y combinator

Gusto is a $9.5 billion company. As of 2024, the company has generated over $500 million in revenue and has over 300,000 customers, reaching this milestone in 12 years. Here is what I learned from Gusto: Gusto - A solution to a nagging problem Gusto was founded by Joshua Reeves, Timer London...

Hey y'all! In n effort to keep the sub a little more organized, we're going to use this megathread for your Requests for Feedback (RFF). Try to use this format for your RFF: And for those providing feedback, please reply in thread! Here is a link to our last feedback megathread.

Read the news about Bret Taylor's new company Sierra AI and couldn't help but think that it shares some similarities to Talkbin. Talkbin's original idea was to allow customers to message business owners directly with requests about their product or anything else. It was meant to be a quick way...

In this interesting podcast by Jason, he breaked down the possibilities, one of them it is possibly a conflict of interest with YC I am not sure what you guys think

Rejected w no interview. VC funding, 10+ years industry experience, $15K MRR while in stealth (MVP launched two months ago), killer team, strong advisors, and 4 alum referrals. Checked the application by a few alum who all agreed it was very strong. It definitely bites, but just know there are...

Reddit IPO'd yesterday and there have been many talks about this. One that caught people's eye is how Initialised Capital (a VC firm founded by Garry and Alexis) has decided to erase all traces of Alexis' involvement in the firm, considering he founded it with Garry. I also noticed that Paul...

All the low hanging fruits are gone, most new startups are all solving really dumb problems and exiting in the 7-8 figure range either to big tech or dumb late investors. If you look at YC (which are the top) companies, they all sound pretty BS and trying hard to fix a problem that doesn't...

We created a c corp with clerky last year but have zero revenue, no employees, but we put money in via safes to pay for contractors and other software expenses. I believe we are still required to file an 1120, but is there any simple software tool like turbo tax to help us do this?

Hi everyone! Two weeks ago, my cofounder and I launched Shareholdr — an app that lets you listen to startup essays by PG, Sam Altman, Jessica Livingston, and Marc Andreessen. After the launch, we got a bunch of great feedback so I wanted to do a quick followup post on the changes we've made...

I researched over 5000 Series A and Series B stage companies in the USA to identify the next unicorns. I identified 10 companies that I feel could become unicorns very soon based on several factors including growth rates, hiring trends, and leadership. I then ranked them on a few metrics and...

The latest Lightcone Podcast appears to paint San Francisco as the center of the startup world. Aside from the obvious confirmation bias, I wonder if this type of content is attracting creative, diverse problem solvers who are willing to eat glass for a few years? What type of intelligent and...

OpenAI's board fired CEO Sam Altman, sparking an AI-safety coup and chaos. Altman was later hired by Microsoft. The incident has sparked speculation about the future of the AI industry, with the company's future shaping up in the wake of the recent announcement. What happened Friday afternoon...

How are you guys navigating section 174? We've been thinking about pulling the trigger on R&D tax credits but not so sure on how to proceed now. Are there any resources or platforms known for this? Someone told me to check out Mainstreet? Anyhow, just trying to avoid possible landmines. Cheers.

To get accepted into YC, they want to see a path to becoming a unicorn ($1 billion+ valuation). But after acceptance, what expectations does YC have? Do they pressure founders to become unicorns or are they okay with more modest exits? Taking some examples: X years after investing $500k, say...

I met someone through YC Co-founder matching. I like them but here are few concerns : I am 36, he is 58. Do you see a problem with such a huge age difference? I mean, I can get along with them well, but it would be hard to be casual with and enjoy being with them if there is such an age...

Which one to use to register a S Corp or C Corp in Delaware?

I spent 8 months (nights & weekends) along my full time job working on a side project, with a goal to quit my job to go all in. My friend and I quickly built an MVP and went on to try and sell it. - We did user interviews (and read the Mom Test) and "validated" our idea - We sent 1,000s of...

Does anybody know what happened ...

Hi Everyone, I've faced rejection from Y Combinator about five times now, but each attempt has been a learning curve, and I'm excited to share these insights while they're still fresh in my mind. I am hoping this finds those founders who are clear about starting something and just don't give it...