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Michael Seibel
InvestorFounderTwitch co-founder and Y Combinator CEO at Pi Campus · Founder at Michael Seibel
San Francisco, CA
Writes $150K checks
FoundedMichael Seibel
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About
Michael Seibel spent more than 12 years at Y Combinator, serving as CEO of its accelerator and as a group partner who worked with over a thousand startups, before transitioning to partner emeritus in 2025 with an eye toward public-sector work. He co-founded Justin.tv, which became Twitch, and Socialcam, and became one of the most recognizable startup advisors of his generation through YC's videos and office hours.
Contact· published on Michael's own website
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechDeveloper ToolsFintechHardwareSaaS
Beyond investing
- Founded
- Co-founded Justin.tv, which grew into Twitch and sold to Amazon for $970m in 2014. Co-founded Socialcam, which sold to Autodesk for $60m in 2012. Seibel co-founded Justin.tv, which later became Twitch and sold to Amazon for $970 million in 2014.
- Education
- Graduated from Yale University in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in political science. Studied at Yale University (BA, political science, 2005) Studied at East Brunswick High School (2000)
- Communities
- Seibel was an early mentor to Airbnb's co-founders and recommended them to Y Combinator in 2008. Seibel advocates for diversity, access to capital, and mentorship in tech, speaking at conferences including TechCrunch Disrupt, AfroTech, and Startup Grind. At Yale, Seibel was active in the Black Student Alliance.
- Hobbies
- Spends much of his free time cooking, reading, traveling, and going for long drives. Runs CooksLarder.com featuring his favorite cooking ingredients and recipes. Runs JonathansApps.com featuring his favorite iOS apps for kids.
- Family
- Lives in San Francisco with his wife Sarah, son Jonathan, and daughter Jessica.
- More
- Co-produced the startup podcast 'Dalton + Michael' with Dalton Caldwell. Created the 'Life, Work, and Startups' podcast series of shorts with his brother Jason Seibel in 2021. Has lived and worked in the Bay Area since 2006. Seibel became Y Combinator's first African-American partner in October 2014. Seibel was named Reddit's first Black board member in June 2020, replacing Alexis Ohanian.
Mentioned above: the Y Combinator mafia → · the Yale University mafia → · the Dropbox mafia → · the Y Combinator mafia → · the Kalshi mafia →
From Michael's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Founder at Michael Seibel
Intro paths
In turn, Michael can intro founders to Michael Seibel's investors below.
Michael Seibel's investors · 1
Investments
Investor
AellaAfrostreamAgentnoonAptDecoArcusArketaArtifactAtlasAwesomicBellabeatBishop FoxBluecrewBluesmartBotcoboxouseBrexBridgecardBurrowCall9CamblyCaptain 401kCareRevClipboardClipboard HealthConcourseCruiseCTGTDoseDrDriposEasyPostElphaEmerge CareerEquipment ShareEquipment ShareEvry HealthFAZZFigmaFullSeamGive CampusGiveCampusGoLorryGoodcoverGrainGreoHOKALIHuman InterestiLabServiceInfiuss HealthJarminJopwellLuggMarqVisionMattermostMeasuredMeitreMentalHappyMotionNashNexTravelOutRival, Inc.Panorama EducationPartneredPayFazzPaystackPine Park HealthPlayers LoungePlayers' LoungePoppyPromisePromoted.aiQueenlyRankScienceReachReach LabsReadyRecall.aiRefactorRetell AIREZIRileyRipplingRyseScentbirdScopeAISeedSendwaveSimple AISketchDeckSocial ConstructSoftmaxSpring in AfricaSquireSquire TechnologiesSuperorderSwipe TechnologiesTasteTizetiTriplebyteTrue LinkTuli HealthVapiVitable HealthVoriWaveWaystoCapWebhoundyhangryZenysis
Sources: the investor's own website · curated public sources.
Podcasts & interviews
featuring Michael SeibelInterview to Michael Seibel
ITAM
Michael Seibel: The Man Who Shaped YC
Gabriel Jarrosson | Lobster Capital
Y Combinator ex CEO Michael Seibel – What Makes the Top 10% f Founders Different?
Finance & Tech Career Advice
Signs Your Company Is Recovering From ZIRP
Dalton and Michael
How To Live In The Social Media Matrix
Dalton and Michaeel
How To Influence Decision Makers
Dalton and Michael
6 more appearances
- Co-Founder Equity Mistakes to Avoid2024-08-15
- The Problem With Startup "Experts"2024-08-06
- Tarpit Ideas: The Sequel2024-07-19
- What Is ZIRP And How Did It Poison Startups?2024-06-20
- Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel: How African Founders Can Build Global Tech Companies2024-06-20
- How New Technology Creates New Businesses2024-05-24
Writing
All posts ↗Michael Seibel draws on his Justin.tv, Socialcam, and Twitch experiences to advise startup founders, covering how to avoid wasteful pre-launch arguments, why product market fit matters more than raising money, and how Y Combinator has evolved since 2007.
Recounts a two-hour argument over a trivial chat feature at Justin.tv to illustrate why founders, especially non-technical ones, should avoid turning small pre-launch decisions into unproductive fights.
Compares Y Combinator in 2007 to today across advice, alumni network, fundraising, hiring, and deal terms, arguing the program offers more value now despite larger batch sizes.
Uses the author's Justin.tv experience to argue founders without product market fit should cut costs and reach break-even rather than assume more funding will save them.
Colleagues at Pi Campus
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Michael Seibel?
- Michael Seibel spent more than 12 years at Y Combinator, serving as CEO of its accelerator and as a group partner who worked with over a thousand startups, before transitioning to partner emeritus in 2025 with an eye toward public-sector work. He co-founded Justin.tv, which became Twitch, and Socialcam, and became one of the most recognizable startup advisors of his generation through YC's videos and office hours.
- Where does Michael Seibel work?
- Michael Seibel is Founder of Michael Seibel and Twitch co-founder and Y Combinator CEO at Pi Campus.
- What does Michael Seibel invest in?
- Michael Seibel invests in AI & Machine Learning, Deep Tech, Developer Tools, Fintech, Hardware, SaaS.
- What check size does Michael Seibel write?
- Michael Seibel typically writes checks of $150K.
- What companies did Michael Seibel found?
- Michael Seibel founded Michael Seibel.
- What boards does Michael Seibel sit on?
- Michael Seibel holds tracked board seats at Dropbox, Kalshi, Reddit.
- What companies has Michael Seibel invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Aella, Afrostream, Agentnoon, AptDeco, Arcus, Arketa, Artifact, Atlas, Awesomic, Bellabeat, Bishop Fox, Bluecrew, and 96 more.
- What has Michael Seibel written?
- Michael Seibel has 3 tracked posts on michaelseibel.com, including "The AM/PM Debate - or How not to be an idiot CEO", "YC Has Changed", "Why Does Your Company Deserve More Money?".
- What podcasts and interviews feature Michael Seibel?
- Tracked appearances include "Interview to Michael Seibel", "Michael Seibel: The Man Who Shaped YC", "Y Combinator ex CEO Michael Seibel – What Makes the Top 10% f Founders Different?", and 9 more.
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia10,638
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Yale University mafia463
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Dropbox mafia123
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Y Combinator mafia35
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Kalshi mafia7
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
About this profile. Compiled from public sources — Pi Campus's own website, press coverage and public professional profiles — and summarised by Fundraising Fox; every fact is kept with where it came from. Spotted an error, or would rather not be listed? Email privacy@fundraisingfox.com · How we build profiles · Your rights