Y Combinator
Y Combinator is a startup accelerator co-founded by Paul Graham , historically associated with figures including Sam Altman, who served as a partner there before OpenAI , and Emmett Shear, who joined as a part-time partner in 2011 . The firm has backed companies such as Reddit, Dropbox, and Airbnb , and more recently has become heavily concentrated in AI—per a late-2024 十字路口Crossing recap, AI projects made up roughly 70% of its portfolio over the prior year, rising to 90% at its December 2024 demo day . To match that pace, YC moved from two batches per year to four, its biggest operational shift in two decades .
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Coverage
What's Behind the AhaCreator 3.0 Update: How AI Is Reshaping the Creator Marketing Industry
Why Is "Influencer Marketing" a Piece of the Pie That Claude Code Can't Cut Out?
The Best Way for Humans and AI Agents to Work Together Hasn't Been Invented Yet | A Conversation with Paperboy
One look, and the Agent gets it.
Behind the Developer Enthusiasm for the Lark CLI, We See These Key Points
"The ancient" CLI has become an anchor point in the AI era.
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.
She Wants to Build a "Super Playground" for the AI Era | A Conversation with Roi: Founder / CEO of Mujian
People who are afraid to lose will never win the game.
Be a human, don't be an AI.
Don't Let AI Define You
2026: A Letter to AI Founders — on Generosity, Cruelty, and Fog
Is AI entrepreneurship entering its "worst" era?
After OpenClaw Went Viral, Here Are the Startup Signals We're Seeing
What entrepreneurial directions does it open up?
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.
The founders of prediction markets all say they're building the next Toutiao.
How do humans predict the future?
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."
2025 AI Scene: What We Witnessed and Imagined This Year
There is no turning back — the only way forward is through.
API Bills Don't Lie: The OpenRouter Top 10 Reveals the Next Breakout Hits
A "parallel world" that mainstream AI circles have overlooked.
Better Than YC! How AI Grant Uncovered Unicorns Like Perplexity, Pika, and Cursor | Full Portfolio List Inside
AI Grant is Silicon Valley's "trust passport."
Trying, Listening to Your Inner Voice, Building Irreplaceability — Talking Opportunities and Choices in the AI Era with Four Gen Z Young People
No one can become someone else; they can only become themselves.
On Xiaohongshu, I Saw the Wild Growth of a New Generation of AI Developers
Maybe the next Manus is already quietly germinating in Xiaohongshu communities and hackathon venues today.
Y Combinator S25 Full Roundup: 108 AI Startup Companies, Who Will Be the Next Dark Horse?
2025 is shaping up to be the year of AI Agents.
Are Model and 'Shell' Values Both Underestimated? ZhenFund's Yusen Dai's Mid-2025 AI Review
In 2025, the "Sedol moment" for industries far and wide is only just beginning.
Half of 2025 is gone — 9 AI Aha Moments
Great products are often born at the "Crossing" of technology and the humanities.
What Should I Do With My Life? | Life Advice from YC Founder Paul Graham
Keep building, and good things will happen.
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.
Revisiting YC Co-Founder Paul Graham's Essay: How to Get Startup Ideas | Bolt Recommended Reading
Start by solving your own real problems.
Hands-On with Manus: The First AI That Actually Gets Things Done, Made in China (50 Use Cases + Breakdown)
The World's First General-Purpose Agent 2025, Dawn Breaks in the East
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"
Startups vs. Profitability: Maybe Not a Contradiction After All | Bolt Recs
Profit isn't the finish line — it's the starting line.
How Should Startups Spend Money? | Bolt Picks
Spending logic, common misconceptions, and key principles of capital management.
Bloomberg Interview with Altman: Looking Back on Two Years of ChatGPT, His Take on AGI | Bolt Picks
A recent interview with Sam Altman.
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.
To AI Founders: In 2025, Go to These VCs for Funding | Debriefing a Year in Primary Markets with Jing Liu of "Waves"
"2024: Who's Still Actively Investing in AI?"
To AI Founders: In 2025, Go to These VCs for Funding | A Year-in-Review of the Primary Market with "An Yong" and Jing Liu
Sam Altman on OpenAI: The Hard but Right Path | Bolt Recommends
Opportunities and Breakthrough Strategies for Startups in the AI Wave
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.
"The Most Underestimated Moat in Tech Is Brand" | Interview with Daniel Gross — Silicon Valley's Top Founder and VC
In a world where most people drive Priuses and wear hoodies, no one wants to contemplate the aesthetics of "brand as moat."
Returning to Dollar-Denominated VC: Is It Like Joining the Nationalist Army in 1949? | A Conversation with Xing Meng, 5Y Capital's New Partner
Are those who go against the current naive, or brave?
Bolt Picks | How to Find Your Co-Founder
Appendix: 50 Interview Questions for Partners
Bolt Picks | Three Reflections on "Founder Mode"
We all love a gripping hero's journey, but that's not the whole story.
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.
Code Brain | YC Co-founder's New Theory: The "Founder Mode" That Turned Airbnb Around Against All Odds
J&T Global Express's founder has a distinctive management style.
The AI Engineer's Guide: Who Am I, Where Did I Come From, Where Am I Going? | A Conversation with SiliconFlow Founder Jinhui Yuan and Indie Developer idoubi
Ambition, curiosity, and the freedom to roam.
"AI Has Transformed All of Silicon Valley" | A Conversation with Rui Ma, Former Head of 500 Startups China, on SaaS, AI Startups, and Investing in Silicon Valley
Everyone says Silicon Valley has a great SaaS ecosystem. What changes is it going through?
"AI Has Transformed All of Silicon Valley" | A Conversation with Rui Ma, Former Partner at 500 Startups China, on SaaS AI Startups and Investing in Silicon Valley
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.
What Did We Learn After Analyzing 400 US AI Companies?
Not long ago, **Crossing** and **"The Art of Dragon Slaying"** co-produced a five-hour podcast marathon, in which we [**systematically reviewed the 260+ AI startups Y Combinator invested in over the past year**](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxMDMxOTI2NA==&mid=2649088059&id
Thank God, AI companies are finally turning to idol celebrity endorsements for marketing.
A new trend.
Bolt Perspectives | What YC's Founder Says About Founders
Today's topic has nothing to do with AI — it's about founders.
Every Great Discovery Begins with a Curious Mind | Crossing "AI Research Fellow" Recruitment Now Open
"What is an 'AI Research Fellow'?"
Let the Wounds Humans Inflict Be Healed by AI | A Conversation with Joshua, CEO of LinJian Healing Room, and Hezi, CMO
I spent a considerable amount of time exploring MoodTalker with intense curiosity, then sat down for two conversations totaling three hours with CEO Joshua and CMO Hezi to produce this episode.
Let the Wounds Humans Inflict Be Healed by AI: A Conversation with Joshua, CEO of Linjian Healing Room, and Hezi, CMO
After Listening to This Podcast, You'll Know How to Talk About AI | Summarizing Y Combinator's 260 AI Investments Over the Past Year
We believe the best way to understand an industry is to understand what the people in it are actually doing.
After Listening to This Episode, You'll Know How to Talk About AI | Summarizing Y Combinator's 260 AI Investments Over the Past Year
Starting with Microsoft's Copilot+PC Launch: The Drowning Dilemma for AI Entrepreneurs and 3 Promising Directions
I, someone who hasn't felt the slightest pull toward any Microsoft product in 20 years, found my heart racing today.
What Are Top AI Founders Building? | A 5-Hour Podcast Breaks Down 260 Y Combinator AI Companies from the Past Year (Part 1)
A New Decade for Venture Capital: Hongshan's First Answer
What's the solution for early-stage investing?
Managing Emotions With AI: Olympic Gold or Surveillance Nightmare?
Big Brother is Watching You
Science vs. Superstition: When I Asked AI to Calculate My MBTI from My Bazi
Code Brain | Bill Gates and Sam Altman's Conversation
Bill Gates and the OpenAI CEO discussed the direction of artificial intelligence, and what humans will do when that time comes.
Code Brain | The Rise of Solo Founders: How to Start Your Startup Alone
In today's great wave of AI entrepreneurship, is bias against solo founders justified — or merely outdated groupthink?
Heaven's Feel: The Root of AI and Gaming | 5Y View
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
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
OpenAI Interim CEO: AI Harms Could Be Worse Than Nuclear War
Clearly, the turbulence is far from over.
AIGC Summit | Creating the AI Productivity Gateway: OpenAI's Ambitions
The Apple App Store for AI Is Here
Code Brain | Where Do Great B2B Startup Ideas Come From (Part 2)
Through the stories of several entrepreneurs, we analyzed how to turn ["past pain"](http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5NDkzNTExMg==&mid=2649525319&idx=1&sn=e90020509265cbb735ae953363017b3d&chksm=885f2d60bf
Is investor Zhang Yong someone to watch?
The revelry has ended.
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.
