864a2e98321858efc8147c8b7f9287218a4","encryptHistory":false,"clearHistory":false,"rails_context":{"railsEnv":"production","inMailer":false,"i18nLocale":"en","i18nDefaultLocale":"en","href":"https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/author/yc","location":"/blog/author/yc","scheme":"https","host":"www.ycombinator.com","port":null,"pathname":"/blog/author/yc","search":null,"httpAcceptLanguage":"en, *","applyBatchLong":"Spring 2026","applyBatchShort":"X2026","applyDeadlineShort":"February 9","ycdcRetroMode":true,"currentUser":null,"serverSide":true},"id":"ycdc_new/pages/BlogList-react-component-85de2206-c761-4f65-a7c3-16aca1c73891","server_side":true}" data-reactroot="">Recent Posts By Y Combinator
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