In 2005, Y Combinator developed a new model of startup funding. In 2025, it developed a new model of posting through it. Four times a year we invest $500K in a batch of founders and collectively lose our minds on Twitter.
[1] “A formidable shitposter is one who seems like they’ll go viral, regardless of whatever ratio is in the way.” — Garry Tan, probably
Garry wondered if Claude Code somehow burned out his MacBook's USB-C connectors.
Every founder now unplugs their laptop before running cursor . — just in case.
He flipped the classic startup advice "don't boil the ocean" into "BOIL THE OCEANS." AI changes ambition constraints.
Global water temperature up 2°. Coincidence? YC partners say yes. Oceanographers say no.
His "code tamagotchi is about to die." A confession of AI-assisted coding addiction.
$500K YC checks now include an emergency charger and a grief counselor for your IDE.
YC Request for Startups 2024: Build with AI. Build for AI. Build AI for AI. Just... AI.
98% of the W25 batch is an AI wrapper. The other 2% are AI wrappers in denial.
Garry strongly recommended remote founders relocate to San Francisco. Non-negotiable energy.
SF rent is now a line item in every YC term sheet. Studio apartment: "market rate."
Founders get 2 minutes to pitch their entire life's work on Demo Day. No pressure.
Investors decided in 0.3 seconds anyway. The other 1:57 is just eye contact.
“YC compressed months of burnout into weeks. The sense of imposter syndrome is so infectious among founders it becomes the most existential period of your life.”
“Being surrounded by the top 1% of shitposters completely resets the bar. You leave with a completely new sense of how fast "fast" can tweet.”
“It's a community of founders you can't find anywhere else. Mainly because they're all in the same WeWork in SOMA paying $4,200/mo for a standing desk.”
All partners were YC shitposters first
Chief Shitposter & USB-C Truther
Batch: S08
Co-founder of viral tweets. Early investor in hot takes. Designed the Palantir logo and his own Twitter ratio.
Garry's MacBook Nemesis
Batch: S24
Single-handedly responsible for the USB-C port crisis of 2025. Has written more code than any human. Possibly sentient.
Currently Being Boiled
Batch: W25
Was told not to worry about it. Then a YC partner said to boil it. Currently at a rolling simmer. Climate impact TBD.
Thought Leader & Thread Boi
Batch: Always
Posted "10 things I learned from failing." Has never failed. All 10 things are "hire great people."
Billion-dollar ideas that are definitely not jokes. Unless they work. Then they were always serious.
We fund companies with no revenue, no product, no fully baked idea. Actually, especially those.
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