Y Combinator - 🏛️ Why YC went to DC

This Week at YC

June 9th, 2024

Hey all —

Garry here, jumping in for Greg this week to open the newsletter.

A few weeks ago I went to DC as a voice for startups and little tech to speak with policymakers and leaders from both of the major parties. You can read all about why here, but the short version: the world is at a pivotal moment in the development of AI, and we can’t let the biggest companies be the only ones with a voice.

We need policy that promotes fair, open, and competitive markets. Policy that prioritizes open source AI models, fosters competition, and moves us forward with steps like the FTC’s recent decision to ban employee noncompetes. We need policies that can help little tech thrive and which make room for new entrants; this is how we make American innovation truly bloom.

Whether or not you care about politics, politics cares about you. The decisions being made in the weeks and months ahead will steer the future of tech and startups for decades, and the only way to have a voice is to speak up. Find more about our trip, and what we shared in our conversations, here.

- Garry Tan

📺 The Latest

Featured content from the YC Library

💡 Lightcone: Better AI Models, Better Startups

There's been a lot of news lately about the updates to some of the largest foundational AI models. But what does this mean for startups? How will future product releases from the AI giants effect the companies built on top of them? The hosts of Lightcone discuss how founders can take advantage of these developments and avoid being steamrolled by the competition. 

5 common mistakes teams make when building with LLMs

Humanloop has helped hundreds of companies make better AI products. This week on the YC Blog Greg spoke with Humanloop CEO and co-founder Raza Habib about some of the most common mistakes people make when building on top of LLMs.

🌎 YC Community

Highlights and news from around YC
Ashby (W19) injects recruiting with a dose of AI
TechCrunch
If you were interested in applying for YC S24 but thought it was too late— it’s not! We're still accepting last-minute applications.

Apply by June 13, and we’ll get back to you by June 20.
YourChoice's (W19) first-of-its-kind male birth control is safe for men, so far
Fierce Biotech
Fizz (S21), a credit-building debit card aimed at Gen Z college students, raises $14.4m seed
TechCrunch

🚀 The Launchpad

Some of the most recent YC companies and product launches 
Keep every lead on your website engaged with a dedicated AI agent.
S2023
Layup turns your product usage data into touchpoints that drive retention and growth.
W2023
Keep face, hairstyle, skin, ethnicity of human characters consistent in AI image generation.
S2021
We use AI to get behavioral health providers in network, so they can start billing twice as fast.
S2024
Comprehensive rankings, CYA, and requirements tailored to your exact use case.
W2021
Autopilot curates, edits, and posts the best clips from your existing video content.
W2021
Find more YC companies and discover new products

🔥 Hacker News

Top posts from this week
  1. How many photons are received per bit transmitted from Voyager 1? (physics.stackexchange.com)
    1022 points by williamsmj | 195 comments

  2. Microsoft AI spying scandal: time to rethink privacy standards (spectrum.ieee.org)
    906 points by walterbell | 377 comments

  3. Show HN: I made a tiny camera with super long battery life (toaster.llc)
    838 points by davekeck | 298 comments

  4. Hacking millions of modems and investigating who hacked my modem (samcurry.net)
    830 points by albinowax_ | 273 comments

  5. Vulkan1.3 on the M1 in one month (rosenzweig.io)
    822 points by todsacerdoti | 354 comments

  6. I'm forking Ladybird and stepping down as SerenityOS BDFL (awesomekling.substack.com)
    822 points by zmodem | 261 comments

  7. Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico (twitter.com)
    811 points by thepasswordis | 853 comments

  8. You'll regret using natural keys (blog.ploeh.dk)
    732 points by thunderbong | 551 comments

  9. Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers (www.haaretz.com)
    718 points by frob | 662 comments

  10. Boeing Starliner launches first crewed mission (www.bbc.co.uk)
    641 points by helsinkiandrew | 684 comments
Read more on Hacker News
More YC resources: Why YC | Apply to YC | YC Library
Copyright © 2024 Y Combinator, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive emails from Y Combinator.

Our mailing address is:
Y Combinator
320 Pioneer Way
Mountain View, CA 94041

Add us to your address book


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Older messages

💥 Doing things that don't scale

Monday, June 3, 2024

New Dalton & Michael, new Office Hours, and more | This Week at YC June 2nd, 2024 And we're back! There was no newsletter last week due to the holiday, but that means I've got even more to

The Untold Stories of Y Combinator

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Garry Tan interviews Jessica Livingston, co-founder of YC | This Week at YC May 19th, 2024 The intro bit this week is going to be nice and quick because I'm just emerging from the gnarliest cold I

⭐ These are YC's Top Companies

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Plus: Design Review is back with a new episode! This Week at YC May 5th, 2024 As Garry writes: revenue is the clearest indicator of a startup's success. With that in mind, we've just updated

📈 What’s getting funded now

Sunday, April 28, 2024

The Lightcone crew dives into the trends they're seeing from the latest YC batch. | This Week at YC April 28th, 2024 What a week! The deadline* for Summer 2024 applications was on Monday, which

🧠 When should a founder trust gut instincts?

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Plus: meet YC's newest Group Partner! This Week at YC April 21st, 2024 First: the deadline to apply for the Summer 2024 batch is tomorrow (April 22nd). If you're on the fence about applying,

You Might Also Like

Secrets to Growing and Monetizing Your YouTube Channel 🎥

Thursday, December 26, 2024

If you're serious about growing your YouTube channel, this week's edition is packed with tips ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Do this ONE thing in 2025

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Read time: 52 sec. A bunch of you have been DMing me about your New Year's resolutions. Very cool, but… Some of you have WAY too many goals. Don't get me wrong—I've been there. Back in 2018

💋 Start your 2025 success story now with Gretta’s blueprint

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Don't wait for the new year—transform your life NOW with our biggest deal ever. fdrlogo Hey Friend , Thinking of owning an online business instead of working a boring 9-5? Now's your chance

Boring Strategy, Remote Nomad Jobs, GenFuse AI, Mochi Video AI, Notepad Online, and more

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

a powerful tool that transforms your ideas into a video BetaList BetaList Weekly Mochi Video AI a powerful tool that transforms your ideas into a video Remote Nomad Jobs 100% remote jobs for digital

💥 Make 2025 The Best Year of Your Life - CreatorBoom

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Six Figure Local Newsletter, How Eddie Shleyner Built Very Good Copy, 10 Newsletter Success Stories Generating $1.1M in MRR, 4 Boring Websites That Make over $35k Per Month, 6 Things to Do if Your

🚀 This holiday, learn from the best & transform 2025

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

These experts have built $100M+ businesses—now they're here to help you do the same. fdrlogo Hey Friend , What do 30000+ Foundr students know that you don't? They know the difference between

🗞 What's New: AI video editing is coming to Instagram

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Also: Mobile app earnings jumped 15.7% in 2024 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

[CEI] Chrome Extension Ideas #171

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

ideas for Amazon, Podcast, Twitter, and AI ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Top angel investors in the U.S.

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Inspiration for who to raise from when you're raising your early rounds ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

🎁 🎄 HO HO HO! Here's the ultimate gift for your business journey

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Unwrap your holiday gifts and start building your dream in 2025! fdrlogo Hey Friend , HO HO HO! Your holiday gifts have arrived! This isn't your typical holiday surprise—these gifts are proven