Launched in 2005, Y Combinator is Silicon Valley’s preeminent “startup accelerator,” helping founders all over the globe incubate startup ideas and grow innovative venture-backed businesses.
The small cadre of admitted YC founders go through a rigorous three-month bootcamp laser-focused on building their product. In return, founders receive seed funding, mentorship, and a vast network of resources. The evidence of the program’s success is clear. 45% of companies that come out of YC go on to raise Series A rounds of fundraising (compared to 33% of all VC-backed companies), and 4.5% of YC companies have gone on to become unicorns (compared to 2.5% elsewhere).
Alums include Airbnb, Reddit, and Rippling—which was part of the Winter 2017 batch. “I was there to test the very first product [Rippling CEO] Parker Conrad offered,” said Tatyana Veremyova, YC’s Director of Employment Compliance. “They only had a few engineers on staff. But even then, I saw the big picture.”
Rippling’s grown a lot since its early-stage YC days, as has the accelerator itself. YC’s previous HR platform struggled supporting its multi-state and international workforce and its regulatory compliance. “The time that was wasted was overwhelming,” Tatyana said. “The complaints that came my way from employees were disappointing. I thought to myself, ‘we can do better than this.’”
Over the years, Tatyana kept a close eye on Rippling’s progress and decided to revisit it eight years later. After thoroughly assessing its capabilities, she gave the platform adoption a green light earlier this year. Her message to founders is to do the same, so they can focus less on busywork, more on what they’re building.
