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Garry Tan
Technology Investor and Advisor
Garry Tan is a prominent figure in the startup ecosystem, currently serving as the President, CEO, and Group Partner at Y Combinator (YC), a leading startup accelerator. He assumed this role in January 2023, succeeding Geoff Ralston, who praised Tan's leadership capabilities and deep understanding of the startup landscape.14
Background and Education
Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford University. His early career included significant roles at Palantir Technologies, where he was an engineering manager and contributed to the design of the company's logo.12 He co-founded Posterous, a blogging platform that was acquired by Twitter in 2012, and later became a partner at Y Combinator from 2011 to 2015, where he played a crucial role in developing key components of the YC experience for founders, including the Demo Day website.12
Venture Capital and Investments
In addition to his role at YC, Tan is the co-founder and managing partner of Initialized Capital, a venture capital firm he started in 2012 with Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit. Initialized Capital focuses on early-stage investments, managing approximately $500 million and boasting a portfolio of over 200 companies.125 Throughout his career, he has been involved in advising numerous successful startups, contributing to the creation of significant market value in the tech industry.12
Influence and Contributions
Tan is recognized for his deep engagement with the startup community, having read over 6,000 YC applications and advised more than 35 unicorns. His insights and experiences are shared through various platforms, including a popular YouTube channel where he discusses startups, jobs, and entrepreneurial strategies.23 Under his leadership, Y Combinator continues to support and fund innovative startups, maintaining its reputation as a breeding ground for successful tech companies.12
Highlights
I’ve owned Sonos products for nearly a decade and it’s unfortunately one of the few tech brands that has gotten substantially worse in that time 😔
Robot vacuums have improved dramatically over the past few years.
Early versions would continually break down in random places.
We got a new one when we moved this year and I never really think about it at all outside of refilling the water once a week.
It just works.
