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Paul Graham

Co-Founder, Y Combinator

Search every verified Paul Graham interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Paul Graham appeared in a September 2026 interview with Y Combinator Visiting Partner Vivian Shen at the original YC office in Mountain View, marking the 47th YC batch and the organization's 21st year. During the conversation, Graham said that most of starting a startup remains consistent across eras, and he attributed the emergence of future trillion-dollar companies to formidable founders rather than specific ideas. He expressed uncertainty about the definition of a "lean startup," noting he had not read the book, and he said that founders today resemble those from twenty years ago. Graham also discussed founder motivation, saying that at any given moment founders are often driven by immediate fears such as server crashes or looking foolish rather than long-term wealth. He added that investors seek formidable founders because the alignment of interests between the investor and the founder ensures both benefit from the founder's success.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“If you go to Silicon Valley and then come back, you're helping Sweden in three ways. You make your own startup better, so the average quality of startups here is increased. You're probably going to bring money back with you from Silicon Valley investors. And you're importing Silicon Valley culture, which has evolved for decades to be optimal for startups and in fact is pretty compatible with Swedish culture.”

“If YC were Swedish government policy, it would seem a miracle of effectiveness um to get results like that at zero cost. And they don't even have to license it. They can just call our API. There's no sales process.”

“The answer to the second question is in there in the answer to the first one it's you should go for a bit and then come back because if you do that um as long as you do actually come back that's one of the best things you can do to help Sweden to help Stockholm thrive as a startup hub.”

“Investors in Silicon Valley decide a lot faster. An investor who decides that it would be a good idea to invest in a startup really cannot sit on that idea cuz the better the more right this investor is, the more likely that opportunity is to time out. That's a very unusual situation where the more right you are, the less time you can wait.”

“The answer to the second question is in the answer to the first one: it's you should go for a bit and then come back. Because if you do that, as long as you do actually come back, that's one of the best things you can do to help Sweden to help Stockholm thrive as a startup hub.”

“Investors in Silicon Valley decide a lot faster. An investor who decides that it would be a good idea to invest in a startup really cannot sit on that idea cuz the better the more right this investor is, the more likely that opportunity is to time out. That's a very unusual situation where the more right you are, the less time you can wait.”

Other executives at Y Combinator

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