Why you can't just copy your way to success

This Week at YC

July 5, 2023

The Tempting Belief That Can Kill A Startup

It's normal to be inspired by others, but you never want to do something just because you see a successful company doing it. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, the two YC Group Partners break down the problem with cargo culting and offer advice on the right way to draw inspiration from other successful companies.

🌎 YC Community

Highlights from our founders
Centaur Labs is gamifying medical data labeling to advance AI
MIT News
The 26-year-old CEO who became Washington's AI whisperer
Semafor
JustPaid debuts suite of AI-Powered finance services

🚀 The Launchpad

Some of the most recent YC companies and product launches 

Remy Security

AI-powered security design reviews
San Francisco, CA

Line

Empowers contractors with tools that make building decarbonization projects affordable for customers
San Francisco, CA

Slicker

The easiest payroll product for small European businesses
London, United Kingdom

HyLight 

Hydrogen airships for long range monitoring
Paris, France

Wayfind

Your personal AI travel agent
San Francisco, CA

UpCodes

Copilot for building codes
San Francisco, CA

Refine

Dev-friendly alternative to low-code/no-code. Familiar stack, 100% control over project!
San Francisco, CA
Find more YC companies and discover new products

🔥 Hacker News

Top posts from this week
  1. Twitter Is DDOSing Itself | (https://sfba.social/)
  2. Twitter now requires an account to view tweets | (https://techcrunch.com/)
  3. Apollo is dead. Long live Apollo
  4. Threads, an Instagram app | (https://apps.apple.com/)
  5. How to Do Great Work | (http://paulgraham.com/)
  6. First 'tooth regrowth' medicine moves toward clinical trials in Japan | (https://mainichi.jp/)
  7. Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions | (https://www.latimes.com/)
  8. Terrible real estate agent photographs | (https://terriblerealestateagentphotos.com)
  9. Sao Paulo: A city with no outdoor advertisements (2013) | (https://www.amusingplanet.com/)
  10. Valve is not willing to publish games with AI generated content anymore? | (https://old.reddit.com/)
Read more on Hacker News

💸 Money Moves

The latest raises and rounds from YC companies
DraftWise (YC S20)
$5M Seed
New York

Legaltech News: AI Startup DraftWise Raises $5M, With Help From Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
Alfie (YC W22)
$2.1M Pre-Seed
New York

Infisical (YC W23)
$2.8M Seed
San Francisco

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These are the Top YC companies by revenue

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

We've published a list that recognizes the companies in the YC community that achieved the highest net revenue throughout 2022. This Week at YC June 28, 2023 💰 The Inaugural YC Top Companies List

Y Combinator's Design Review is back!

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

For this episode of Design Review, Aaron Epstein invited Garry Tan to break down what's working (and what's not) on the websites of five AI startups This Week at YC June 20, 2023 👁️ Critiquing

The Fear That Could Be Holding Your Startup Back

Monday, June 5, 2023

Many founders are afraid to talk to customers to find out what their biggest problems really are. This Week at YC June 5, 2023 💥 The Fear That Could Be Holding Your Startup Back The core secret to

Meet YC's Newest Group Partner

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

To help you make a startup that matters, it helps to have people who have been in the idea maze... This Week at YC May 30, 2023 📢 Tom Blomfield of GoCardless and Monzo is Our Newest Group Partner To

The "most important decision" in Tracy Young's life

Monday, May 22, 2023

YC President and CEO Garry Tan sits down with PlanGrid/TigerEye co-founder Tracy Young to learn about her family's immigrant journey. This Week at YC May 22, 2023 💬 PlanGrid/TigerEye Co-Founder

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