Episode
Garry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
55:55
Published: Mon Apr 03 2023
Description
In this episode we’re talking to Garry Tan, the president & CEO of Y Combinator. We go full circle with Garry as we chat about his path from turning down a job with Peter Thiel, to founding a YC-backed company in 2008, then starting his own multi-billion dollar fund in 2011, and finally returning to run Y Combinator in 2023. Garry knows about programming, design, running startups, and investing in them, so there are lessons and stories for everyone in this episode.
Chapters
In this podcast episode, Gary Tan talks about his journey from turning down a job with Peter Thiel to becoming YC CEO, including founding Initialized Capital and attending Y Combinator's Startup School and applying for its summer 2008 batch.
00:00 - 03:08 (03:08)
Summary
In this podcast episode, Gary Tan talks about his journey from turning down a job with Peter Thiel to becoming YC CEO, including founding Initialized Capital and attending Y Combinator's Startup School and applying for its summer 2008 batch.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
The lack of challenging education in his high school led this founder to teaching himself DSLR photography in his spare time.
03:08 - 07:59 (04:51)
Summary
The lack of challenging education in his high school led this founder to teaching himself DSLR photography in his spare time. Ultimately, attending startup school paved the way for him to launch his own company.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
The technology industry had different sources of information before websites like TechCrunch and Twitter.
07:59 - 15:54 (07:55)
Summary
The technology industry had different sources of information before websites like TechCrunch and Twitter. Corporate jobs can create a system that traps people in jobs that they hate, making it impossible to get things done.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
The ability to build technology and software is crucial to a company's success, as software engineers are capable of creating products and services that society desperately needs.
15:54 - 25:23 (09:28)
Summary
The ability to build technology and software is crucial to a company's success, as software engineers are capable of creating products and services that society desperately needs. The average profit per employee for most tech companies ranges from half a million dollars to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars worth of market value.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
The key to truly great user experience design is deep empathy for the customer and the user.
25:23 - 31:47 (06:23)
Summary
The key to truly great user experience design is deep empathy for the customer and the user. Empathy helps create great user experience designs that attract even more users and make a product successful.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
This episode explores the importance of addressing conflicts in the workplace, rather than ignoring them and potentially causing physical and emotional harm, using personal anecdotes and experiences.
31:47 - 39:10 (07:23)
Summary
This episode explores the importance of addressing conflicts in the workplace, rather than ignoring them and potentially causing physical and emotional harm, using personal anecdotes and experiences.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
Y Combinator (YC) is empowering builders to create something new and important with their skills, rather than following traditional paths through grad school or employment, and is potentially leading the way to a new way of allocating capital.
39:10 - 49:56 (10:45)
Summary
Y Combinator (YC) is empowering builders to create something new and important with their skills, rather than following traditional paths through grad school or employment, and is potentially leading the way to a new way of allocating capital.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
The speaker recommends using DJI action cameras to create short video clips of family vacations or weekends with kids and then editing them together in Final Cut Pro with favorite music.
49:56 - 54:33 (04:37)
Summary
The speaker recommends using DJI action cameras to create short video clips of family vacations or weekends with kids and then editing them together in Final Cut Pro with favorite music. The speaker also discusses the importance of disagreeing but committing to make the right choice together in organizations.
EpisodeGarry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
PodcastThe Social Radars
In this podcast, the speaker reflects on the evolution of a person's confidence building and empathetic behaviours, after knowing him for 15 years.
54:33 - 55:44 (01:10)
Summary
In this podcast, the speaker reflects on the evolution of a person's confidence building and empathetic behaviours, after knowing him for 15 years. The speaker admires the level of maturity and willingness to resolve conflicts and grow, while building up their confidence and empathy along the way.