What Share of Giant Startups Came From Y Combinator?

Garry Tan says Y Combinator is a managed marketplace for the smartest people starting the next companies, and he calls the setup a good thing. Y Combinator is about 20% of all companies worth $5 billion and up that started from 2012 and later. The share has stayed about 20% for 15 to 18 years because Y Combinator is a network effects business.

The marketplace view came from a concerted effort over the last two or three years. Garry Tan says most of his VC friends would agree. He wants a bigger share. Mark 2026 on the calendar: if he is successful in five or 10 years, he would like the share to be 30%, and he would like the share to be 50%. He asks why the share cannot be 30 or 40. The aim is a community of people you can trust who are there to support you, and the point is not the money.