Startup School is back!
Former attendees of YC Startup School share testimonials about how the event inspired them to found startups and apply to Y Combinator. The event is praised for its high-caliber speakers, community of ambitious peers, and its role as a gateway into the startup ecosystem. Attendees strongly encourage others to attend, calling it one of the most impactful experiences of their lives.
Summary
The transcript is a compilation of testimonials from founders who attended YC Startup School and subsequently went on to participate in Y Combinator batches, including the Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 cohorts. Multiple speakers credit Startup School as the catalyst that gave them the courage and conviction to pursue founding a company.
Speakers highlight the quality of the event's programming, specifically calling out high-profile speakers such as Fei-Fei Li and John Jumper as having ignited their passion for startups. The intellectual atmosphere of the event is described as thought-provoking and conducive to open conversation, with opportunities to connect with YC partners directly.
A recurring theme is the power of being surrounded by like-minded, ambitious, and technically skilled peers. Multiple attendees note that seeing people their own age building great companies made entrepreneurship feel attainable. One speaker argues there is no greater concentration of smart, passionate founders anywhere else in the world.
The transcript closes with a direct call to action, urging people who are considering attending — even if it means stepping away from an internship or job — to simply go, framing it as one of the most impactful few days of one's life.
Key Insights
- Multiple founders state that attending Startup School directly led them to apply to and get accepted into Y Combinator, framing it as the origin point of their startup journey.
- One speaker argues that seeing peers of the exact same age building great companies at Startup School made founding a company feel personally achievable, rather than aspirational.
- A speaker credits high-profile Startup School speakers — specifically Fei-Fei Li and John Jumper — as having directly ignited their passion to found a startup.
- One founder claims that Startup School selects for smart, ambitious, technically skilled people and argues there is no greater concentration of such individuals anywhere else in the world.
- A speaker urges prospective attendees to go even if it requires taking time away from an internship or job, asserting it will be one of the most impactful couple of days of their life.
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] I was in the winter 26 batch, the fall 25 batch, >> the fall 25 batch, >> and the winter 2026 batch, but our journey truly started when we all attended YC Startup School. >> Going through startup school was what led me to getting into YC. >> Startup school gave us the courage to apply to Y Cominator. >> If it wasn't for startup school and then YC, the trajectory of where we would be would be totally different. Startup school is really just a peak into what it is actually like to found a startup [0:30] and to go through YC in general. >> Seeing people the exact same age as us building great companies made it…
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