YC 120

by Sam Altman1/29/2019

The world is shaped by people with intelligence, drive and vision. At YC, we’ve learned a lot about cultivating a network of such people — and we believe that having a strong network is such a force multiplier that it is one of the most important assets for anyone who wants to have a significant impact on the world.

We’d like to find more curious, creative people who are doing exciting work in emerging fields and give them an opportunity to start building their network. We want to connect them to each other, to people who have already done impactful work, and to us.

We’d like to bring 120 of those people together for a weekend conference in Colorado from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28.

Are you interested in gene editing? Using technology to improve democracy and a return to fact-based debate? Finally solving physics? Building AGI? Nuclear fusion? Building a space colony? We’d like to hear from you.

We’ll invite about 100 people who could use more of a network, and 20 people who are already at the top of their fields. We’ll pay for a plane ticket from anywhere in the world, lodging, and food. To continue to build the community, there will also be a few optional follow-up dinners throughout the course of the year.

Aside from some basic information, all you need to do to apply is submit a one-minute video with answers to these three questions:

  • What are you interested in and what are you working on?
  • What have you done so far that shows your potential for greatness, adjusted for whatever life circumstances you were born into?
  • In a best-case scenario, what do you want your obituary to say?

Applications are now open. You can apply here. The application deadline is Feb 18th at 11:59 PM PST.

Author

  • Sam Altman

    Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI. He was the president of YC from 2014-2019. He studied computer science at Stanford, and while there, worked in the AI lab.