Paul Graham
InvestorCo-founder at Y Combinator · Advisor at A.Capital Ventures · Advisor, Co-Founder of Y Combinator at Liquid Ventures · Y Combinator co-founder at Pi Campus · Founder at Watsi
England, UK
Writes $150K checks
About
Paul Graham co-founded Viaweb, one of the first web application companies, and sold it to Yahoo before starting Y Combinator in 2005 with Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell. YC's batch model reshaped how early-stage startups are funded, producing companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and Dropbox. His essays on startups, programming, and ambition are among the most-read writing in the technology industry.
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechDeveloper ToolsFintechHardwareSaaS
Beyond investing
- Founded
- Graham co-founded Viaweb in 1996 with Robert Morris, an early application service provider that let users build their own internet stores. In 2005 Graham co-founded the startup accelerator and seed firm Y Combinator with Trevor Blackwell, Jessica Livingston, and Robert Morris.
- Education
- Studied at Cornell University (BA, Philosophy, 1986) Studied at Harvard University (MS, Computer Science, 1988) Studied at Rhode Island School of Design (Fine Arts and Painting) Studied at Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence (Fine Arts and Painting) Studied at Gateway High School
- Awards
- BusinessWeek included Paul Graham in the 2008 edition of its annual feature, The 25 Most Influential People on the Web.
- Hobbies
- Graham studied fine arts and painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence.
- Family
- Graham married Jessica Livingston in 2008; they have two children and have lived in England since 2016.
- More
- Graham created the Lisp dialect Arc, released in 2008, and later specified another Lisp dialect named Bel in 2019. Graham created the Hacker News web forum and news aggregator, written in Arc.
From Paul's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Founder at WatsiYC W13
Intro paths
Paul went through Y Combinator (Winter 2013) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
In turn, Paul can intro founders to Watsi's investors below.
Watsi's investors · 1
Co-founders at Watsi
Experience
- retired
Books by Paul Graham
Podcasts & interviews
featuring Paul GrahamPaul Graham on Why Sam Altman Took over as President of Y Combinator in 2014
This Week in Startups Clips
Y Combinator's Paul Graham sits down with Jason at LAUNCH Festival 2014
This Week in Startups
Paul Graham, Founder of Y Combinator, Live from Stockholm
Y Combinator
Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
The Social Radars Podcast
Paul Graham explains how he created the Y Combinator logo
The Social Radars Podcast
From the Archives: Y Combinator Founders Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston on Studio 1.0 (2014)
Bloomberg Tech
2 more appearances
Writing
Paul Graham argues that YC seeks founders who deeply understand and serve users, refuting the claim that billionaires succeed by exploiting people.
An essay advising founders to convince investors by understanding and clearly explaining why their startup could become a big success.
An essay arguing that startups succeed when founders do unscalable early work like manually recruiting users to push their company into motion.
An essay urging startup founders to determine whether their current revenue and expenses put them on a path to profitability or failure.
Essay argues that the essential quality of a great startup founder is being relentlessly resourceful—flexibly determined rather than passively hapless.
Essay arguing that starting a startup is becoming a viable third option for students beyond getting a job or attending grad school.
8 more posts
- Why smart people have bad ideas2020-11-30
- How to Get Startup Ideas2020-11-30
- Before the startup2020-11-30
- Why to not not start a startup2020-11-30
- The hardest lessons for startups to learn2020-11-30
- The equity equation2020-11-30
- The 18 mistakes that kill startups2020-11-30
- Startup = growth2020-11-30
Colleagues at Y Combinator
Network9
Investors connected to Paul in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Paul Graham?
- Paul Graham co-founded Viaweb, one of the first web application companies, and sold it to Yahoo before starting Y Combinator in 2005 with Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell. YC's batch model reshaped how early-stage startups are funded, producing companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and Dropbox. His essays on startups, programming, and ambition are among the most-read writing in the technology industry.
- Where does Paul Graham work?
- Paul Graham is Co-founder at Y Combinator.
- What does Paul Graham invest in?
- Paul Graham invests in AI & Machine Learning, Deep Tech, Developer Tools, Fintech, Hardware, SaaS.
- What check size does Paul Graham write?
- Paul Graham typically writes checks of $150K.
- What awards has Paul Graham received?
- BusinessWeek included Paul Graham in the 2008 edition of its annual feature, The 25 Most Influential People on the Web.
- What has Paul Graham written?
- Paul Graham has 14 tracked posts on paulgraham.com, including "Billionaires build", "How to convince investors", "Do things that don't scale", and 11 more.
- What podcasts and interviews feature Paul Graham?
- Tracked appearances include "Paul Graham on Why Sam Altman Took over as President of Y Combinator in 2014", "Y Combinator's Paul Graham sits down with Jason at LAUNCH Festival 2014", "Paul Graham, Founder of Y Combinator, Live from Stockholm", and 5 more.
Paths to reach Paul
People who overlapped with Paul at the same organization — a shared school or employer with one of them is a warm way in.
