Y Combinator
Y Combinator is a startup accelerator and venture capital firm founded in 2005 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, focused on seed-stage companies . It provides funding, mentorship, and a three-month intensive program culminating in Demo Day . Paul Graham co-founded the organization and remains closely associated with its philosophy, notably the "trough of sorrow" framework for startup growth and the more recent concept of "founder mode"—the idea that CEOs should stay deeply involved in company details rather than delegate to professional managers . Sam Altman, who later became OpenAI's CEO, previously led YC for years and drew on its lessons during ChatGPT's launch . The accelerator has produced companies including Airbnb and has backed founders who went on to build products like Google Photos .
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Coverage
Everyone's Token-Maxxing: An Arms Race Nobody Dares to Stop | 5Y Capital's Xing Meng on AI
We spent some time in Silicon Valley and found that even the people making the waves are getting overwhelmed by them.
五源资本·How MIT Engineers Built the Tool That 80% of YC Founders Use
Even if the market is tiny, as long as you're No. 1, you can establish mindshare and set the standard.
真格基金·The founders of prediction markets all say they're building the next Toutiao.
How do humans predict the future?
elsewhere别处发生·Entrepreneurship Is the Most Hardcore Way for Young People to Change the World | Mono X Campus
Be a long-term partner to founders, not a short-term "referee."
Monolith砺思资本·Are Models and "Shells" Both Undervalued? ZhenFund's Yusen Dai's Mid-2025 AI Review --- The past six months have been a turbulent period for AI. On one hand, DeepSeek's breakthrough has reignited global enthusiasm for Chinese AI; on the other, the commercialization path for large models remains unclear, and the market is growing increasingly anxious about when AI will generate real returns. Against this backdrop, I believe it's necessary to take stock of where we stand at this mid-point in 2025. **The Core Question: Are Models and "Shells" Both Undervalued?** Over the past two years, the AI industry has cycled through several narratives: from the initial frenzy over foundation models, to the subsequent boom in AI applications ("shells"), then a period of disillusionment as applications failed to deliver, and now a renewed focus on models following DeepSeek's success. But I want to propose a contrarian view: **both models and "shells" may be simultaneously undervalued by the market right now.** This might sound paradoxical. Let me explain. **Why Models Are Undervalued** The market's current skepticism toward model companies stems largely from two concerns: the commoditization of models (will they all become undifferent
In 2025, the "Sedol moment" for industries far and wide is only just beginning.
真格基金·ZhenFund's Yusen Dai: A Guide to Entrepreneurship, Investing, and AI for Young People
Abundant energy, an intense desire for success, and a fearless spirit of innovation.
真格基金·Revisiting YC Co-Founder Paul Graham's Essay: How to Get Startup Ideas | Bolt Recommended Reading
Start by solving your own real problems.
线性资本·From OpenAI Intern to Perplexity Founder: What I Learned Building a Startup to "Challenge Google" | Bolt Picks
The so-called "building the next generation of information interaction experiences"
线性资本·Startups vs. Profitability: Maybe Not a Contradiction After All | Bolt Recs
Profit isn't the finish line — it's the starting line.
线性资本·How Should Startups Spend Money? | Bolt Picks
Spending logic, common misconceptions, and key principles of capital management.
线性资本·Bloomberg Interview with Altman: Looking Back on Two Years of ChatGPT, His Take on AGI | Bolt Picks
A recent interview with Sam Altman.
线性资本·YC Partner Shares: From a Startup on the Brink of Collapse to Building the Fast-Growing Google Photos | Bolt Picks
Always stay focused on what users need.
线性资本·Sam Altman on OpenAI: The Hard but Right Path | Bolt Recommends
Opportunities and Breakthrough Strategies for Startups in the AI Wave
线性资本·It Took Six Product Pivots to Find PMF — This Company Is Sharing Its 10,000-Word Methodology | Z Talk
Get these five steps right, and you'll be well on your way to finding product-market fit.
真格基金·Bolt Picks | How to Find Your Co-Founder
Appendix: 50 Interview Questions for Partners
线性资本·Bolt Picks | Three Reflections on "Founder Mode"
We all love a gripping hero's journey, but that's not the whole story.
线性资本·YC Founder's Latest Viral Silicon Valley Essay: Founder Mode May Be the Better Operating Model for Startups | Z Talk
In reality, there are two fundamentally different ways to run a company: founder mode versus manager mode.
真格基金·Limitless Founder: The Full 30,000-Character Interview — A 7-Minute Pitch, Thousands of Investor Inquiries, and the Fundraising Secrets of a Startup | Z Talk
Only three or four things truly determine whether a company succeeds or fails.
真格基金·Bolt Perspectives | What YC's Founder Says About Founders
Today's topic has nothing to do with AI — it's about founders.
线性资本·A New Decade for Venture Capital: Hongshan's First Answer
What's the solution for early-stage investing?
暗涌Waves·Heaven's Feel: The Root of AI and Gaming | 5Y View
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
五源资本·Happy first birthday to ChatGPT-3.5! What new lessons have AI and we learned over the past year? | Yunqi Tech Talk
AI's Spectacular Year
云启资本·OpenAI Interim CEO: AI Harms Could Be Worse Than Nuclear War
Clearly, the turbulence is far from over.
暗涌Waves·Is investor Zhang Yong someone to watch?
The revelry has ended.
暗涌Waves·Silicon Valley Bank, a fixture in venture capital for four decades, couldn't survive 40 hours of market panic.
China's venture capital world had a night of shock and panic.
暗涌Waves·
