The Sequoia Era

The Cambridge program closes and YC consolidates in the Valley. Sequoia’s backing lets the batches grow; Stripe and Airbnb break out, Startup School scales to the biggest names in tech, and YC begins funding nonprofits.

Part of Y Combinator

42 moments in this segment.

1. 2009-01-15 — Consolidation in the Valley. In January 2009 the Cambridge program closes and YC consolidates entirely in Silicon Valley. The same year, Sequoia Capital leads a $2 million investment that lets YC fund around 60 companies a year.
2. 2009-01-20 — Airbnb (Winter 2009). Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk join the Winter 2009 batch after famously funding themselves selling cereal boxes. Graham’s advice — go to your users — helps turn Airbnb into one of YC’s biggest companies.
3. 2009-06-01 — Stripe (Summer 2009). Patrick and John Collison join YC and build Stripe — developer-first payments. It becomes one of the most valuable private companies in the world and a cornerstone of the YC portfolio.
4. 2009-06-15 — Paul Graham on Start-ups, Innovation, and Creativity 08/03/2009. EconTalk
5. 2009 — Y Combinator (2009). Y Combinator, photographed in 2009. Part of the Y Combinator story.
6. 2010-06-15 — Brian Chesky - Founder of Airbnb @ Startup School 2010 (1 of 2). Ernest
7. 2010-06-15 — This Week in Startups - Garry Tan, Co-Founder of Posterous. This Week in Startups
8. 2010-06-15 — Sequoia doubles down. In 2010 Sequoia provides a further $8.25 million, and YC adds partners and advisors — Paul Buchheit (creator of Gmail) and Harj Taggar among them — to handle the growing batches.
9. 2010 — Jessica Livingston (2010). Jessica Livingston, photographed in 2010. Part of the Y Combinator story.
10. 2010 — Geoff Ralston (2010). Geoff Ralston, photographed in 2010. Part of the Y Combinator story.
11. 2011-06-15 — Y Combinator's Graham Says Startups Must Improve Lives. Bloomberg Originals
12. 2011 — Drew Houston (Dropbox) (2011). Drew Houston (Dropbox), photographed in 2011. Part of the Y Combinator story.
13. 2011 — Y Combinator (2011). Y Combinator, photographed in 2011. Part of the Y Combinator story.
14. 2011 — Brian Chesky (Airbnb) (2011). Brian Chesky (Airbnb), photographed in 2011. Part of the Y Combinator story.
15. 2011-10-15 — Startup School draws the Valley’s biggest names. By 2011 Startup School fills auditoriums; Mark Zuckerberg and Ashton Kutcher speak. YC has become the center of gravity for early-stage startups, and a YC badge is a signal in itself.
16. 2012-06-15 — Justin.tv's Justin Kan: The story of a serial entrepreneur | Wizard. Justin.tv's viewers watch 300+ million videos a month. Socialcam just sold for $60 million. Now serial entrepreneur, Justin Kan, has founded Exec, which makes it possible to get jobs done without middlemen, and gives a whole class of people an opportunity to make a living.
17. 2012-06-15 — Y Combinator's Graham Doesn't See `Bubble' in Technology: Video. Bloomberg Originals
18. 2012-06-15 — Y Combinator's Paul Graham On Changing Strategies. TechCrunch
19. 2012-06-15 — Paul Graham On Founder Power, The Rise Of NY. TechCrunch
20. 2012-06-15 — Jason Interviews Sam Altman CEO of Loopt. TechCrunch
21. 2012-06-15 — Loopt's Altman Says Groupon Partnership Looks Promising. Bloomberg Originals
22. 2012-06-15 — Drew Houston: How I Met My Co-Founder. Stanford eCorner
23. 2013-06-15 — Goodreads, Y Combinator Demo Day, and Bitcoin | CrunchWeek. TechCrunch
24. 2013-10-25 — Ben Silbermann at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
25. 2013-10-25 — David Rusenko at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
26. 2013-10-25 — Joel Spolsky at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
27. 2013-10-25 — Ron Conway at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
28. 2013-10-25 — Jessica Livingston at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
29. 2013-10-25 — Hiroshi Mikitani at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
30. 2013-10-25 — Chris Dixon at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
31. 2013-10-25 — Travis Kalanick at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
32. 2013-10-25 — Balaji Srinivasan at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
33. 2013-10-25 — Mark Zuckerberg at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
34. 2013-10-25 — Tom Preston Werner at Startup School 2012. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
35. 2013-10-25 — Dan Siroker at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
36. 2013-10-26 — Jack Dorsey at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
37. 2013-10-26 — Office Hours at Startup School 2013 with Paul Graham and Sam Altman. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
38. 2013-10-26 — Ron Conway at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
39. 2013-10-26 — Phil Libin at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
40. 2013-10-26 — Nate Blecharczyk at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
41. 2013-10-26 — Mark Zuckerberg at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).
42. 2013-10-27 — Chase Adam at Startup School 2013. From the Y Combinator video archive (2013).