50 Notable Founders from Y Combinator | Generated by AI

Home PDF English 中文 日本語 Español हिंदी Français Deutsch العربية 繁體中文

---

Below is a list of 50 notable founders from Y Combinator (YC) startups, focusing on those who have driven significant impact through their companies, building on the context of your previous questions about YC successes and founders. The list includes founders from well-known unicorns, high-valuation startups, and other influential ventures across various YC batches, emphasizing their contributions and the startups they built. Where relevant, I’ve included details about their startups’ valuations, industries, or achievements based on available data. The list is concise to meet the request for brevity while covering a broad range of founders and sectors.

1. Patrick Collison (Stripe, YC S09) - Co-founder of Stripe (~$95B valuation), revolutionized online payments.
2. John Collison (Stripe, YC S09) - Co-founder of Stripe, scaled global payment infrastructure.
3. Brian Chesky (Airbnb, YC W09) - CEO of Airbnb (~$70-80B), disrupted hospitality.
4. Joe Gebbia (Airbnb, YC W09) - Co-founder of Airbnb, pioneered sharing economy.
5. Nathan Blecharczyk (Airbnb, YC W09) - CTO of Airbnb, built tech platform.
6. Tony Xu (DoorDash, YC S13) - CEO of DoorDash (~$9.7B), led food delivery dominance.
7. Stanley Tang (DoorDash, YC S13) - Co-founder of DoorDash, scaled logistics.
8. Andy Fang (DoorDash, YC S13) - Co-founder of DoorDash, focused on operations.
9. Brian Armstrong (Coinbase, YC S12) - CEO of Coinbase (~$8B private), mainstreamed crypto.
10. Fred Ehrsam (Coinbase, YC S12) - Co-founder of Coinbase, shaped crypto trading.
11. Apoorva Mehta (Instacart, YC S12) - Founder of Instacart (~$10B), transformed grocery delivery.
12. Steve Huffman (Reddit, YC S05) - CEO of Reddit (~$10B), built social media giant.
13. Alexis Ohanian (Reddit, YC S05) - Co-founder of Reddit, fostered online communities.
14. Drew Houston (Dropbox, YC S07) - CEO of Dropbox (~$10B at IPO), pioneered cloud storage.
15. Arash Ferdowsi (Dropbox, YC S07) - Co-founder of Dropbox, scaled tech infrastructure.
16. Dustin Moskovitz (Asana, YC S08) - Co-founder of Asana (~$4.7B), built collaboration software.
17. Justin Rosenstein (Asana, YC S08) - Co-founder of Asana, designed productivity tools.
18. Kyle Vogt (Cruise, YC W14) - Founder of Cruise (acquired by GM), advanced autonomous vehicles.
19. Dan Kan (Cruise, YC W14) - Co-founder of Cruise, scaled self-driving tech.
20. Henrique Dubugras (Brex, YC W17) - Co-founder of Brex (~$12.3B), simplified startup financing.
21. Pedro Franceschi (Brex, YC W17) - Co-founder of Brex, built corporate credit platform.
22. Simón Borrero (Rappi, YC W16) - Co-founder of Rappi, led Latin American super-app.
23. Sebastián Mejía (Rappi, YC W16) - Co-founder of Rappi, scaled on-demand delivery.
24. Felipe Villamarín (Rappi, YC W16) - Co-founder of Rappi, expanded regional operations.
25. Dmitriy Zaporozhets (GitLab, YC W15) - Founder of GitLab, built open-source DevOps platform.
26. Sid Sijbrandij (GitLab, YC W15) - Co-founder of GitLab, grew remote-first company.
27. Dhruv Saxena (ShipBob, YC S14) - Co-founder of ShipBob, scaled e-commerce fulfillment.
28. Divey Gulati (ShipBob, YC S14) - Co-founder of ShipBob, optimized supply chain.
29. Eric Kwan (Podium, YC W16) - Founder of Podium, built customer interaction platform.
30. Dennis Steele (Podium, YC W16) - Co-founder of Podium, grew SMB-focused SaaS.
31. Nate Kelly (Lever, YC S13) - Co-founder of Lever, developed HR tech platform.
32. Sarah Nahm (Lever, YC S13) - Co-founder of Lever, scaled talent acquisition tools.
33. Emmett Shear (Twitch, YC W07) - Co-founder of Twitch (acquired by Amazon), built live-streaming platform.
34. Justin Kan (Twitch, Atrium, YC W07) - Co-founder of Twitch and Atrium, serial entrepreneur.
35. Kevin Hale (Wufoo, YC W06) - Co-founder of Wufoo (acquired by SurveyMonkey), built form-creation tool.
36. Chris Fanini (Wufoo, YC W06) - Co-founder of Wufoo, scaled user-friendly software.
37. Tom Blomfield (Monzo, YC S16) - Founder of Monzo, built UK challenger bank.
38. Aaron Epstein (Creative Market, YC W10) - Founder of Creative Market (acquired by Autodesk), marketplace for design assets.
39. Brad Flora (Perfect Audience, YC S11) - Founder of Perfect Audience (acquired by Marin Software), built ad network.
40. Tyler Bosmeny (Clever, YC S12) - Founder of Clever (acquired for $500M), streamlined edtech access.
41. Paul Buchheit (FriendFeed, YC S07) - Founder of FriendFeed (acquired by Facebook), created Gmail.
42. Dalton Caldwell (App.net, YC S12) - Founder of App.net, built social platform.
43. David Rusenko (Weebly, YC W07) - Co-founder of Weebly (acquired by Square), built website builder.
44. Chris Keck (Weebly, YC W07) - Co-founder of Weebly, scaled drag-and-drop platform.
45. Gustaf Alströmer (Heysan, YC W07) - Founder of Heysan, later led Airbnb’s growth team.
46. Parker Conrad (Rippling, YC S15) - Founder of Rippling (~$13.4B), built HR and IT platform.
47. Adora Cheung (Homejoy, YC S10) - Founder of Homejoy, pioneered on-demand cleaning.
48. Aaron Levie (Box, YC S06) - Founder of Box, built enterprise cloud storage (public company).
49. Dylan Field (Figma, YC S12) - Founder of Figma (~$10B valuation), revolutionized design collaboration.
50. Evan Wallace (Figma, YC S12) - Co-founder of Figma, built cloud-based design tools.

Context and Notes:

• Selection Criteria: Founders were chosen from YC’s 5,000+ portfolio companies, prioritizing those behind unicorns (valued at $1B+), high-impact startups, or acquisitions (e.g., Twitch, Weebly). The list spans early batches (2005) to later ones (2017), covering fintech, hospitality, logistics, crypto, SaaS, and more.
• Impact: Collectively, these startups have a combined valuation exceeding $600B, with companies like Stripe, Airbnb, and DoorDash reshaping industries. Many founders (e.g., Collisons, Chesky) are thought leaders, while others (e.g., Kan, Shear) are serial entrepreneurs.
• Diversity: YC’s founder pool has diversified over time, though early batches were male-dominated. Recent batches include more underrepresented founders (37% Black, Latinx, or female in 2021).
• Data Gaps: Some valuations (e.g., Figma, Rippling) are based on recent funding rounds or estimates, as public data varies. Smaller startups (e.g., Wufoo, Heysan) were included for their influence or acquisitions.

If you’d like more details on specific founders, their startups, or additional names (e.g., from specific industries or batches), let me know! I can also provide a deeper dive into YC’s selection process or founder success factors.

---

Back 2025.04.21 Donate