In this episode of Frameworks for Growth, Vanta CEO Christina Cacioppo sits down with Garry Tan, President and CEO of Y Combinator, to explore how early-stage startups can find product-market fit in an AI age, when a startup idea is worth pursuing, and what it means to operate in “founder mode.”
Whether you're a founder, operator, or investor, this episode offers actionable startup advice and insight from one of the most influential voices in tech.
🔑 Topics covered (timestamps):
00:11 - Introduction
00:35 - What’s different about today’s tech landscape
02:15 - What does YC try to impress upon their founders
03:41 - Are there more pivots in YC
06:11 - Advice for founders building in AI
08:41 - Scaling with fewer employees
10:34 - What it means to be high agency
14:26 - Advising startups on design and taste
15:31 - Founders should work in call centers
17:24 - Vibe coding and knowledge work
18:42 - Will AI make it easier or harder to pick startups
23:01 - Are YC companies shrinking in size over time
24:29 - Running Initialized Capital vs. running YC
26:57 - Flow state at a startup vs. at big companies
27:30 - Why more billionaires is a good thing
28:23 - Frameworks and advice for startup founders
29:11 - Advantages of being a first-time founder
30:31 - Do things that don’t scale
31:51 - Knowing when you’ve found product market fit
32:38 - Garry on AI regulation
34:58 - Open source AI
36:31 - Garry on being a content creator
39:09 - What would a Garry Tan LLM get wrong
41:49 - Lightning round
43:43 - Letting people go at a startup
🚀 To learn more about Vanta helps startups scale, visit us at: vanta.com/startups