Garry Tan

Founder & Board Partner at Initialized Capital · President & CEO at Y Combinator

San Francisco, CA

Writes $150K checks

Midas 2023 · #6 Midas 2022 · #28 Midas 2021 · #35 Midas 2020 · #73 Midas 2019 · #21

About

Garry Tan wrote the first check to Coinbase and backed Instacart and Flexport as co-founder of Initialized Capital, after earlier co-founding Posterous and designing at Palantir. He became Y Combinator's president and CEO in January 2023, winding down the Continuity growth fund and refocusing the accelerator on early-stage AI companies. He ranked No. 6 on the 2023 Forbes Midas List, his last appearance before returning to YC.

LinkedIn ↗X / Twitter ↗Website ↗

Latest on 𝕏

Garry Tan @garrytan

Growth is good AI will create unimaginable economic growth and that is the best white pill https://t.co/wdR7nHuWJD https://t.co/30xeF2N8hO

Aug 2, 2026 · ♥ 227 · ⇄ 21

Garry Tan @garrytan

The sense of wonder disappeared right at the moment the amount of wonder is going parabolic https://t.co/p56UMAFiZq

Aug 2, 2026 · ♥ 139 · ⇄ 4

Garry Tan @garrytan

Everyone mistakes the map for the territory Meritocracy is that the territory matters more than the map And in markets the outcome is the territory: did you make something people want? https://t.co/wOTHnKqk7Y

Aug 2, 2026 · ♥ 158 · ⇄ 7