November 7, 2024
In this edition, we explore the journey of Y Combinator, the startup accelerator and venture capital firm of every founder’s dream. This transformative force in the startup ecosystem has reshaped the entrepreneurial landscape since the birth of the company and YC has become the equivalent of innovation and success in the tech industry and it is not without its reasons and achievements. This article delves into YC's journey, examining its pivotal role in fostering and nurturing groundbreaking startups while looking into its commitment to navigating the complexities of innovation in an ever-evolving tech market that it is today.
Y Combinator, or better known as just 'YC', has become synonymous with startup success with its gained fame and recognition as one of the leading startup accelerators globally. Ever since its launch, YC has nurtured some of the most influential and successful startups in the tech industry, making it an unparalleled force in the startup ecosystem, as the accelerator’s prestige garnered the desire of founders to launch their startup with YC.
Regarded as one of the first and most influential startup accelerators we know of today, YC all started in 2005, building on top of the emerging concept of startup accelerators taking shape in the early 2000s. Founded by Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell, the four founders created a space to address significant gaps in the startup world, stemming from their shared experiences faced by early-stage entrepreneurs.
The story of Y Combinator begins with Paul Graham, a computer scientist and entrepreneur who built Viaweb with Robert Morris, which was later sold to Yahoo!. In 2005, Graham's then girlfriend-now-wife, Jessica Livingston, was dissatisfied with her job at an investment bank. Seeking to create a change of scenery, Graham proposed the idea of starting an early-stage investment firm during a walk home from dinner, with the two ultimately deciding that Graham would invest $100,000 into the venture while Livingston would leave her job to help run it.
To kickstart Y Combinator, they secured additional funding from their friends Morris and Trevor Blackwell, bringing the initial capital to $200,000. The original name for their fund was "Cambridge Seed," but it was soon changed to Y Combinator to appeal to startups everywhere. The name “Y Combinator” was inspired by the concept of combinatory logic in computer science, reflecting their goal of combining ideas and funding to create successful startups.
Graham and Morris as cofounders after their experience building Viaweb, Livingston's expertise in management and community building alongside Blackwell’s engineering and robotics background all contributed to their motivations to democratize access to startup funding and resources, with seed funding to offer to startups that are led by younger tech-oriented founders who might lack traditional connections in the venture capital world. On March 1st 2005, YC was launched, starting with their two programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Mountain View, California.
In March 2005, YC launched its first program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, initially called the Summer Founders Program. They received applications from numerous startups and selected eight to participate in this inaugural batch. Among these was Reddit, which would go on to become one of the most prominent success stories in YC's history, further branding the company to have an eagle’s eye for companies with high potential to become unicorns. (Reddit’s founders journey is also covered on our website previously, check it out here!) The batch also included other notable founders such as Emmett Shear and Justin Kan who went on to cofound Twitch and Sam Altman who later became the president of YC and CEO of OpenAI, to name a few.
Graham admitted that he did not take the launch seriously at first; however, he was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the startups. He noted that one reason they favored funding unconventional ideas was that YC itself had been dismissed at its inception. This initial experience laid the groundwork for YC’s unique approach to nurturing startups.
The startup accelerator soon began to gain traction and foothold in the startup ecosystem, with YC’s relocation to Silicon Valley in 2006 after their initial cohort to attract more startups and investors in the heart of the tech industry with bigger dreams.
In October 2006 the company also had its first exit. TextPayMe, a mobile payment service that allowed users to send over money via text messages, was acquired by Amazon for an undisclosed amount, but some speculate that the acquisition was around $3 million, marking this significant milestone for YC’s early investment.
In 2007, YC launched their Startup School, an educational program for entrepreneurs to incubate their ideas and develop their business models, and introduced their Demo Day, an event where promising startups founders present and pitch their ideas to a room full of investors, giving them the opportunity to secure additional funding and giving their startups more exposure.
In the same year, Hacker News was also launched with the name Startup News. Initially built by Graham as a demonstration of Arc (Graham's own programming language in development), it would soon prove to be useful for bringing together the companies Graham was supporting and the rest of the folks who wanted in. The website would become successful for its purpose and a key part of YC success.
The following years were focused on growing their audience and building their names, while during this time the company also invested in several other high-profile startups such as Airbnb and Dropbox, both of which achieved billion-dollar valuations shortly after graduating from the program. These companies would soon go on to become the trailblazers of their industry.
In 2013, Paul Graham announced that YC would expand its mission of supporting startup solutions, and with its similar approach, fund nonprofit organizations accepted into its program. YC’s first non-profit investment was Watsi, a healthcare crowdsourcing platform with its aim to make healthcare accessible to those in need, in their W13 cohort, while continuing to fund mostly for-profit startups.
As YC grew, so did its influence on the startup landscape. Two-time YC alum Sam Altman joined the company in 2011 as partner and soon became the president of YC from 2014 to 2019. At the same time, Graham stepped down as president, but continued to mentor startups and contribute to the community. Under Altman's leadership, YC expanded its reach significantly. He introduced new initiatives, such as the free online Startup School program for worldwide founders to gain startup knowledge, YC Research which is a nonprofit lab to explore long-term projects in various fields, and a $700 million Continuity Fund designed to invest in later-stage companies, that helped solidify YC's reputation as a powerhouse for startup incubation.
In 2018, Dropbox, now the world’s leading cloud storage service, also went public, which marked YC’s first Initial Public Offering (IPO) of a major startup at $21 per share. From YC’s W07, the company had its valuation on IPO day of $9.2 billion.
When he took over in 2014, YC had graduated 67 startups, and by 2019, YC had invested in close to 2,000 companies, including Dropbox and Airbnb—both of which achieved billion-dollar valuations shortly after graduating from the program, collectively valued at around $150 billion. This success attracted more applicants and investors alike to join YC, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of growth. Altman also oversaw the planning of YC China, a standalone incubator program based in Beijing, China, accelerating the growth of Chinese startups, nurturing YC into a global entrepreneurship commitment, which was later halted, while Qi Lu, a former executive with Microsoft and Baidu hired to lead the YC China effort, departed to run his own program, MiraclePlus.
His departure in 2019 was largely influenced by the surge of AI development as he was involved with OpenAI since its inception in 2015 where he played a significant role in shaping the company vision and directions. He later left YC to focus on OpenAI as he became the CEO of the transformer organization. Our article about OpenAI’s founding journey is also available to read here to find out more about Altman’s role in his new company.
Since its founding in 2005, YC has periodically updated its investment terms to support startups in an evolving landscape. In its early years, YC’s investment approach was modest, reflecting its focus on nurturing young companies at a time when seed-stage funding was far less accessible. In 2005, YC offered an initial investment of $6,000 per founder, with a cap of $18,000 per startup, typically taking around 6-7% equity. This straightforward approach allowed YC to provide hands-on support and guidance to fledgling companies while maintaining a reasonable equity share.
As YC grew in influence and the startup world expanded, they revised their investment terms to match the industry’s increasing needs. By 2011, YC had raised its standard offer to $11,000, plus an additional $3,000 per founder, keeping its equity stake steady at about 7%. This increase in funding supported a growing number of ambitious startups, positioning YC as a premier accelerator in the tech space.
From 2014 onward, YC made several notable changes to its investment model to better serve startups needing more substantial capital in their early stages. In 2014, YC partnered with prominent venture capital firms, increasing its standard investment to $120,000 for 7% equity, a move that gave startups more financial flexibility. In 2018, this amount was further raised to $150,000 for the same 7% equity stake, reflecting YC’s commitment to providing founders with enough runway to develop their products and grow.
In 2022, YC updated its terms again, raising the standard investment amount to $125,000 for 7% equity. This time, however, they introduced an additional, innovative funding mechanism: an uncapped SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) with "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) status, providing an extra $375,000. This structure offered founders significant upfront funding while allowing YC the opportunity to benefit from the startup’s future success without capping its valuation in later rounds.
In 2021, YC also launched a cofounder matching platform to help aspiring entrepreneurs find suitable partners, an acknowledgment that collaboration is often key to startup success. This platform has facilitated thousands of connections among founders seeking cofounders with complementary skills. It has approximately 4,500 founders since its launch and facilitated over 9,000 matches among its users. Similarly, CoffeeSpace is an alternative mobile app that helps match founders who are looking for cofounders. With over 8,000 users, 300k swipes and counting, CoffeeSpace works like a Tinder or Hinge-like interface for finding cofounders, check it out here!
To date, YC has funded over 3,000 startups across various sectors with a community of over 7,000 founders. Its alumni include household names like Reddit, Twitch, Stripe, and DoorDash — companies that have collectively achieved valuations exceeding hundreds of billions of dollars. The impact of Y Combinator involvement extends beyond individual companies; it has transformed how venture capitalists view early-stage investments.
The core philosophy behind Y Combinator remains rooted in supporting innovative ideas regardless of their initial reception. By investing in "hackers instead of suits," as cofounder Graham put it, YC has cultivated an environment where creativity thrives and unconventional ideas can flourish into successful businesses.
While not all founders are actively managing YC, with Graham stepping back in 2014 holding office hours with startups and writing about the startup community on his blog, Livingston with her work on diversity initiatives within YC, Morris pursuing other interests, and Blackwell remaining as a YC partner, the four founders have made significant contributions to its establishment and growth. Their legacy continues to influence the accelerator's direction and culture, even as new leadership has taken over operational responsibilities. Sam Altman, who was part of YC's first cohort, has played a crucial role in shaping its recent trajectory as president and continues to be a prominent figure in both YC and the broader tech ecosystem.
Stepping into 2025, Bloomberg reported and TechCrunch confirmed that YC will expand the number of cohorts it runs each year from two cohorts to four, but with the same approximate number of companies enrolled each year. This is to say that the future cohorts are going to shrink in size, making each cohort half the size of its previous years. This is to allow investors to have more time to meet with each of the startups, better understanding the companies and projects that founders are launching, giving more focus to the rising stars of the industry.
As YC continues to adapt and innovate within an ever-changing landscape, the company remains a beacon for aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide — proving that with the right support and resources, even the most ambitious ideas can become reality.
YC emphasizes the importance of staying attuned to emerging trends and being willing to pivot business models as necessary while striking a balance in believing in the future of innovative ideas and pitches from founders who had revolutionary visions to offer. The iterative process of using feedback from customers and mentors to refine the product continuously and quickly is also essential for aligning products with market needs and ensuring relevance in a competitive landscape.
According to a survey by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, entrepreneurs with strong support networks are 15% more likely to predict significant growth for their startups. From its formation of the company with the vision of creating a supportive ecosystem for early-stage startups, YC emphasizes the importance of building and maintaining a strong community with their cohorts, providing them with valuable resources and guidance to launch a successful startup. This is also foundational for founders to take away that fostering a strong community is often critical to build a vital support network that helps succeed the company.
YC instills a growth mindset in its founders, encouraging them to view failures as learning opportunities rather than setbacks. Resilience is key in the startup world, where challenges are inevitable, embracing failure and using it as a catalyst for improvement is crucial for founders to adapt more readily to changing circumstances and continue progressing toward their goals and dreams.
A key component of YC's success has been its emphasis on mentorship. Founders are paired with experienced entrepreneurs who provide guidance throughout their journey. This model has been instrumental in helping startups navigate challenges and refine their business models. Having a mentor or just speaking to experienced entrepreneurs to get advice would be extremely helpful to gain insights.
If you’re inspired by this story and want to start exploring your own ideas and find someone to get off the ground with, join us at CoffeeSpace.
October 24, 2024
In this edition, we are excited to look into TechCrunch’s growth from a startup and technology news blog to now a leading technology media property known for breaking tech and startup news. Over the years, TechCrunch has established itself as one of the top voices in the startup space and tech industry covering an array of topics relevant to building a tech startup, and has quickly become the news source for tech enthusiasts.
Founded by Michael Arrington and Keith Teare as a simple blog space dedicated to covering tech startups and emerging technologies, TechCrunch was established on June 10, 2005. Its articles featuring in-depth analysis and timely reports on new companies quickly distinguishes itself from other blogs, helping entrepreneurs connect with a broader audience. Arrington and Teare aimed to document the burgeoning startup ecosystem, which was still in its infancy, and TechCrunch became a key resource for the tech community and aspiring entrepreneurs and startup tinkerers.
Within a year of launching, TechCrunch gained traction by shedding light and reporting on Web 2.0 companies like Facebook, YouTube, and X (then Twitter), which are platforms that were just beginning to take off in the late 2000s. TechCrunch’s ability to cover stories early, often before larger media outlets noticed, set the tech news apart. This positioned the platform not just as a news blog but as a trusted source of startup intelligence, with readers flocking to it for updates on the next big tech trend. The blog quickly accelerated in their readership and attracted a substantial following with reports of the blog gaining 1 million page views by early 2006.
In 2008, TechCrunch introduced TechCrunch50, which is a startup competition aimed to identify and promote high-potential companies, with it being a platform for startups to showcase innovations and the latest technologies on the market. The event in San Francisco gave entrepreneurs a platform to pitch their ideas to industry experts, investors, and media, with the opportunity to launch their businesses on a global stage. Companies like Yammer and Mint.com were also launched through the startup competition, solidifying TechCrunch50 as a stepping stone for startups looking to gain visibility and attract funding. This event laid the groundwork for what would evolve into the annual TechCrunch Disrupt conference, which continues to be held in various locations across the globe.
2010 was a major shift for the company. The founders Arrington and Teare had disputes over their roles and contributions to the company, in which Arrington accused Teare of falsely labeling himself as a cofounder of the company. This led to a significant fallout between the two, culminating in Teare's departure from the company. Arrington soon posted an update announcing his compromise with Teare, whom would refer to himself as a “Founding Shareholder” instead of being addressed as a cofounder of TechCrunch. Although there are no official reports documenting Teare’s leaving the company, the now Founding Shareholder soon began to fade into the background, with his departure remained unclear.
In between the personal conflicts the founders had, TechCrunch was acquired by AOL for an estimated $25 million in the same year. This acquisition was part of AOL’s strategy to enhance its digital media portfolio, while TechCrunch benefits from getting technical support from the company behind the largest blogging network in the world. The exciting acquisition soon began to turn sour. Michael Arrington initially remained as the site’s editor, but tensions arose between the founders and the parent company over journalism ethics and editorial independence. Arrington stepped out to demand AOL to grant the editorial independence it promised when they sold TechCrunch to the Internet company, or sell it back to him.
Arrington's tenure at TechCrunch ended abruptly in September 2011 following the aforementioned disputes with AOL’s management regarding editorial freedom and conflicts of interest. He left the company and started CrunchFund, which is a venture capital fund which invested in many startups covered by TechCrunch, in which AOL is also an investor. His departure marked a turning point, as Erick Schonfeld was announced shortly after to step in as interim editor for the tech news blog. Despite the leadership change, TechCrunch retained its loyal audience, although some speculated about the impact of Arrington's departure on the site’s identity.
With its signature event TechCrunch Disrupt, the platform expanded globally, hosting conferences in New York, San Francisco, London, and Beijing. These events featured “Startup Battlefield” competitions where companies like Dropbox and Uber gained early traction. Disrupt became known for bringing together startups, investors, and thought leaders, fostering conversations about the future of technology and innovation, which attracted thousands of attendees each conference, making it a startup sensation for anyone interested in the ecosystem.
When Verizon acquired AOL in 2014, TechCrunch became part of Verizon’s expanding media empire. The acquisition raised questions about how corporate oversight would influence editorial freedom, but TechCrunch continued to operate autonomously, maintaining its position as one of the most influential voices in tech journalism. Under Verizon, TechCrunch’s focus on innovation and venture capital remained central to its brand.
Then in 2017, Verizon acquired and merged AOL and Yahoo to create a new media subsidiary called Oath (which was later rebranded to be Verizon Media), uniting several content platforms under a single entity. Though Oath’s broader strategy aimed to compete with giants like Google and Facebook in digital advertising, TechCrunch stayed committed to its core mission of reporting on startups and technology trends. While the media consolidation added new challenges, TechCrunch retained its credibility and niche appeal within the tech world.
Since 2021, TechCrunch has been under Apollo Global Management after Verizon’s $5 billion deal to sell AOL, TechCrunch, and other media assets to the company. Following the acquisition, the brands were integrated into a new entity called Yahoo! Inc., which operates as a standalone company under Apollo's ownership.
After the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, TechCrunch Disrupt returned to full-scale in-person events, reigniting the excitement surrounding tech innovations in the tech space. The 2023 event placed a strong emphasis on AI, crypto, and sustainability, reflecting the changing priorities in the tech industry. Gathered together are startup founders, investors, and tech pioneers to the conference to share ideas, spark innovation, and get networking, building, and connecting.
In fact, CoffeeSpace has made it into TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Startup Battlefield 200! We’re thrilled to be at the Expo Hall, table P7, from October 28th to October 30th in San Francisco. With more than 10,000 attendees and 1,200 investors at Disrupt, it's the perfect place to connect with startups and venture capitalists, and gain insights from seasoned founders. To share our excitement, we’re doing a giveaway—where the top two referrers will win free tickets to the conference! Don’t miss your chance to join this premier startup event. Check out our giveaway details here.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 will feature over 10,000+ startup & VC leaders, 250+ industry experts speaking across six stages, 200+ sessions, and 350 innovative startups showcasing cutting-edge technologies.
October 15, 2024
In this edition, we explore the journey of OpenAI, better known as the company that introduced ChatGPT to the masses. OpenAI is a leading organization specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development, which has revolutionized the field and reshaped our understanding of technology's potential. From foundational research to major breakthroughs, we’ll examine how OpenAI has navigated the intricacies of innovation and ethics in the fast-changing world of AI, and what lessons we can learn from their path in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
In an interview with Fox News, Elon Musk shared a conversation between himself and Google’s founding CEO, Larry Page, about AI safety. The two tech entrepreneurs had differing visions for AI development—Page focused on pursuing digital superintelligence as soon as possible, while Musk was more concerned with the safety of humanity and the need for actions to minimize the risks of AI. Public statements have also indicated that Google is researching and developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a type of AI that aims to mimic the cognitive abilities of the human brain.
Musk, a vocal advocate for ethical AI development, described AGI as a potential existential threat to humanity and civilization, emphasizing the need for global cooperation and caution. He recounted being called a "speciesist" by Page during their conversation. Musk’s concerns led him to co-found OpenAI in December 2015 along with Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Wojciech Zaremba, and John Schulman. The AI research non-profit organization received backing from investors like Reid Hoffman, Jessica Livingston, Peter Thiel, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Infosys, and YC Research, with a $1 billion pledge.
The name “Open” reflects OpenAI's initial commitment to openness and transparency, with a promise to freely share research and patents with the broader AI community and ensure that its work would be open-source. Initially established as a non-profit organization, OpenAI aimed to prevent AI from being monopolized by a few powerful corporations or governments. This mission was in direct contrast to tech giants like Google and Meta, which were increasingly investing in proprietary AI research.
In its early stages, OpenAI embarked on research projects spanning various domains within AI, including natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and robotics. Their multidisciplinary approach addressed technical challenges and contributed significantly to the scientific community. One of OpenAI's foundational works was the development of Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), which laid the groundwork for future innovations in language understanding and generation.
A notable project involved AI systems capable of playing complex games like Dota 2, requiring substantial computational resources and showcasing OpenAI's ambition to push the boundaries of AI capabilities. These projects helped establish OpenAI as a thought leader in the AI community.
The journey began with GPT-1, introduced in June 2018. Based on the transformer architecture, GPT-1 employed unsupervised learning techniques to predict the next word in a sentence. With 117 million parameters, GPT-1 demonstrated the potential of large language models (LLMs) to understand and generate human-like text, setting the foundation for future iterations.
A pivotal moment for OpenAI came in 2018, when Musk resigned from the OpenAI board due to a reported conflict of interest with Tesla’s AI developments for autonomous vehicles. Another reason for his departure, as later reported, was disagreements over OpenAI’s direction and leadership. Musk wanted OpenAI to take a more aggressive stance on preventing AI dangers, while other cofounders, particularly Sam Altman, leaned toward rapidly advancing AI capabilities. Musk later criticized OpenAI’s direction, stating it had drifted from its original mission.
In March 2019, OpenAI transitioned from a non-profit to a "capped-profit" entity, OpenAI LP, which allowed investors to make returns up to 100x their investment, with profits beyond that directed toward funding OpenAI’s mission. This controversial shift raised skepticism about the organization's future.
In July 2019, OpenAI announced a $1 billion investment from Microsoft to support the development of AGI. The partnership also included a collaboration in which OpenAI would exclusively use Microsoft Azure as its cloud platform. This funding enabled OpenAI to scale its compute power significantly and develop larger language models.
In February 2019, OpenAI unveiled GPT-2, expanding the model’s capabilities to 1.5 billion parameters. Initially, the release was cautious due to concerns about potential misuse, and the full model was withheld. However, after extensive testing and feedback, GPT-2 was fully released in November 2019, showcasing its ability to generate high-quality text across various contexts.
DALL·E, a groundbreaking text-to-image model, was introduced in January 2021, demonstrating AI’s potential in creative fields. But it was the launch of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, that truly captured public attention. Within five days, ChatGPT reached 1 million users, breaking records for the fastest-growing consumer application in history. By January 2023, it had surpassed 100 million active users.
Despite impressive user growth, OpenAI faced enormous operational expenses, leading to a $540 million loss in 2022. With rising hardware costs and the need for top talent in a competitive market, analysts projected further losses of up to $44 billion between 2023 and 2028. With their user number continuing to grow in 2024, at its peak in April 2024, the site was receiving nearly 2 billion visits alone according to a tabulation by Exploding Topics.
On November 17, 2023, the OpenAI board of directors composed of Helen Toner, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D'Angelo and Tasha McCauley removed Sam Altman as CEO, citing a unanimous agreement over the lack of confidence in his leadership. Cofounder and president of OpenAI Greg Brockman was also removed from his position as chairman of the board but retained his role, while Mira Murati, the CTO of that time took over as interim CEO. The president walked out of the company after Altman got forced out of the company shortly thereafter. This outburst also led to significant senior OpenAI researchers resigning and leaving the company.
The next day came reported pressure amid the board from major investors and stakeholders such as Microsoft and Thrive Capital, objecting to the decision and urging the return of Altman. In the midst of negotiations, the board initially contacted Dario Amodei, a former OpenAI executive and CEO of rival company Anthropic, about replacing Altman, and proposed a merger of the two companies, but both offers were declined.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced on the following day that Altman and Brockman would join Microsoft’s team to lead an advanced AI research team, but the company would still stay committed to OpenAI. Before sealing the deal, in an open letter among the employees, about 738 of OpenAI's 770 employees expressed their intentions of resigning and joining Microsoft if the board did not rehire Altman, forcing the board to reconsider their decision and hence the negotiations continued between Altman and the directors.
On November 21, 2023, the final decision came: Altman and Brockman were to return to the company in their prior roles along with a reconstructed board with new members. Microsoft then took a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board after Altman’s return.
The drama continues following the firing and hiring of Altman, with the legal drama unfolding between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, both co-founders of OpenAI. The saga began when Musk filed a lawsuit in February 2024, alleging that OpenAI and Altman had strayed from their founding mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Musk claimed that OpenAI, following its partnership with Microsoft, had become overly profit-driven, which he argued transformed the organization into a "closed-source de facto subsidiary" focused on maximizing profits rather than public good. He contended that this shift violated a supposed founding agreement that prioritized transparency and safety in AI development.
However, the lawsuit took an unexpected turn when Musk abruptly withdrew it on June 11, 2024, just one day before a scheduled hearing regarding OpenAI's request to dismiss the case. This withdrawal came after Musk had previously expressed intentions to revive the lawsuit, indicating ongoing frustration with OpenAI's trajectory. His legal team had filed objections in court just weeks prior, suggesting that the lawsuit was still very much alive. Musk's decision to drop the case left many puzzled, especially given his vocal criticisms of OpenAI's direction and his establishment of his own AI venture to compete against OpenAI, xAI.
In the aftermath of the lawsuit's withdrawal, Musk's relationship with Altman remained strained. The two had co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but parted ways in 2018 due to disagreements over control and direction. Their professional relationship deteriorated further as Musk publicly criticized Altman and OpenAI for not adequately addressing potential risks associated with AI technologies. In August 2024, Musk revived his legal complaint against Altman and others, reiterating claims that they had manipulated him into co-founding OpenAI under false pretenses regarding its nonprofit structure. This latest ongoing suit accused Altman and Greg Brockman of prioritizing commercial interests over their original mission.
Former Y-Combinator president, Altman, who is the CEO of OpenAI since 2019 after the initial Microsoft investment, upon his tumultuous journey with the board of investors ousting and reinstating his position as OpenAI’s CEO, continues to serve in the company.
Brockman, former CTO of Stripe, is now the cofounder and president of OpenAI. First announcing his sabbatical leave from the company in August 2024, he is still seen tweeting and sharing updates about the company’s new launches and developments.
Zaremba started his journey with the company in 2016 after ending his roles as a research scientist in Facebook AI Research and Google Brain prior to joining. He is currently still with the company.
The tech billionaire who provided most of OpenAI’s early funding left the company in 2018 due to a reported conflict of interest between OpenAI and Tesla, his own automotive company’s AI development. There are also reports alleging Musk’s departure may be due to the clash with OpenAI’s CEO Altman over the direction of research the company is heading. Musk then launched his own competitor, xAI, in 2023 with claims to overhaul OpenAI's development and lead in the field.
OpenAI Chief Scientist and cofounder Sutskever left the company after 8 years in June 2024 to start his own venture, Safe Superintelligence Inc, with its aim to develop AI systems that surpass human intelligence safely. He played a key role in the brief ouster of Sam Altman as the CEO, and reportedly his leaving is due to the clash with Altman on the company’s direction to develop AI.
Previously the founding engineer for Duolingo and soon later OpenAI in 2015, Cheung left the company in 2017 for an engineering manager position at the ride-hailing startup Lyft, in which she expressed in an interview with Hashicorp that she wanted to “spend some time working on diversity and inclusion issues and tech” and that led her to try out her new role at Lyft. Shortly thereafter, she started her own venture at Gantry, where she is the cofounder and CTO building ML systems and models.
Slovak-Canadian research scientist and founding member Karpathy helped develop OpenAI from 2015 to 2017. However, in 2017, he left the company to lead an autopilot team as a Senior AI Director in Tesla. He soon returned to OpenAI in 2023 in which he helped improve GPT-4 on ChatGPT. Karpathy left in 2024 upon the completion of the project, and in a statement addressing his departure published on X, he mentioned that there was no bad blood and expressed his interest to pursue his personal projects, which he then founded Eureka Labs, a new AI+Education company.
Schulman was a part of OpenAI for more than 9 years and he announced his exit from the company on X recently this August as he also sets to join OpenAI's rival Anthropic, stating that he hopes to “gain new perspectives and do research alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I'm most interested in” at his new position.
Angel investor and machine learning researcher focusing on generative models, Kingma left OpenAI in 2018 to join Google DeepMind as a research scientist where he also led several projects on generative models. He too joined the Anthropic pipeline in October 2024 as a ML researcher, claiming that Anthropic’s approach and mission of developing powerful AI systems resonated significantly with his own beliefs.
Blackwell was a partner at Y-Combinator and helped start OpenAI before leaving the company shortly after in 2017 with little to no explanations.
Vagata is one of the lesser known cofounders of OpenAI, with no mentions of her role in the company on her LinkedIn profile. In 2016, she allegedly left the company to join Stripe with no mentions of the reason for her departure. Since 2021, she is currently leading Pebblebed, an early stage venture firm she cofounded which specializes in early-stage AI tech investments.
So, this brings us to the question: what does the future hold for OpenAI? Both promising and precarious, OpenAI anticipates that its revenue could soar to $11.6 billion in 2025, with a hopeful estimation of $3.7 billion in 2024, which is a remarkable increase from the $200 million revenue in 2022. This optimistic forecast is underpinned by the growing demand for generative AI technologies across various sectors.
Figures and numbers aside, the future of AI development remains uncertain, with more apparent and booming growth of interest in AGI from other tech giants like Google and Meta. While these companies are making significant investments and strides in research, ethical considerations and operational challenges complicate the playing field. As OpenAI and its competitors navigate this complex terrain, it will be essential for all stakeholders to prioritize responsible development practices and engage in open dialogue about the implications of advanced AI technologies on society. The journey toward AGI promises to be both transformational and fraught with challenges, requiring careful stewardship to ensure that its benefits are realized for mankind, and not a dystopia controlled in the hands of the dictated few.
OpenAI's mission centers around developing safe and beneficial AI technologies. When leadership changes occur, it is crucial to reaffirm commitment to these core values. The erosion of trust among employees regarding the organization's dedication to safety illustrates how vital it is for leaders to consistently demonstrate alignment with foundational principles.
In the startup world, there is rapid evolution and the changes in its leadership demonstrate the necessity for leaders to be agile. The ability to adapt to new challenges and market conditions is crucial to founders when facing new challenges and pressure from external parties. Embracing change and encouraging pivot strategies effectively are also important to grow a startup and reach for greater heights.
As all early stage startups could relate to, the initial stages are volatile with many uncertainties and unpredictability, hence it is crucial to be strapped in and prepared for change. Keeping an open mind and taking every pivot as an opportunity to grow is a healthy growth mindset that all founders should adopt.
If you’re inspired by this story and want to start exploring your own ideas and find someone to get off the ground with, join us at CoffeeSpace.
September 30, 2024
Hi everyone! :) It's Hazim here – there have been a couple of important milestones + updates on our side since the last write-up, so I thought I'd share a quick update with all of you.
That’s all from us for now! Thank you for your constant feedback – it keeps us on our toes and fuels us each day to improve the product and grow the CoffeeSpace community further :)
Cheers,
Hazim, Carin & Fauzan
September 30, 2024
Collaborative entrepreneurship is the norm in the startup ecosystem, and many successful companies have been co-founded by multiple individuals. Iconic examples like Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes), Apple (Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne), and Microsoft (Bill Gates and Paul Allen) showcase the power of having the right cofounders.
Finding the right cofounder can sometimes be even more challenging than building the product or service itself. Therefore, the methods and channels you choose for your cofounder search are crucial. In this article, we provide a comparative analysis of four of the largest and fastest-growing cofounder matching platforms and apps available today. You might just find the ideal partner for your entrepreneurial journey through these platforms.
Additionally, we've compiled a list of resources and articles covering a wide range of cofounder-related tips on our blog, which you can explore here.
CoFoundersLab is one of the largest cofounder matchmaking services, connecting over 650,000 users worldwide. This platform offers a one-stop solution for starting, funding, and growing a business with access to an extensive network of investors and professionals. CoFoundersLab’s proprietary algorithm recommends suitable cofounders, and members can gain exposure within the community.
The platform offers a subscription model, granting access to premium features like unlimited search, networking opportunities, and exclusive learning sessions.
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CoffeeSpace is a mobile app that offers a Hinge-like interface, akin to a "dating app" for cofounders. With over 5,500 users and 200,000 swipes to date, CoffeeSpace is emerging as a rising star in the cofounder matching market. This platform is particularly geared toward entrepreneurship enthusiasts exploring ideas, building startups, or looking to join one.
They offer a playground on their website for users to test the app before committing, mirroring their mobile version's features.
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Y Combinator, commonly referred to as YC, is one of the most popular startup accelerator companies and also offers a cofounder matching service. Known for funding unicorns like Stripe, Airbnb, and Doordash, YC's platform has facilitated over 100,000 cofounder matches, making it a trusted place for aspiring founders. YC has funded over 5,000 startups with an estimated combined valuation of $600 billion, giving its cofounder matching service credibility and a stellar track record.
Beyond matching, YC’s platform provides access to hundreds of online resources, including guides and videos in their YC Library, to help you kickstart your journey while encouraging active networking within the community.
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FoundersList is a growing platform with over 5,000 founders, offering a space for collaboration, community engagement, and freelancing opportunities. Users can find cofounders, join specific community groups, participate in events, and browse professional services recommended by other founders. The platform features forums, live chat, events, and a blog.
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LinkedIn, a familiar social networking platform, offers cofounder opportunities through job postings and network connections. With over 1 billion registered users, LinkedIn is a great starting point for finding cofounders, utilizing hashtags to narrow down your search.
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Each platform offers a unique approach to finding the right cofounder, with strengths and weaknesses to consider. Whether you prefer YC's structured approach, CoffeeSpace's mobile convenience, CoFoundersLab's resources, FoundersList’s community-driven platform, or LinkedIn’s extensive network, there's something for everyone.
It's essential to explore multiple options and engage actively with different communities to maximize your chances of finding the right cofounder. The journey to finding your ideal partner might be challenging, but these platforms can help you take the first step toward a successful entrepreneurial partnership.
September 30, 2024
In this feature, we’re excited to introduce the brilliant minds behind Orbital Electric Systems. Orbital is at the forefront of designing and building the next generation of American work vehicles. With cutting-edge technology that leverages the clean, quiet power of electric drivetrains, Orbital’s vehicles offer unmatched torque, durability, quick and quiet responsiveness, impressive payload and passenger capacity, and the versatility of a mobile power source. Their flagship model, the Orbital Rev 1 UTV, is setting new standards for work and play across all terrains.
At the helm is Lukasz Kosewski (Luke), Orbital's CEO and founder. Luke’s entrepreneurial journey began in Canada, where he bootstrapped several startups before forming PagerDuty’s infrastructure team. He later took on a tech lead role at Netflix, automating data center outage recovery. His work continues to manage tens of millions of dollars in assets to this day. Luke’s expertise extends beyond software—he worked at Harley-Davidson on key systems, playing a crucial role in launching the LiveWire electric motorcycle. Now, he’s tackling his most ambitious challenge yet: leading Orbital to create electric vehicles that outperform their gas-powered counterparts. Luke holds an honors B.Math degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.
Joining Luke is Greg Knox, Orbital’s Chief Revenue Officer. Greg brings a wealth of experience from the startup world, government, and politics. As Governor Rauner’s liaison to the Illinois House of Representatives, Greg sharpened his strategic and operational skills. In 2018, he transitioned to tech, starting at Remedly, a healthcare software company, where he quickly rose to lead client relations and drive growth. Greg later joined Skip, a startup that helped small businesses navigate pandemic relief funding, where, as COO, he grew the team from 2 to 40 and scaled revenue to $10 million annually. Now, as Orbital’s CRO, Greg is driving the company’s commercial success.
Luke: At Orbital Electric Systems, our goal is to showcase a post-gas future by developing cutting-edge electric off-road vehicles. Our first product is a utility task vehicle (UTV) that outperforms any gas-powered or electric competitor on the market. We are building the technology to enable a brand new generation of better-than-gas electric off-road vehicles. Our aim is to have this revolutionary UTV available in the market by 2026.
Greg: That is right, we are currently in the process of finalizing our Series A funding round. We have been in talks with some interested investors, and there is still room for more people to get involved, whether they discover us through this article or other connections. The market has already shown its excitement for our product, with over $12.5 million in future revenue reservations.
We have built a prototype and it's performing exceptionally well. In fact, just a couple of days ago, we were shooting some video footage with it. And I mean, it truly is the case. Our prototype may still be in its early stages, but it's already about 40% more efficient than any other electric UTV ever built. We’re incredibly excited about its potential and look forward to bringing this vision to the masses by 2026.
So, the purpose of this Series A raise is to allow us to build our first small fleet of vehicles, which we will use to conduct demo events across the country and provide to some of our anchor partners. This is an important step in bringing our revolutionary electric UTV to market.
If anyone is interested in Orbital’s Series A round, Luke and Greg can be found here.
Luke: Owen (founder and CTO of Orbital) and I started the company together in 2021, working on the initial drafts of the product we wanted to build. We were great at product building and development, but we struggled with how to market, advertise, and sell it. We initially tried hiring industry professionals, people with experience selling UTVs, but they all came from large, publicly traded companies and didn’t seem to understand the startup environment or the incentives that come with it. So, we pivoted and decided to find someone who had startup experience, someone who understood the unique challenges and could sell in various contexts. That’s when we started to go on cofounder matching platforms and eventually met Greg through CoffeeSpace. He stood out among the others we interviewed because of his ability to sell anything thrown his way and his enthusiasm for startups and particularly the technology that we are building. There were some other candidates who I was matched with, but Greg ended up being the most promising, and we were thrilled that he took the offer.
Greg: Orbital is the third startup I've worked at. In 2018, I moved to the Bay Area after working in government and politics, where I served as Governor Rauner's liaison to the Illinois House of Representatives. I ultimately reached the conclusion that the impact that I wanted to make would be done through promoting emerging technologies rather than through government work. So I started doing just that.
My first experience in a startup was in 2018 in which I worked at a healthcare software company called Remedly, in a sales team of five, six people. By the end of it, I was the only one left so I had to juggle managing clients, taking on any responsibilities needed to be taken care of. I was learning the ins and outs of a startup, particularly driving growth and revenue to a business.
I jumped to Skip three years later, a startup that helped small businesses navigate pandemic relief funding. It was also more related to the government sectors, which was a great fit for me. I was Chief of Staff and eventually became the Chief Operating Officer, growing the company from just the CEO and I to 40 employees and $10 million in annual revenue. Really proud of that.
After two years at Skip with enough experience to really contribute to growing startups, I left Skip and took some time off, looking around for other opportunities. Especially since I don’t really have any technical skills, I realized I do need to latch onto the right technical people who are building truly disruptive technology that’s going to drive us forward as a species, and that’s what Luke really is doing with his field expertise and industry knowledge. I mean, we like to say we have the EV dream team building our vehicles. And it is true, if you look at people who conceivably could do something like this, we have the best team, period. So, yeah, it was a really easy choice.
Anyway, the thought of that led me to start searching on cofounder matching platforms like CoffeeSpace, where I ultimately found the right technical team at Orbital, and I’m confident I made the right choice.
Greg: I think the biggest challenge was sifting through all the other options and sort of weighing them and doing my best to understand the opportunities and also myself. Obviously, we are right in the middle of our societal explosion with ChatGPT coming out, so it was also a little bit of introspection of how much passion I have for the ideas. However, the final decision boils down to the excitement I have for where the business is heading towards and how much I think I will enjoy being a part of it. And we’re talking about the next 5 or 10 years of my life, and that is really what put me over the edge of making this decision.
When Luke and I were still talking, I got to know Owen as well, and we really built a good foundation of trust and rapport, and here we are, still sharing an office and enjoying each other’s presence. So yeah, there was a logical aspect to the decision, but also an emotional one, and I believe I made the right choice in joining Orbital.
Luke: Not rushing it. When Owen and I were looking at wanting to hire someone, we thought about someone who we could work with in close quarters. By the time we met Greg, we had five people on the team working halftime or remotely, but in the office, it was just Owen and I. One of the hard lines in the sand that we drew was that whoever we hired was somebody who we wanted to spend time in the office with. And so all of Greg's comments about finding somebody who we would get along with, well, we felt the same way and meeting the right person definitely took time. It was also during the holiday season that we matched, and we really gave time to let this relationship grow to the point where Greg is comfortable committing and not rushing the process.
Greg: My experience with CoffeeSpace has been very positive, especially in comparison to other co-founder matching platforms I've used. With some of the other platforms, there were a lot of options, but not all of them were great fits. In contrast, CoffeeSpace really stood out for me. I was honestly impressed with every single founder I spoke with through CoffeeSpace. The platform's filtering and matching process was key, as it helped connect me with the right opportunities. I'm grateful that the CoffeeSpace team reached out to me about the platform, as it's hard to get involved with a company if you don't even know it exists. The CoffeeSpace team did a great job of matching users with the right candidates and obviously that led to the success story of Luke and I meeting and becoming cofounders together.
Luke: I have to say I have the same comments as Greg for my side that all the people I got matched with were at least very interesting. Some of them ended up not being quite the right fit for me in terms of the skillsets they bring to the table but the problems were remediated really quickly and I would get users who I was matched with possessing the skills we were looking for in our company and they were like excellent, interesting, competent people. While we were not getting as many matches on a per week basis as some other platforms, they were quantity over quality. CoffeeSpace was different in that it was quality first, and that was a huge differentiator.
Greg: You only get one shot at building your company culture. So, choose wisely of who you want to spend your professional life and career with. From my past startup experiences, I have been fortunate enough to work with like-minded people, and really got a lot out of growing to know them better, but also trust each other over time. But if you are not careful in the initial cofounder search, you may end up with a team that you don’t have the same goals and right things in common. I say it's pretty strong parallels between choosing someone to spend your life within the romantic and personal sphere and people to spend your life with professionally, it's not too different.
Luke: Same thing here for me, but to add on I guess it is crucial to make sure that everyone in your founding team is honest and aligned about what they expect from the startup, especially regarding its growth and timeline. While your technology might quickly take off, leading to an exit strategy within a few years, the reality is that most of the time it's going to take a different path. And part of that path might be that you're going to be slogging at this for years, right? That doesn't mean that you're going to have to eat ramen for 10 years. You know, at my age, that would kill me long before 10 years. So there's no real worry of that happening but the point is it might involve a lot of time acting like a startup instead of a large company, there are periods where things are moving slower and there are crazy growth at times, just make clear and make sure that this path is acceptable for everyone on the team. If someone is only in it for a fast exit, they may not be the right fit for the journey ahead and you really have to choose wisely especially when it comes to a cofounder role.
If you’re inspired by this story and want to start exploring your own ideas and find someone to get off the ground with, join us at CoffeeSpace.
September 11, 2024
In the ever-evolving world of startups, stories abound of solo ventures that struggle to reach their full potential. Startups are inherently challenging, with a workload that often proves too much for one person to manage. You may have a groundbreaking idea, but turning it into a product requires more than just vision—it demands skills, dedication, and often, the support of a team. This is where many founders face their next challenge: finding the right co-founder, particularly one with the technical expertise to bring the product to life.
But where and how exactly do you find a compatible co-founder, especially one with the right skills? The search can feel daunting, but it’s far from impossible. This guide will walk you through the best strategies and platforms to help you find your ideal technical co-founder.
With the rise of technological solutions, the tech startup scene is booming. According to Zippia, the U.S. tech market was valued at $1.8 trillion in 2022, making it the largest in the world. This figure continues to grow at a staggering rate, with the U.S. accounting for 35% of the global market. For non-technical founders, having a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or a co-founder with a strong technical background can be crucial. Not only does this accelerate the product development process, but it also provides a solid foundation for scaling the business.
Relying on freelancers or making early hires might seem like viable alternatives, but they come with their own set of challenges—lack of commitment, misalignment with your vision, and the potential for high turnover. A co-founder, on the other hand, is invested in the success of the startup and is more likely to stay the course through thick and thin.
The most straightforward and often most effective place to start is within your personal network. These are people you already know—friends, acquaintances, university peers, or former colleagues. The advantage here is twofold: first, you’re likely already familiar with their skills, work ethic, and personalities. Second, there’s an existing level of trust, which is invaluable when you’re considering someone to join you on a high-stakes entrepreneurial journey.
Start by reaching out to people in your immediate circle and expand outward. Attend alumni events or reconnect with old friends who might have the technical expertise you need. Even if you don’t find your co-founder directly within your network, someone you know might introduce you to the right person.
If your personal network doesn’t yield results, co-founder matching platforms are an excellent next step. These platforms are designed specifically to help entrepreneurs find their ideal co-founders. Think of them as Tinder or Hinge for startup founders. You create a profile that outlines your idea, skills, and what you’re looking for in a co-founder. These platforms usually have strict approval processes to ensure quality and reduce spam, making them a reliable resource for serious entrepreneurs.
CoffeeSpace is a standout in this category. Unlike other platforms that focus solely on skills and experience, CoffeeSpace takes compatibility matching to the next level. It considers personality, work style, and overall business approach through curated prompts, helping you find someone who not only complements your skill set but also aligns with your vision and values.
To give you a sense of its reach, CoffeeSpace currently has 47% of its users holding technical portfolios. You can even test the platform with our interactive playground, giving you a feel for how it works before diving in.
Professional networking platforms like LinkedIn are another powerful tool in your search for a technical co-founder. LinkedIn offers a wide array of resources, including job listings specifically marked as "co-founder needed," making it easy to connect with individuals seeking partners with complementary skills.
Beyond job listings, LinkedIn Groups are a goldmine for connecting with like-minded professionals. Groups dedicated to startups, entrepreneurship, or specific industries are filled with individuals who are passionate about building something new. By actively engaging in discussions, sharing your project ideas, and showcasing your expertise, you position yourself as a serious contender for those seeking a co-founder.
Don’t be afraid to reach out directly to individuals who you think might be a good fit. A personalized message explaining your vision and why you think they would be an ideal partner can go a long way in starting a fruitful conversation.
While professional networks are crucial, don’t underestimate the power of social media platforms. Reddit and Twitter (now known as “X”) are often overlooked in the co-founder search, but they can be incredibly effective. These platforms allow you to tap into vibrant communities of entrepreneurs, tech enthusiasts, and industry experts.
On Reddit, the subreddit r/cofounders is specifically designed for people looking to start ventures together. Here, you can browse existing threads where users have posted their ideas and desired co-founder skills. Alternatively, you can create your own post outlining your concept and what you’re looking for in a co-founder.
Twitter (X) is another platform worth exploring. By following industry hashtags like #findacofounder, you can connect with people actively searching for business partners. Engaging with content from industry leaders, venture capitalists, and other startups can also increase your visibility. The key is to be active and genuine—meaningful interactions are more likely to lead to fruitful connections.
In addition to social media, digital workspaces like Slack have become hubs for industry-specific discussions and collaborations. Many Slack channels are dedicated to particular industries or interests, making them ideal for finding someone with the right technical skills.
Joining targeted Slack groups allows you to quickly focus on the portfolios of your ideal co-founder. Participate in discussions, share your ideas, and don’t be shy about pitching your startup. These groups often have a more relaxed and collaborative atmosphere than traditional networking platforms, which can make it easier to build genuine relationships.
If you’re lucky enough to live in a city with a thriving startup ecosystem, offline events are invaluable. Pitch nights, startup meetups, and entrepreneur networking sessions are all great opportunities to meet potential co-founders in person. These events allow you to gauge someone’s personality and work ethic in a way that online interactions can’t fully replicate.
Look out for events that specifically cater to startup founders. Some events even include “speed-dating” sessions where you can meet multiple potential co-founders in a short amount of time. Remember to bring your A-game—these events are competitive, and first impressions matter.
While you’re searching for the perfect co-founder, it’s equally important to showcase your own value. Potential candidates need to know who they’ll be working with, so don’t be afraid to highlight your experience, vision, and what you bring to the table.
Participating in discussions, sharing your journey, and consistently showing up in relevant spaces will help you build your online presence. This not only increases your chances of finding the right co-founder but also establishes you as a serious entrepreneur worth partnering with.
Finding the right technical co-founder is a critical step in your startup journey. It’s about more than just filling a role—it’s about finding someone who shares your passion, vision, and commitment to building something great. Whether you’re leveraging your personal network, exploring co-founder matching platforms, or engaging with online communities, the key is to be patient and strategic.
Take your time, network smartly, and don’t settle for anything less than the perfect addition to your venture. With the right co-founder by your side, your startup is far more likely to reach its full potential.
September 11, 2024
In this edition, we explore the journey of Pavel (@durov) and Nikolai Durov (@Kolja_Durov), the brothers who founded Telegram—one of the most secure messaging platforms in the world. As we walk through the key milestones of their venture, we’ll examine the challenges they faced, the lessons learned, and the evolution of Telegram into a global leader in messaging and online privacy.
Telegram, the cloud-based instant messaging and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service, was launched by the Durov brothers in 2013. It wasn’t their first venture into the tech world, but it soon became their most influential. Previously, the Durovs were the creators of Russia’s largest social network, VKontakte (VK), and their experience in building a tech platform laid the groundwork for what would later become Telegram.
Pavel, often referred to as "Russia's Mark Zuckerberg," was the ideological architect behind both VK and Telegram, while Nikolai, a mathematician and programmer, provided the technical foundation. Their synergy allowed them to create platforms that not only attracted millions of users but also placed privacy and security at the forefront of their products.
VK, launched in 2006, was a social network that grew to dominate the Russian-speaking internet. Pavel founded the platform alongside his classmate Vyacheslav Mirilashvili, with Lev Leviev joining later to manage operations. Nikolai, although not one of VK's original founders, played a pivotal role in the platform's technical development.
VK's rapid success, however, attracted the attention of the Russian government. In 2011, authorities requested that VK censor content related to political protests and turn over user information. Pavel’s refusal to comply marked the beginning of his public stance as a defender of free speech and online privacy. These events were not just turning points in the history of VK but laid the foundation for the values that would later define Telegram.
By 2013, the Durov brothers had left VK amid growing pressure from the Russian government. As state-owned entities gradually took control of VK, Pavel and Nikolai shifted their focus to Telegram. The app was launched in August 2013, with headquarters established in Dubai to distance themselves from government interference.
The brothers envisioned Telegram as a platform that prioritized user privacy above all else. Features like end-to-end encryption and self-destructing messages were embedded into the app, making it an attractive alternative to other messaging services like WhatsApp. Telegram grew quickly, reaching 100,000 users within just two months of its launch.
According to the announcement from Telegram’s blog, the app surpassed 100 million monthly active users in February 2016, hitting a big milestone shortly two years after it started its operations, with 350,000 new users signing up and 15 billion messages sent daily.
In comparison to its competitor which was established in 2009, Whatsapp took over three times its time to reach the same milestone in February 2016, showing the impressive spike in growth for Telegram users in such a short period of time upon launching.
In 2018, the Durov brothers announced plans to take Telegram beyond messaging by introducing the Telegram Open Network (TON) and its own cryptocurrency, Gram. This project aimed to create a decentralized blockchain network that would offer secure, fast payments and a range of applications beyond just communication.
The initial coin offering (ICO) for Gram was a massive success, raising over $1.7 billion. However, Telegram's ambitious expansion was cut short when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intervened, alleging that Gram tokens were unregistered securities. After a lengthy legal battle, the project was forced to halt in 2020, and Telegram agreed to return the ICO funds and pay an $18.5 million penalty.
This setback could have been catastrophic for many companies, but the Durov brothers used their resilience to keep Telegram afloat. Pavel funded the company's operations using proceeds from the sale of his VK shares, ensuring that Telegram’s development continued without compromising its core values.
In August 2021, Telegram surpassed 1 billion downloads. This milestone may largely be attributed to the surge in downloads coinciding with WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram’s poor handling of relaying its privacy policies to its massive user base. During this period, Telegram grew significantly, amounting to over 70 million new users shouting alternatives for messaging services. This milestone reflects Telegram’s growing popularity and its appeal to the masses, particularly due to its focus on privacy and a broad range of features that the app offers.
After Telegram's attempt to revolutionize blockchain fell through, the company shifted its focus to monetization through a freemium model. In 2022, the platform introduced paid subscriptions that offered enhanced features, such as faster download speeds, voice-to-text transcriptions, and premium stickers.
By 2024, Telegram's in-app revenue had exceeded $1 million, thanks to its loyal user base willing to pay for advanced functionalities. Despite these changes, the core values of privacy and security remained untouched, which helped maintain user trust.
On August 24, 2024, with 12 alleged criminal violations relating to the cloud-based messaging app, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was detained at the Le Bourget Airport in France based on an arrest warrant issued by the French judicial police. Durov is currently released on bail but is barred from leaving France until the case is resolved.
He is faced with allegations of criminal activities on the Telegram platform which includes money laundering, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, and the promotion of terrorism and could serve up to 20 years in prison for his charges. Telegram has been on the French authorities’ radar for tracking illicit purposes and additionally the company’s refusal to share private information when required by law gradually snowballed into his arrest two weeks back. Prosecutors also argue that Telegram’s encryption and security puts on additional difficulties for authorities to monitor communications happening over the private messaging platform.
Durov has been clear on his stance and belief to provide an impartial platform available to all users, hence his arrest also sparked international debate and controversies about the balance between free speech and the collective responsibilities of tech companies in their practices concerning the moderation of content and the role of tech platforms in global politics. Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, in his series of tweets, expressed his disapproval and criticism of Europe’s freedom of expression in today’s times, calling for the release of Pavel Durov.
The Durov brothers’ journey offers valuable lessons for founders and cofounders in the tech space:
As the Durovs continue their journey with Telegram, they offer a blueprint for founders who prioritize innovation, resilience, and, most importantly, privacy.
If you’re inspired by this story and want to start exploring your own ideas and find someone to get off the ground with, join us at CoffeeSpace.
Banner image credit to Freepik
August 23, 2024
Hi CoffeeSpacers, it's Hazim here from CoffeeSpace!
Today's August update is a big one – from user and activity milestones to demographic breakdowns, feature rollouts + plans, and the launch of our "CoffeeSpace Success Stories" series, we have a lot in store. Let’s dive right in!
Partnerships are one of the main ways we’re growing CoffeeSpace, and we’ve just added 3 amazing new partners recently!
Our partner Antler will soon be opening their founder residency applications for the Fall 2024 cohort – as before CoffeeSpace members will get an expedited review through our referrals. More on this in the next update!
That's all for this edition, thanks for reading all the way through!
Wishing you a fantastic rest of the week, and as always, feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback :)
Cheers,
Hazim, Carin & Fauzan
August 20, 2024
In this edition, we dive into the origins and evolution of Reddit, the platform that has redefined online communities and become a staple of the Internet. Join us as we uncover the key milestones, challenges, and lessons learned by Reddit’s co-founders, Steve Huffman (@redditspez) and Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian), on their path to building a social media giant.
Reddit, also known as “the front page of the Internet,” has become a central hub for information, entertainment, and social interaction, with millions of active users worldwide sharing content and engaging on the platform daily. This dynamic social media platform serves as an online forum where users can share and discuss topics of their interest.
Founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, Reddit has grown into one of the most influential online communities, boasting an estimated monthly organic traffic of 5.5 billion, ranking fourth after YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Known for its unique structure of "subreddits," which are individual forums dedicated to specific interests or categories, Reddit allows users to submit content, engage in discussions, and vote on posts, creating a community-driven experience that prioritizes current and relevant content catering to all walks of life.
An interesting vantage point to explore is the journey of the founders—from building and launching the platform to becoming a unicorn and going public earlier this year. Here are some key milestones and conflicts that made Reddit the social media giant it is today and what lessons we can all take away from it.
In 2005, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, two college friends, initially had the idea of MyMobileMenu in mind. This app was intended for online order-taking, and they pitched it to Paul Graham, who was in charge at Y Combinator. Although the idea was shot down by Graham, he guided the two friends to pivot towards what would eventually become “the front page of the Internet.” This is how Reddit joined Y Combinator's first batch of startups in the summer of 2005. Enrolling in Y Combinator with this new idea, the duo was funded to make their vision a reality. Huffman became the CEO, while Ohanian served as the executive chairman. The founders worked tirelessly to build the platform, even creating thousands of fake accounts initially to make their site appear more populated. Later in 2005, Christopher Slowe joined as the company’s first employee, taking charge of ongoing development and new features, alongside Huffman, who had built the platform from scratch.
January 2006 marked a turning point for Reddit. During this time, the company merged with Aaron Swartz's Infogami, a company he had founded. This merger brought Swartz, an entrepreneur and Internet hacktivist, on board as a co-founder of Reddit. The merger also led to the establishment of a new parent company called "Not a Bug" that encompassed both startups. While there are debates over whether Swartz should be considered a co-founder, some media outlets reported him as an equal owner.
Huffman and Swartz took on the roles of programmers, while Ohanian handled business development and marketing tasks. However, tensions soon arose between the introverted Swartz and the two University of Virginia graduates, Huffman and Ohanian. After an initial burst of productivity working together, the situation became toxic, and it was mutually agreed that selling the company was the best option.
In 2006, just a year after its founding, Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast Publications for an undisclosed amount, reported to be between $10 million and $20 million. Following the acquisition, Aaron Swartz was let go from his position in 2007, while Ohanian and Huffman continued to work closely with Reddit as members of its board of directors. However, in 2009, both Ohanian and Huffman left the company—Ohanian to build Breadpig and Huffman to co-found the travel search platform Hipmunk with Adam Goldstein. Shortly after Huffman’s departure Slowe also left the company in 2010 to join Huffman in developing Hipmunk.
After leaving Reddit in 2009, Ohanian returned to the company in 2014 after Yishan Wong’s resignation as CEO, taking on the role of executive chairman. During this period, the company also raised a $50 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, as announced in October 2014. Ohanian helped guide Reddit’s growth and development, steering it toward its full potential of scaling. However, in 2018, he stepped back from the company to focus on investing.
In 2015, Reddit’s interim CEO Ellen Pao faced significant challenges as many users expressed frustration with the new direction of Reddit. A petition with over 160,000 signatures called for Pao to step down as CEO. Huffman returned to Reddit shortly after, replacing Pao as CEO to lead the now-independent company. August 2015 also saw Reddit hiring and announcing their first CTO, Marty Weiner, who was a founding engineer at Pinterest.
Ohanian wasn’t the only one to leave and later return to the company. In May 2017, Slowe rejoined Reddit as CTO, tasked with overhauling the platform’s technology and infrastructure. His efforts included the site redesign and mobile app development, which were crucial for supporting Reddit’s exponential growth in user base. As of 2024, Slowe still serves as Reddit’s CTO, continuing to innovate and enhance the user experience on the platform.
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests swept across the country, Ohanian’s concerns about hateful content on Reddit grew. He advocated for banning groups on Reddit that supported discrimination, while others at the company, including Huffman, were reluctant to take such action. The disagreement over content moderation created a rift between Ohanian and Huffman. Ultimately, Ohanian resigned from Reddit's board in protest of the company’s lax guidelines on hate speech, publicly asking the board to fill his seat with a Black person. Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel was chosen as his replacement.
In 2024, as Reddit prepared to go public, the company filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Surprisingly, the filing did not mention Ohanian, despite his significant role in the company's history. The omission was noted by many observers and analysts. Huffman, in a letter included in the filing, referred to Reddit's founding using plural pronouns but never mentioned Ohanian by name.
When asked about his exclusion from Reddit’s IPO filing, Ohanian responded with a shrug emoticon. The two co-founders, who were once close friends, have barely spoken since their falling out in 2020. In an interview with Wired, Ohanian mentioned that he hadn’t thought much about Huffman since his departure from the board.
When Reddit went public on March 24, 2024, it targeted a valuation of approximately $6.5 billion. This was a significant decrease from the $10 billion valuation it had reached during a funding round in 2021. The IPO was priced at $34 per share, allowing the company to raise about $750 million through the sale of shares—a cautious approach in a challenging market environment for tech IPOs.
Reddit’s current market capitalization has since increased to around $10 billion. This growth can be attributed to various factors, including strategic partnerships, particularly with Google for data licensing, and a resurgence in interest in tech stocks driven by current trends in artificial intelligence and online advertising.
The contrast between the initial IPO valuation and the current market cap highlights Reddit’s resilience and potential for growth in a competitive landscape. The rise in market value post-IPO indicates investor confidence and the company’s ability to adapt to market demands, despite early skepticism surrounding its profitability and business model.
The relationship between Reddit co-founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman has been a rollercoaster ride, marked by both collaboration and conflict. From their early days as college friends working on MyMobileMenu to their successful launch of Reddit and its subsequent acquisition by Condé Nast, the two entrepreneurs have left an indelible mark on the company's history. However, their differing views on content moderation and the handling of hateful content ultimately led to a public falling out, with Ohanian resigning from the board in 2020. As Reddit has now gone public, the exclusion of Ohanian from the IPO filing serves as a reminder of the complex and often tumultuous relationships that can develop between startup founders. Despite their differences, both Ohanian and Huffman have played pivotal roles in shaping Reddit into the influential platform it is today, offering valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs navigating the fast-paced world of technology and innovation.
If you’re inspired by this story and want to start exploring your own ideas and find someone to get off the ground with, join us at CoffeeSpace.
Banner image credit to Vectonauta on Freepik
August 13, 2024
In our first feature, we're excited to highlight the remarkable journey of two CoffeeSpace users, Ihsan and Alexander, who came together to build Scenario, an app that allows people to explore their life interests and achieve them financially.
Their experience exemplifies the power of connection, demonstrating how CoffeeSpace can spark meaningful conversations and foster partnerships that lead to innovative cofounding ventures. Join us as we delve into Ihsan and Alexander’s cofounder story, exploring the challenges they faced, the milestones they achieved, and the lessons they learned while working together after matching on CoffeeSpace.
Ihsan Salleh, cofounder and CEO of Scenario, is a data scientist who has worked at Hulu, Sony, and SmartCredit, focusing on consumer marketing and financial algorithms. Alexander Parker, cofounder and Head of Design, brings 18 years of industry experience in design and advertising across B2B and direct-to-consumer brands, including work with Credit Karma, Earnest, and Robinhood. Together, they form the dynamic duo driving innovation at Scenario.
Ihsan: Alexander and I are cofounders of Scenario, a life design service. Let's start with the problem we're solving: How do we alleviate the anxiety and stress that comes from uncertainty around life choices and finances?
A question we love to ask is: "How do you deal with the anxiety and stress of not knowing what you want?"
That’s where the idea of "scenarios" comes in. Life isn’t just about having options; it’s about creating meaningful scenarios that help guide your decisions and help you achieve your life interests. That’s the vision behind what we’re building with Scenario. To summarize, Scenario is an interactive and visual app to explore life scenarios and financially achieve your dreams.
Currently in the pre-seed stage, we built several MVPs, tested several distribution strategies, and are now focused on building and developing the final product, leveraging our insights to strategically partner with credit unions.
Alexander: I was just looking through different scenarios of my own life, thinking, “Do I want to join a startup?” Ihsan reached out on CoffeeSpace by chance, and we matched. After that, we went straight into business, and we had interviews going over the possibilities of working together, our complementary abilities, and how we wanted to move things forward.
We started working right off the bat, just to get some stuff done. And through working together on several small projects, we realized that it was a good relationship, and we had an awesome dynamic. A more serious discussion about being cofounders together came shortly thereafter.
Ihsan actually came to Seattle to meet with me, and after interview rounds with his advisor team and investors, the deal was sealed.
Ihsan: For two years, I pondered questions like “Do I need a cofounder?” and “What kind of cofounder?”. After receiving feedback, it became clear that this startup needed an exceptional technologist. Throughout my search, I’ve rejected several candidates who wanted to be cofounders. Their academic qualifications didn't matter as much because I was also looking for a creative thinker — someone who thinks outside the box. And finally, I found Alexander on CoffeeSpace, who checked all the boxes.
Two shortcuts that swiftly accelerated our journey to be cofounders after meeting on CoffeeSpace:
Alexander: To me, a great product idea is more important than the credentials of who’s trying to build it. A great resume isn’t everything when looking for someone you want to work with long-term, let alone start a company with. I met a lot of talented people but wasn’t committed. When Ihsan reached out and I learned about Scenario, I instantly saw the potential of his vision.
Alexander: Filtering by what you are looking for is a feature that is very easy to use and intuitive. I love that the app is more exclusive, with profiles going through an approval process; it seemed like whoever CoffeeSpace initially had in there was already really useful to start the cofounder search.
This brings me to my next point, which is that I think that there are more interesting and seasoned people on CoffeeSpace compared to other platforms where there are often younger and fresher profiles who haven’t sorted out why they want to be founders. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the candidate pool on CoffeeSpace seemed more mature for what and who I was looking for.
Ihsan: Less is more, and that’s what I appreciate about CoffeeSpace. The daily recommendations help filter through users, so there’s less for me to sift through. The prompts are also a great addition; they reveal people’s interests and personalities, which helps narrow down the candidate pool.
What I love most is the LinkedIn integration. It’s a great shortcut and super straightforward, unlike other cofounder matching platforms. This feature accelerated the search process because everyone’s already familiar with LinkedIn, and I could easily tap into their profiles to find the information I needed.
Alexander: Know what you want, pick your aspiration and stick to it. Evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses beforehand. What’s important is the maturity that comes from knowing what you lack as a professional in your career and what you need from others.
Ihsan: The first step before diving into a startup is to clearly identify the problem area that interests you; in fact, it’s even more important than the solution itself. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a solution in search of a problem that may not need solving.
July 20, 2024
In the fluctuating startup ecosystem where uncertainty looms, finding a suitable cofounder is crucial. A cofounder can either propel your company forward or steer it into troubled waters. Before committing to a partnership, founders typically engage in a trial period to assess if the potential cofounder aligns with the company’s values, culture, and pace.
A trial period is an agreed-upon duration during which a potential cofounder works under specific conditions. This could involve working on a side project for the startup or managing a part of the company alongside the founder. The goal is to evaluate whether the partnership should continue.
Trial periods are invaluable for quickly determining if a cofounder is a good fit. They provide insight into the working dynamics between founders and allow for an evaluation of the potential cofounder’s skills, work ethic, and compatibility with the startup’s mission. This mutual understanding can save time and resources in the long run.
The primary goals of a trial period include:
A structured approach is essential for evaluating a potential cofounder effectively. Here’s what to include and test during the trial period:
By structuring the trial period to include these elements, you can effectively assess the potential cofounder’s skills, work ethic, and compatibility with your startup’s mission and culture.
A well-structured trial period document helps ensure transparency and alignment. Be clear on non-negotiable aspects and open to communication for resolving any issues. Good luck with your cofounder trial period. If you’re still searching for the ideal candidate, CoffeeSpace offers a Tinder/Hinge-like platform for finding cofounders. Explore more on our app or try our playground for a hands-on experience.
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