Y Combinator

Y Combinator funds startups in twice-yearly batches on standard terms, currently $125,000 for 7 percent plus a further $375,000 on uncapped terms, and runs them through three months of weekly office hours ending in Demo Day. Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell started it in 2005; the returns follow a power law, with Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox, Coinbase and DoorDash carrying a portfolio of thousands. Its Safe note replaced the convertible note as the standard seed instrument, so YC set terms for the whole market as well as investing in it. Randall Stross embedded with a batch, Livingston's interviews record how earlier founders actually started, and Graham's essays supply the thinking the programme teaches.

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