YC partners say AI founders are closing huge deals fast by taking a page out of Palantir's early playbook

Tech Insider : Business
Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator, is gesticulating with his hands and is mid-speech. He is wearing a smart watch with an orange band, a black collared button up, and blue jeans. He is sitting in a grey chair in front of a background with text that reads,
Garry Tan, an early Palantir employee, said AI founders should embed with customers.

Harry Murphy/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images

Brian Chesky reveals what he learned from a brutal early rejection email

Tech Insider : Business
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Chesky said that the early rejection contains a valuable lesson for founders.

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

I mentor startups outside my Meta product job. I tell founders to take 3 steps to sell their AI vision.

Tech Insider : Business, Technology
Mahesh Chayel
Mahesh Chayel, a product management lead at Meta, told BI the three steps founders need to take to sell their AI vision.

Mahesh Chayel

Vibe coding is changing the way investors think about founders

Tech Insider : Business
VCs are looking for technical founders who can use AI
AI is changing what it means to be a technical founder.

Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

I left Silicon Valley for Europe. Here's why I chose to launch my startup in Berlin.

Tech Insider
Left: Ivan Maryasin. Right: Berlin skyline
Maryasin chose Berlin because its tech scene was on the rise.

Ivan Maryasin ; Nikada/Getty Images.

The rise of Sam Altman, OpenAI's billionaire CEO

Tech Insider
Sam Altman Headshot
Sam Altman was well known in the startup scene in Silicon Valley.

Courtesy of Sam Altman

I lived in Silicon Valley, New York, and London as a founder. If you're looking for a place to build a business, there's one clear winner.

Tech Insider
Left: Amber Atherton, Right: San Francisco skyline
Amber Atherton currently lives in San Francisco.

Bethany Picone; georgeclerk/Getty Images

Trumpet, a new B2B sales startup from the cofounder of DesignMyNight, raised $6.35 million using this 12-slide pitch deck

Tech Insider
Trumpet cofounders Rory Sadler and Nick Telson-Sillett
Trumpet cofounders Rory Sadler and Nick Telson-Sillett

Trumpet

Wende Zomnir revolutionized makeup with Urban Decay. She's not done building her empire.

Tech Insider
Wende Zomnir.
Wende Zomnir.

Matt Wier

From the moment Wende Zomnir answers my call, it's like I can feel rays of California sun beaming through the phone.

While I'm settled in a New Jersey suburb, she's enjoying Newport Beach, California. It's where the beauty mogul runs her latest cosmetics venture out of a Zomnir-described "surf shack" that sits in front of the ocean.

I was laid off from Google, so I started my own business. It meant taking a $100,000 pay cut, but I don't regret it.

Tech Insider
A graphic of a cardboard box filled with office supplies, a symbol of being laid off.

Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/Insider

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