YC’s Terms Remain Unchanged Amid Market Shifts Under Outgoing President Geoff Ralston

This is an interview between Geoff Ralston, the president of Y Combinator, and Connie Loizos, Editor-in-Chief and General Manager of TechCrunch. Here are the key points from their conversation:

Return to in-person events: Y Combinator has started hosting in-person events again, including a retreat at the beginning of each batch and weekly meetups during the batch.

Remote work: Despite having an office in San Francisco, Y Combinator is now mostly a remote organization. Ralston mentions that a straw poll of employees showed they would come into the office only 1.5 days per week on average.

Impact of the pandemic: The pandemic has changed the way Y Combinator interacts with founders. They’ve found that virtual tools, such as Zoom and Slack, can be effective and efficient for connecting with founders.

Batches: Y Combinator’s batches are now a mix of in-person and virtual components. Ralston mentions that they’re trying to find the "happy medium" between quality time with founders and the human aspect of meeting them in person.

San Francisco office: The San Francisco office is still operational, but it’s not as active as before. Ralston mentions that having an office there was a twofold question of how Y Combinator would come out of the pandemic and what its presence in San Francisco would look like.

Summer class: About 25-30% of Y Combinator’s summer class is based in San Francisco, but this number may be higher than previously reported.

Overall, the conversation highlights Y Combinator’s adaptability and willingness to experiment with new ways of interacting with founders during the pandemic.