Your shift from YC founder to YC partner

AI’s impact on how YC startups are built

Too much AI at YC is diversity taking a hit

What’s different about YC founders now

Is the average YC founder getting younger now

Are Indian founders really declining at YC

 What is Ankit most excited about? 

Is the pressure to move fast higher than ever

Does YC still matter in a very different era

What gets a startup accepted into YC

Will YC still deliver big exits and multiples

What keeps you excited and awake at night

Conclusion

Credits

What does it really take to break into the world’s most selective startup accelerator? In this episode, host Swathi Moorthy speaks with Ankit Gupta, General Partner at Y Combinator, about how AI is rapidly eroding traditional advantages in entrepreneurship. Gupta explains why a growing share of YC startups, nearly 80–90% are now AI-led, and how coding agents are enabling younger, first-time founders to compress years of learning into months. He challenges the idea that pedigree, polished pitches, or early revenue matter most, arguing instead that YC continues to back builders with strong execution skills and complementary co-founding teams. The conversation also takes on prevailing narratives about Indian founders, the isolation that comes with building companies from scratch, and YC’s blunt survival mantra: “Don’t die.” Gupta closes with a sobering insight that we are living through an unusually uncertain moment, one where even a decade ahead has become impossible to predict.
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You can follow Swathi Moorthy on her social media: X and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes of ET in the Valley: ET in the Valley:  Grant Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma, ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell, ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad, ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

 

What does it really take to break into the world&rsquo;s most selective startup accelerator? In this episode, host Swathi Moorthy speaks with Ankit Gupta, General Partner at Y Combinator, about how AI is rapidly eroding traditional advantages in entrepreneurship. Gupta explains why a growing share of YC startups, nearly 80&ndash;90% are now AI-led, and how coding agents are enabling younger, first-time founders to compress years of learning into months. He challenges the idea that pedigree, polished pitches, or early revenue matter most, arguing instead that YC continues to back builders with strong execution skills and complementary co-founding teams. The conversation also takes on prevailing narratives about Indian founders, the isolation that comes with building companies from scratch, and YC&rsquo;s blunt survival mantra: &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t die.&rdquo; Gupta closes with a sobering insight that we are living through an unusually uncertain moment, one where even a decade ahead has become impossible to predict. Listen in: You can follow Swathi Moorthy on her social media: <a href="https://x.com/kpswathi">X </a>and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/swathi-moorthy-1a628115/">Linkedin </a>Check out other interesting episodes of ET in the Valley: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000738448473">ET in the Valley:&nbsp; Grant Lee, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of Gamma</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000737335976">ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000736346116">ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000735309153">ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski</a> and <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777">much more</a>.
Catch the latest episode of &lsquo;The Morning Brief&rsquo; on <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/podcast?from=mdr">The Economic Times Online</a>,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6PL5kfPbwURBEu6fHCVTOL?si=26ec0fbfa7134fea"> Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.jiosaavn.com/shows/the-morning-brief/1/GNPiFQD2xpY_">JioSaavn</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.in/podcasts/f378141f-9afb-495d-83da-9b08ec5047ac/the-morning-brief">Amazon Music</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@theetpodcasts">Youtube</a>.
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To make sense of the week’s hottest stories in business, economy, politics and markets, journalists from the Economic Times chat with reporters and industry leaders in this thrice-weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) podcast.

The Morning Brief

 ET in the Valley: Ankit Gupta, General Partner at Y-Combinator.

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