Garry Tan

**Garry Tan** (0:24)
I love technology and engineering and science because I would just spend every weekend as a kid reading things that were way, way above my pay grade. Like, I didn't understand half of it, but I felt like I could. And it sort of brings us to today, where the machines can help you learn.

**Rick Rubin** (0:40)
Were you a good student in school?

**Garry Tan** (0:43)
Yeah, I mean, I didn't realize this at the time. Like, my childhood was so rough that, I guess I viewed getting good grades and going to college and-

**Rick Rubin** (0:52)
Your way out.

**Garry Tan** (0:54)
Yeah, that was the light at the end of the tunnel. That was always what I thought when I was a teenager. Like, I was suicidal. I hated everything about- But when I was in my computer, I could go in my code cave and I had control. And everything in my life outside of that was tumultuous. And I just didn't know when I would catch a beating for no reason or whatever. But when I was in front of my computer, or even when I was in school studying algebra or calculus, I was like, oh, the world is so beautiful and well-arranged, and I can understand it.

**Rick Rubin** (1:25)
Yeah, order.

**Garry Tan** (1:26)
Yeah.

**Rick Rubin** (1:28)
When you would be on your dad's computer, would you play games or would you build things?

**Garry Tan** (1:33)
I guess games were my first love.

**Rick Rubin** (1:35)
What were the games then?

**Garry Tan** (1:36)
Oh my gosh, like Spy Hunter on the Atari, I guess. But I really loved adventure games like the Monkey Island games or the Indiana Jones games. The old Sierra adventure games were really fun, because I didn't want just like the arcade, I wanted a story.
I love this idea that you could inhabit another person's life. Today, what people play that I love is Red Dead Redemption 2, for instance, one of the best games.

**Rick Rubin** (2:04)
You still play games?

**Garry Tan** (2:05)
Yeah, I love those types of games. Because the narrative story and you can inhabit someone else's world and reality, back then I viewed it as a nice recrieve.

**Rick Rubin** (2:15)
What is Y Combinator?

**Garry Tan** (2:17)
Y Combinator is, at this point, an institution where you apply on the Internet, and you don't have to know anyone or anything, and you fill out 12 questions, record a one-minute video, and we have 16 partners who read those and watch the video and try to figure out who are the people who are going to build all of the technology for the next 20 years.

**Rick Rubin** (2:42)
How many people try to sign up?

**Garry Tan** (2:45)
Yeah, it's 80,000 applications a year for about 800 spots per year.
We invite you to come to San Francisco. We'll meet you for 10 minutes. It's usually two partners in there, and 10 minutes goes really fast. It's really, we just want to know what are you doing and why is it going to be you who does it.

**Rick Rubin** (3:06)
What are the backgrounds of the two partners in the room?

**Garry Tan** (3:09)
Usually, I mean, every partner at YC actually went through the program themselves and created a startup. In a lot of ways, they made something people want. So, we went and did it, and then we're back trying to help the next generation go do that.

**Rick Rubin** (3:24)
Tell me about your experience of doing it. What do you remember from your 10 minutes?

**Garry Tan** (3:28)
Oh, man. I remember sitting down with the founder of YC, Paul Graham and his other co-founders.
They basically wanted to see the demo. So, my startup just took a photo on an iPhone and emailed it, and then you got a blog. And so, that was very easy to demo. And then, I think they got it immediately. So, once someone understands what something is and why people would use it, that sort of answers the big question. On the first day of YC, you get a T-shirt that says, make something people want. And if you look at the 10 minutes, that's all we really care about. It's like, is this person going to make something?
And the craziest thing is like, that's easier than ever now. Like, everyone can make something. And then the second part has become much harder, much more important, much more difficult to get right, but much more important to get right. It's something people want.

**Rick Rubin** (4:18)
Was Paul Graham the founder of YC?

**Garry Tan** (4:21)
Yeah, he was the founder.