Jun 19, 2026

The Age Of The 40-Year-Old Solo Founder Is Here

Bryant Chou, co-founder of Webflow, introduces his new AI-powered platform, Ploy. This episode delves into how Ploy transcends traditional website builders by integrating analytics, CRM, and SEO to autonomously optimize marketing. Chou discusses Ploy's 'anti-slop' approach, leveraging curated data and expertise to produce high-quality web designs, and reflects on building a startup in the AI era compared to Webflow's early days. He also explores the competitive moat of purpose-built AI, the concept of 'agents as customers,' and how experienced founders can leverage AI to 'clone themselves' and achieve unprecedented speed and scale.

Jun 17, 2026

How To Pick A Startup Idea

Jon Xu, a YC General Partner, argues against the "perfect idea" trap and juggling multiple startup concepts. He advocates for founders to commit deeply to a single idea, immersing themselves in customer problems to the point of understanding their business intimately. This approach, especially vital in the AI era, involves building at the frontier of technology, verticalizing to own outcomes, and aiming for the most ambitious version of a solution, ultimately yielding invaluable insights and potential for pivot, even if the initial idea doesn't succeed.

Apr 24, 2026

How To Build A Company With AI From The Ground Up

Y Combinator Partner Diana Hu explains how to build an AI-native company where AI is the core operating system, not just a tool. She covers how to make a company queryable, the impact on team structures, and why startups have a massive edge in this new paradigm.

Nov 10, 2025

Michael Truell: How Cursor Builds at the Speed of AI

Michael Truell, CEO of Cursor, discusses the company's rapid growth, emphasizing a strategy of deliberate focus on power users over broad democratization. He shares insights into their unique two-day work trials that test for agency, the technical and relational challenges of out-scaling cloud and API providers, and a talent-first approach to M&A, all while navigating a market poised for its next 'iPhone moment'.

Oct 21, 2025

The Decisions That Make Or Break Startups

YC partners discuss go-to-market strategies for AI in legacy industries, balancing growth with defensibility, knowing when to pivot even with traction, tackling hard technical problems, and making key hiring and open-source decisions.

Oct 17, 2025

How To Be Contrarian — And Right

Garry, Harj, Jared, and Diana discuss why founders should pursue contrarian ideas in a crowded AI market. They analyze how companies like Uber, Coinbase, and Flock Safety found massive success by tackling non-obvious, legally ambiguous, or seemingly impossible problems that others ignored.