
Garry Tan
@garrytan • 962,365 subscribers
President & CEO @ycombinator —Founder @garryslist—Creator of GStack & GBrain—designer/engineer who helps founders—SF Dem accelerating the boom loop
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The NYT is predictably tearing down Reese Witherspoon for encouraging moms to try AI before they ingest the anti-AI pablum as truth Instead of linking to the NYT op-ed, I think you should watch this video and encourage you to follow Reese Witherspoon on Instagram
Garry Tan1,250,844 views • 2 months ago
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"To fund his golfing ambitions, McIlroy's parents took on extra jobs. Gerry worked 100 hours a week; he cleaned toilets and showers at a local sports club in the mornings, served as a bartender at Holywood Golf Club from 12 to 6 pm, then returned to the sports club to work behind the bar in the evenings. Rosie looked after Rory during the day, and worked night shifts packaging rolls of tape at a 3M factory in Bangor, County Down. Due to their conflicting schedules, McIlroy's parents rarely saw each other during this period. Gerry later said: "I had no idea what else to do. I’m a working-class man. We wanted to give our only child a chance." After finding success as a professional golfer, McIlroy bought his parents a house in 2009, and stated: "I’ll never be able to repay Mum and Dad for what they did, but at least they know they’ll never have to work another day. I’ll do whatever it takes to look after them."
Garry Tan8,102,312 views • 1 year ago

Now announcing: Garry's List We’re starting a citizen’s union for radical centrism. We proved local politics is winnable in SF. Now we’re building the community to do it everywhere — news, commentary, and accountability for policies that affect California and our society.
Garry Tan402,499 views • 5 months ago

I am so thankful for Paul Graham Jessica Livingston Brian Chesky Carolynn Levy for believing me and selecting me to be the President & CEO of YC. To be able to lead this brilliant band of partners is beyond the best job I’ve ever had! If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life
Garry Tan210,204 views • 4 months ago

Sam Altman's advice to founders worried about OpenAI competition: "Don't build our core chat assistant. There's so much more space to go after." Count on the models getting far smarter. Sam promises "Sign in with ChatGPT" which would be powerful with access to memory.
Garry Tan553,022 views • 1 year ago

Holistic college admissions? More like hostile and racist. 18-yo prodigy Stanley Zhong gets Google L4 but is rejected by 16 colleges. I sat with his YC-alum dad Nan, who sued UC to crack open the admissions black box. The American Dream demands merit not more racism 👇
Garry Tan537,210 views • 1 year ago

Elon Musk's formula for success: Ego ÷ Ability < 1 When your ego exceeds your ability, you break the feedback loop to reality. Smash your ego. Internalize responsibility. Do whatever it takes. The goal isn't glory—it's true work that serves the most people.
Garry Tan437,273 views • 1 year ago

Sam Altman says Artificial Superintelligence is thousands of days away. There is a lot of compounding left to do. What happens then? Fix climate, space colonies, limitless intelligence, understanding physics, abundant energy. Think bigger. The age of abundance is nigh.
Garry Tan651,565 views • 1 year ago

Jung said: “The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate.” Founders on their journey must overcome their inner situation and integrate their shadow. Only then will they have a chance at altering fate itself.
Garry Tan360,228 views • 1 year ago

Steve Jobs got fired from Apple, started NeXT, failed selling the hardware, pivoted to software, then Apple bought NeXT for $400M. It became macOS. Most founders quit at the first wall. Jobs hit dozens and kept finding new paths. Great founders know they can solve the maze.
Garry Tan332,458 views • 1 year ago

Daniel Ek made >$5M at 22 and lived “that life” in the nightclubs of Stockholm to realize that all of it was just status games. So he returned to the things he loved: music and tech. So he started Spotify. The status games are a distraction from the fulfillment of building.
Garry Tan512,248 views • 1 year ago