This Week at YC

March 22nd, 2024

"I met the Reddits before we even started Y Combinator," writes Paul Graham. "In fact they were one of the reasons we started it."

Reddit's story is one that stretches back nearly twenty years — and it's one that is deeply intertwined with YC's own earliest days.

To celebrate Reddit's IPO this week, PG wrote a post that takes us back to the summer of 2005 — how he met Alexis and Steve, why they built Reddit instead of their very different initial idea, and more.

It's a great story — even as someone who has been paying attention to both Reddit and YC for the better part of two decades, there's stuff in there I never knew. Find it here.

- Greg

📺 The Latest

🧠 Why founders shouldn't think like investors

"It’s easy to analyze your way out of taking the first step," writes Dalton. "It’s something we see a lot, particularly when founders try to choose what to build based on what they think VCs will like."

In this latest episode of Dalton & Michael, the pair talk about the risks of “thinking like a VC” when you're a founder, how to know when you’re stuck in that mindset, and how to unlearn it.

(Plus Dalton somehow finds a way to connect all of this to Starcraft, which gets him extra points in my book.)

⏰ Things that are a waste of time for founders

In this Mailbag mini-episode, Pete outlines some things that feel like work, but probably aren't actually helping your startup succeed.

🌎 YC Community

Highlights and news from around YC

Reddit’s IPO is a content moderation success story
New York Times

"Sonauto has created a foundational text-to-music model: you just give it lyrics and it'll make you a song. I had it make a YC power metal anthem and the result is magical."

- Jared Friedman on X/Twitter