StartUps & VCs

Peter Thiel literally walks you step by step on how to succeed in 2026:

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison shares the tactics he used for finding product/market fit “We tried very hard to understand in granular detail what exactly it was that people were doing, where they were tripping up and so on.” Patrick gives some examples of specific tactics: • A public chat room to provide support to people integrating Stripe • For the first 10 users of Stripe, every API request sent an email to the founders so they could better understand how users were using their product and see if users were doing anything weird • All errors generated a high-priority email to the founders. This created a pleasant user experience where 15 minutes after hitting an error, Patrick could reach out to them and let them know the issue was fixed “These are all kind of examples of a general pattern of trying to be hyper-attentive to all the micro details of what people were doing in the product and iterating rapidly in response to it. Generally speaking, I think pre-product/market fit metrics are actually relatively unhelpful because probably not that many people are using your product. If it’s 20 users, you can in some sense afford to just look at everything they’re doing to understand what’s working and what isn’t.” Another example of this Patrick gives is embedding a text input on each of their web pages with placeholder text prompting users to give them useful feedback(e.g. “The worst thing about Stripe is…”, “The worst thing about this page is…”, or “I really hate the way Stripe does…”). As Patrick explains: “At that stage, you have to be kind of masochistic. We’d always be waking up to all these emails telling us all the terrible things about Stripe. But that was a helpful to-do list for the day ahead. Video source: @ycombinator (2018)

a16z team shared a bunch of startup ideas for 2026:

Day 3 of turning designs to working apps in minutes Made in Bloom in <2min, link below

@M4C_4T4K79 What year did this happen?

Autosana (autosana.ai) is an AI QA agent that tests iOS and Android apps like a real user. It plugs into your CI/CD, replacing flaky test scripts and manual QA, saving hours per release. ycombinator.com/launches/NvC-a… Congrats on the launch, @yuvansundrani & @JSteinberg54132!

We met @itsdavidalonso and @sirian_m from @CreateWithBloom, which allows people to build and share mobile apps in seconds. Their product lets you vibe code cross-platform apps and test them on your phone natively. It deploys a backend for you, so you can build functional MVPs and personal apps, not just toys.

Nike knows what sells—but do they know what’s next? @rishimalhotra shares how [cafeteria] helps brands move from lagging indicators to real-time signals.

What does a winning pitch deck look like? After reviewing hundreds of decks, we created a Pitch Deck Primer to help founders craft clear, compelling stories that get meetings. Read the full blog: harlem.capital/pitch-like-a-w…

Very interesting

@paulg Taking my bike and putting it to use

Write a search engine that ranks results by relevance.

Garry Tan calls out Google's Self-Preferencing Policies👀 "We're not asking for privileged access. We want equal access. We want a fair market and a seat at the table to provide choice to consumers." @ycombinator's @garrytan testifying in the Senate

Culture isn’t just a buzzword at Cleva; it’s who we are. From how we work to how we address users’ needs, our culture fuels our innovation, creativity, and team spirit. Curious to know more about the Cleva culture? Watch this to get a glimpse! #clevaculture #getcleva #cleva

YC CEO Garry Tan Testifying in Congress: Why Access is Important for Startups to Compete Against Big Tech "What we're hoping for is new free markets where new entrants can come in and there is not self-preferencing." @garrytan talking about startups and competition with @SenMikeLee

My O1 visa was approved today ✅ I moved from China to the US 8 years ago. I never imagined I could own a startup in my early 20s. Growing up, I thought my only path was going to a good college and finding a job. This journey has not been easy, but it has taught me a lot. I want to thank my co-founders for their constant support and hard work. I am also very grateful to @ycombinator for believing in us and helping us grow. A special thanks to my group partner @harjtagga, who has been an amazing support along the way. I’m excited to keep building and learning together with @keywordsai. The future feels bright!

The application deadline for the @ycombinator spring batch is tonight. Every YC batch has founders that randomly applied the day of the deadline and are happy they did. I am sure this one will too!

Black sheep for life

YC S24's @mem0ai adds memory to AI apps, turning repetitive, stateless interactions into personalized, efficient experiences—helping developers create smarter, more cost-effective AI. Congrats on the launch, @taranjeetio and @deshrajdry! ycombinator.com/launches/LpA-m…

Kastle (YC S24) is an AI voice agent for mortgage lending. It helps mortgage servicers collect payments, handle escrow disputes, and qualify new loan inquiries over the phone. Congrats on the launch, @therishic and @nitishpoddar99! ycombinator.com/launches/Ld4-k…