James Hawkins
Showing 1–3 of 3 transcripts.
- Y Combinator29 min
Why Ambitious Startup Ideas Are Actually Easier To Sell
PostHog is transitioning from an open-source analytics platform to an AI-driven service that autonomously fixes engineering issues and solves customer support tickets by generating production-ready pull requests. Co-founders James and Tim restructured their operations to align with this new "self-driving software" vision, delegating management duties to the latter so the former can focus exclusively on AI product architecture while the company doubles in size. This strategic pivot replaces traditional manual product management with a system where AI configures workflows and implements fixes based on deep user data, aiming to secure massive market valuation through "insane" ambition rather than conservative growth.
- Y Combinator1 min
Startup School Paris
Alexandre Lebrun, Olivier Pomel, Paul Copplestone, James Hawkins
On June 29th, Y Combinator hosts a one-day Startup School Paris event specifically for builders and hackers across France and Europe. The agenda features confirmed speakers from companies like Ami, Datadog, Supabase, and PostHog alongside YC partners and alumni. Attendees will gain direct access to industry leaders and fellow entrepreneurs to accelerate their startup efforts.
- Y Combinator39 min
From Pivot Hell To $1.4 Billion Unicorn
PostHog has secured a $75 million Series E round at a $1.4 billion valuation to fuel aggressive workforce expansion from 70 to 200 employees and accelerate its AI-driven shift toward automating customer data workflows. Under founders James Hawkins and his co-founder, the company abandoned traditional sales-led growth in favor of an open-source, product-first strategy that now serves 300,000 users with a suite of 17 products. This capital deployment enables PostHog to pursue an ambitious vision of an "automated product manager" while maintaining radical transparency and a polarizing brand identity built on building in public.