Y Combinator Universe. Standing Room Only at Y Combinator Event Puts Startups in Driver's Seat. Photographer: Alexander Safonov/Getty Images The feeding frenzy of investors at Y Combinator's event gave some startups the upper hand.
It’s a reversal of roles in Silicon Valley’s startup scene: Investors are clamoring for face time with entrepreneurs. Hundreds of tech’s most prominent backers packed into an auditorium at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, today to hear two-minute pitches from the latest batch of young startups to emerge from business incubator Y Combinator.
Y Combinator Is Boot Camp for Startups. From left: Business boot campers Sandy Spicer (Moki.tv), Qasar Younis (TalkBin), John Egan (Sendoid), Jonathan Deutsch (Tumult), Aaron Harris (Tutorspree), Laura Valverde (Beetailer), and Wei Hsu: (Hyperink)Photo: Robyn Twomey The Y Combinator offices sit at the dead center of Silicon Valley, in Mountain View, on a street called Pioneer Way.
Outside, the traffic hums along CA-z85 headed either south to Cupertino or north toward Google headquarters. Inside, the decor of the main room combines modern office (big whiteboard, bright orange noise-dampening panels) with camp dining hall (long trestle tables). Y Combinator shares space with a company called Anybots—which makes robots that can be controlled remotely—and occasionally a droid will motor through the room on a Segway-style base.