Go West
Reddit’s 2006 sale is the first big win. The batch model proves itself, the program moves to Silicon Valley, Hacker News launches, and a generation of founders — Dropbox, Airbnb — find their way to Mountain View.
Part of Y Combinator
10 moments in this segment.
- — the Reddit founders (2006). the Reddit founders, photographed in 2006. Part of the Y Combinator story.
- — Reddit’s exit — the first big win. In October 2006, just over a year after the first batch, Reddit is acquired by Condé Nast. The early validation that the batch model can produce real outcomes — and proof that funding very young founders works.
- — Hacker News launches. Paul Graham launches Hacker News (originally "Startup News") in 2007 — a community link aggregator that becomes the front page of the startup world and a recruiting and reputation engine for YC itself.
- — Dropbox (Summer 2007). Drew Houston applies to YC with a file-syncing demo and is told to find a co-founder; he brings in Arash Ferdowsi and joins the Summer 2007 batch. Dropbox becomes one of YC’s defining early successes.
- — Jessica Livingston (2007). Jessica Livingston, photographed in 2007. Part of the Y Combinator story.
- — the Twitch founders (2007). the Twitch founders, photographed in 2007. Part of the Y Combinator story.
- — Paul Graham (2007). Paul Graham, photographed in 2007. Part of the Y Combinator story.
- — Startup School. YC runs Startup School — free day-long events where famous founders speak to a hall of would-be entrepreneurs. It spreads YC’s ideas far beyond the funded batches and seeds the global founder community.
- — Paul Graham at Startup School 08. startupschool
- — the Collison brothers (Stripe) (2008). the Collison brothers (Stripe), photographed in 2008. Part of the Y Combinator story.
