Recent Posts By Sam Altman

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YC China + Qi Lu

by Sam Altman8/14/2018

Edit: Read this update onYC China.I am delighted to announce that Qi Lu is joining YC to launch and run YCChina. I have been trying to recruit Qi for many years—he is one of the mostimpressive technologists I know.Our mission at YC is to enable more innovation than any other company in theworld, and to ensure that the benefits of that are fairly spread throughouthumanity.

US Visas

by Sam Altman3/9/2017

We’ve heard from some founders that they’re nervous about applying to YC becausethey worry they won’t be able to get visas to attend interviews or the summerprogram.We will hold a day of interviews in Vancouver for founders we’d like tointerview but can’t get US visas. We will also experiment with allowingcompanies that we’d like to fund but are unable to get visas for the duration ofour three-month program to participate remotely.

YC’s Online Class (Sign up at StartupSchool.org)

by Sam Altman3/6/2017

We’re excited to announce our new online Startup School, with classes beginningon April 5. Anyone can sign up at StartupSchool.org for the 10-week massively open online course (MOOC), starting today. We want toteach everyone how to start a startup and help them along the way with guidancefrom people who’ve started companies.

Dilution

by Sam Altman3/1/2017

There has probably been more capital looking to invest in private technologycompanies in the past five years than any five-year period before.An obvious consequence of this increased supply is that company valuations (i.e.prices) have gone up, and so has the amount of capital raised by most companies.A non-obvious consequence is that although people raise more money at highervaluations, they still end up selling much more of the company.

Drew Houston on How to Build the Future

by Sam Altman2/23/2017

Drew is the founder and CEO of Dropbox.Rejected once before, Drew eventually went through Y Combinator in the Winter of2007 with Dropbox and has since grown it to over 500 million users today.

2017 YC Annual Letter

by Sam Altman2/20/2017

Dear YC Community:In response to a comment onHacker News, I’m going to try writing an annual letter to the YC community withan update on our progress.Our mission is to enable the most innovation of any company in the world inorder to make the future great for everyone. We believe new technology, economicgrowth, and new ideas about how our society might function are more importantthan ever before.

YC Research: Universal Healthcare

by Sam Altman2/7/2017

Four years ago, Watsi became YC’s first non-profit. They’vesince raised over $7.5 million to fund life-changing healthcare for more than10,000 patients in 24 countries.Today, we’re excited to announce that YC Research is funding Watsi for a projectthat will study using technology to improve the quality and reduce the cost ofhealthcare.