Latest Interviews

A.I. Policy and Public Perception - Miles Brundage and Tim Hwang

Miles Brundage, Tim Hwang, Craig Cannon

Researchers from the Future of Humanity Institute and Oxford University analyze the dual-use nature of artificial intelligence, categorizing risks ranging from near-term digital threats like deepfakes and adversarial attacks to long-term existential concerns. They advocate for a shift in policy from reactive measures to proactive frameworks that incorporate responsible disclosure norms, interpretability standards, and structured international cooperation to address geopolitical competition and regulatory divergence. By extrapolating technical trends rather than waiting for incidents, these experts aim to establish rigorous governance models that balance rapid deployment in fields like healthcare with the critical need for safety and value alignment.

Cost vs Quality in Edtech – Keith Schacht, Avichal Garg, and Geoff Ralston

Keith Schacht, Avichal Garg, Geoff Ralston

Avicii and Keith Peltz examine the evolution of EdTech since 2011, analyzing how the industry's historical struggle with the "cost versus quality" trade-off and misaligned venture capital expectations for growth curves have shaped current market dynamics. They identify a pivotal structural shift where high-speed internet access and teacher-led adoption are dismantling the "free school" barrier, enabling companies like Mystery Science to prove that superior digital products can succeed in the mass market. The founders conclude that future innovation will likely bypass traditional public systems to focus on "learning companies" addressing individual outcomes, job training, and adult self-directed education rather than relying on institutional bureaucracy.

Effective Programming: Adding an Effect System to OCaml

This presentation details a comprehensive framework for algebraic effects that separates effect specification from implementation by treating operations like concurrency and state as explicit, resumable interruptions. It contrasts this approach with traditional monads to eliminate boilerplate and demonstrates a full conversion of the OCaml standard library, introducing syntax for tracking purity, region-based locality, and effect polymorphism directly in the type system. The work culminates in a runtime model where effect handlers manage heap-allocated call stacks while future extensions aim to enforce region safety and support multi-handler compositions for complex scenarios.

3D Home Printing for the Developing World – Alexandria Lafci and Brett Hagler of New Story Charity

Alexandria Lafci, Brett Hagler, Craig

New Story, a Y Combinator alumni non-profit, partners with local governments and impoverished families to deliver dignified housing in Haiti, Latin America, and emerging markets. The organization transitioned from traditional aid models to a transparent crowdfunding strategy that funded 100 homes in 92 days, before launching a 3D-printing initiative with partner Icon to drastically reduce construction costs and time. This technological pivot now targets global scalability through open-source templates and community-driven micro-economies that empower residents to co-design their own homes.

Breaking Down HackerRank's Survey of 40,000 Developers with Vivek Ravisankar

Vivek Ravisankar, Hari, Paul Bouquet, PG, Sam, Jessica, Akshay, Shiv, Nicola, Ritika, Mark Mandelbaum Kosinskiy

HackerRank co-founder Vivek Desai recounts the company's evolution from a failed educational venture to a global platform that connects over 3.4 million developers with employers through verified coding assessments rather than traditional resumes. As the first Indian-based Y Combinator company, the team overcame logistical hurdles to establish a market shift toward skill-based hiring, effectively reducing bias and replacing abstract brain teasers with practical problem-solving challenges. Recent data from their community highlights key industry trends, including a surge in self-taught programmers, the rising demand for Python and Go skills, and a corporate move toward prioritizing work-life balance and remote talent acquisition.

Funding Is an Outcome of Building a Good Business - Porter Braswell of Jopwell

Porter Braswell, Craig Cannon

Jopwell, a for-profit career advancement platform founded in 2014 by a former Goldman Sachs trader, connects Black, Latino, Hispanic, and Native American professionals with 44 million qualified underrepresented workers to resolve corporate recruitment pipeline challenges. Leveraging a $12 million funding raise including a Y Combinator investment, the company utilizes a "referral at scale" model that verifies diverse applicant funnels while rejecting non-profit status to operate as a scalable business. Founded on the premise that diversity is a demographic and financial imperative rather than a vague mandate, Jopwell has grown to 35 employees and serves as a data-driven bridge between underrepresented talent and companies explicitly seeking verified, diverse hiring solutions.

Types, and Why You Should Care

Ron

Hosted by the Recur Center at Jane Street, this third Localhost talk features speaker Ron, who argues that empirical data is insufficient for evaluating programming languages and that language choices must rely on intuition and specific trade-offs. Ron details how static type systems in languages like OCaml enhance performance, enforce critical invariants for security, and improve refactoring confidence compared to untyped alternatives, despite higher initial cognitive loads and verbosity. The discussion concludes by positioning types and testing as complementary mechanisms that reduce manual debugging, while highlighting the necessity of robust compiler tooling for adopting less mainstream languages.

Researching Psilocybin's Effects on Depression - Dr. Rosalind Watts

Dr. Rosalind Watts, Craig Cannon

Led by Professors Robin Carhart-Harris and David Nutt, a pioneering research initiative successfully demonstrated that high-dose psilocybin can deactivate brain regions linked to negative rumination and offer a "reset" for patients with severe, treatment-resistant depression. Although the study achieved a 100% preference rate for psilocybin over prior treatments among its 20 participants, long-term efficacy remains limited by the absence of formal integration therapy, prompting calls for structured follow-up sessions to sustain behavioral changes. Currently constrained by reliance on single-source funding, the researchers are prioritizing comparative trials against antidepressants while advocating for a holistic therapeutic model that combines preparation, ego-dissolving experiences, and sustained support to address the growing crisis of ineffective psychiatric medication.

Andy Bromberg - Startup Investor School Day 4

Andy Bromberg

Startup Investor School and Andy Bromberg's presentation analyze the evolution of venture capital from the 1940s to the modern "everyone is an angel" era, highlighting how decreasing entry costs and regulatory shifts like the 2012 JOBS Act reshaped early-stage funding. The discussion specifically contrasts traditional equity models with Initial Coin Offerings, detailing ICO mechanics such as token staking, network node ownership, and the unique liquidity risks that differ from historical venture bottlenecks. Furthermore, the session addresses current industry uncertainties, including the ambiguous legal interaction between SAFEs and tokens, the global nature of crypto capital flows, and Bromberg's caution regarding irrational pricing and untested norms in the decentralized fundraising landscape.

Jeff Clavier and Andrea Zurek - Startup Investor School Day 3

Jeff Clavier, Andrea Zurek, Ali Partovi

Venture capitalist Jeff Clavier and XG Ventures founder Andrea Sterbentz outline a rigorous framework for angel investing that emphasizes an 8–10 year timeline, 10% portfolio allocation of net worth, and strict separation of investment capital from personal liquidity. They advocate for a "super angel" approach featuring time-based diversification, sector specialization, and a 10% ownership target per deal, while simultaneously defining personal branding through consistent thought leadership and operational value beyond mere capital. Both experts stress that successful portfolio construction requires passing on deals lacking total conviction, avoiding direct competition within a portfolio, and maintaining the integrity necessary to build a lasting reputation in the ecosystem.

Paul Buchheit - Startup Investor School Day 2

Paul Buchheit, Jeff

Startup investor Paul Buchheit outlines a strategy prioritizing founders with impossibly ambitious visions and demonstrated resilience over those with polished metrics or low valuations. His approach is validated by massive returns from diverse ventures like Meraki, Twitch, and Cruise, which emerged from ideas that initially appeared flawed or "stupid" to outsiders. Conversely, Buchheit warns that "value investing," pity funding, and slow decision-making consistently lead to losses by missing top-tier opportunities like Airbnb or falling for over-funded failures like Juicero.

Dalton Caldwell - Startup Investor School Day 2

Dalton Caldwell, Ben

The Startup Investor School Day 2 addressed operational feedback from the previous day while delivering a comprehensive framework for investment philosophy, strategy, and process discipline. Expert speakers emphasized prioritizing conviction over consensus, establishing clear decision funnels, and mastering founder meeting best practices through direct communication and rigorous case studies like Nekton. The event concluded with a Q&A session that clarified complex challenges regarding commitment, negative feedback delivery, and milestone-based financing structures.

Carolynn Levy and Kirsty Nathoo - Startup Investor School Day 1

Carolynn Levy, Kirsty Nathoo, Jeff, Sam

The Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) is a non-debt convertible security designed for early-stage startups to facilitate rapid fundraising through a streamlined five-page document governed by valuation caps or discount rates. While lacking traditional creditor rights like interest or repayment, the instrument converts into preferred stock during priced rounds or liquidity events, with investor returns determined by complex pre-money conversion mechanics and pro rata participation rights. Best practices for execution involve rapid e-signature processing via platforms like Clerky and strict adherence to Y Combinator's handshake protocols to secure high upside potential while avoiding unnecessary legal complexity.

Sam Altman - Startup Investor School Day 1

Sam Altman, Jeff

Discussions among top angel investors emphasize a power law strategy that targets 100x–1000x returns through "generation-defining" companies, requiring founders to demonstrate obsession, rapid learning, and high integrity over conventional valuation metrics. The event highlights that successful sourcing relies on founder networks and cold outreach rather than herd behavior, while investors must maintain pro-rata rights to avoid dilution in top-quartile follow-on rounds. Ultimately, long-term success depends on prioritizing founders with massive potential over existing market categories, providing deep support during crises to foster the rapid iteration necessary for billion-dollar exits.

The Number One Goal is Getting Started - Avni Patel Thompson of Poppy

Avni Patel Thompson, Craig Cannon

Harvard MBA Avni leveraged her background in pharmaceuticals and international strategy to validate and launch Poppy, a child-care platform, by conducting a four-week manual trial that secured paying users before seeking capital. After three rejections from Y Combinator, she secured funding by demonstrating rapid growth and a scalable vision for global infrastructure, emphasizing that collecting revenue from strangers is essential for true product-market fit. Her journey illustrates a methodology where diverse life experiences, including a failed startup and expatriate living, serve as a "mosaic" of skills to de-risk entrepreneurship and address critical market gaps in modern family support systems.