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Y Combinator Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Y Combinator is run by a small team that is committed to helping founders start the next Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, or Doordash. We work out of the same campus in San Francisco that we run the batch in.

Events Manager

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$200K - $230K/yr

We're hiring an experienced Event Manager to join our small team at Y Combinator. Our team produces a wide range of flagship events, including milestone celebrations, high-touch multi-day retreats ...

Founding Engineer

Manhattan, NY · On-site

$100K - $180K/yr

Our Client is an NYC-based VC-funded seed stage startup backed by Y Combinator. Our client makes it easy for businesses to collect documents from their clients. Instead of having to make client ...

Luminal is backed by Y Combinator and Felicis as well as top‑tier angels such as Paul Graham (founder of Y Combinator), Guillermo Rauch (founder of Vercel) and many others. What You'll Do * Design ...

Our CEO Surbhi Sarna is a former General Partner at Y Combinator. Surbhi founded nVision Medical, which developed a new method to detect ovarian cancer and was acquired by Boston Scientific. Our CTO ...

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Y Combinator information

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How much do y combinator jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 29, 2026, the average hourly pay for y combinator in the United States is $29.17, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $22.36 and $33.17 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is Y Combinator?

Y Combinator is a startup accelerator that provides seed funding, mentorship, and resources to early-stage startups. Founded in 2005, it has helped launch and support hundreds of successful companies by investing in them and guiding them through a structured program. Startups receive funding in exchange for equity and participate in a three-month program that culminates in a Demo Day, where they present their progress to investors. Y Combinator is known for its strong network of alumni and access to experienced founders and investors. The program is highly competitive, and applications are accepted from startups around the world.

What are the main responsibilities of someone working at Y Combinator, and how do they collaborate with startup founders?

At Y Combinator, team members typically mentor and advise early-stage startups, helping founders refine their business models, prepare for investor pitches, and navigate growth challenges. Much of the work involves direct collaboration with founders, including one-on-one meetings, group office hours, and workshops. Employees often work closely with other experts and partners within YC to provide specialized guidance in areas like product development, fundraising, and scaling operations. The environment is fast-paced and dynamic, with a strong emphasis on problem-solving, teamwork, and supporting founders at critical stages of their startup journey.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Y Combinator partner, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Y Combinator Partner, you need deep experience in entrepreneurship, startup investment, and business strategy, typically supported by a track record of successful startups or investments. Familiarity with startup evaluation tools, portfolio management software, and financial modeling systems is important. Exceptional mentorship abilities, strong communication, and a collaborative mindset help partners guide founders and build trust. These skills are essential for identifying high-potential startups, providing valuable guidance, and contributing to the accelerator’s continued success.

What is the difference between Y Combinator vs Startup Founder?

AspectY CombinatorStartup Founder
RoleAccelerator program participant, mentor, or investorIndividual or team creating and leading a startup
CredentialsTypically no formal credentials required, but startup experience helpfulVaries; often includes entrepreneurial skills, industry knowledge
Work EnvironmentIntensive program environment, mentorship-focused, collaborativeOwn startup environment, flexible hours, high responsibility
Industry UsageStartup ecosystem, venture capital, entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship, tech startups, small business creation

Y Combinator is an accelerator program that supports startups through mentorship and funding, whereas a startup founder is an individual who creates and manages a startup. While Y Combinator participants are often founders, not all founders participate in Y Combinator. The roles differ mainly in scope: Y Combinator provides resources and guidance, while founders are responsible for building and scaling their businesses.

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Infographic showing various Y Combinator job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 99% Full Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 76% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 22% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $60,675 per year, or $29.2 per hour.

Software Product Design Engineer

Y Combinator

San Francisco, CA • On-site

$185 - $300/hr

Other

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Re-posted yesterday


Job description

Y Combinator is run by a small team committed to helping founders build the next Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, or Doordash. We work together on the same San Francisco campus where we run each YC batch, and we operate using the same principles we teach our startups. If you’ve read Paul Graham’s essays or watched YC’s videos, you already have a sense of what it’s like to work here: fast-moving, product-led, and focused on helping founders succeed. Working at YC puts you right in the center of the startup world.

About the role

YC relies heavily on software to run the batch and support thousands of alumni — and much of that software is deeply frontend-driven, used all day by founders, partners, and investors. The Bookface team builds YC’s most important user-facing tools, and nearly everything you work on will shape someone’s experience in the batch or alumni community. Current projects include:

  • Internal Software. Build and improve the internal tools that keep YC running at scale — from productivity software for Group Partners who support thousands of companies, to systems that help finance and legal teams process high-volume operational workflows.

  • Bookface. The primary interface founders use throughout the batch — from event schedules to office hours to pitch prep. You’ll be shaping UX and UI that founders interact with every single day.

  • Investor Tools. A critical frontend experience used by thousands of investors. Your work helps founder and investors connect with one another, and further the support of YC raising billions of dollars in seed funding.

About the team

Our whole software team is only 15 full-stack product engineers, and we enjoy working in a small team with high impact and knowing each other by name. We have a broad range of experiences from bigger companies like Meta and Google, and many of us have started startups ourselves. True to YC advice, our product engineers talk to our customers regularly and ship fast. We also define our own roadmap and often design our own products when needed.

Our stack is pretty straightforward (Rails, React, Postgres), and the last three engineers have learned it on the job. For this particular role, you will lean heavily toward owning the frontend: crafting fast, intuitive interfaces, bringing new product ideas to life in React, and shaping the quality bar for everything users touch. Furthermore, the further you are able to go down the stack -- to create API endpoints, server-side controllers and database schemas/migrations -- the better able you'll be able to own entire products end-to-end.

Location: This is an in-person role at YC's campus in Dogpatch, San Francisco. This is where our users (founders, partners, and employees) are five days a week, so it’s optimal for you to be here with them. You must live in the SF Bay Area or be willing to relocate. We offer generous relocation support for those who want to move to SF to work here.

Compensation: $185K to $300K base salary, depending on experience. We also offer carry in the YC fund, which offers potential upside in the YC investment fund. (It would be the investment equivalent of upside at a startup).

Benefits: Our full benefits package includes medical, vision, and dental plans, infertility benefit, STD/LTD, life insurance, commuter benefits, flexible spending account, health savings account, 401(k) + 4% matching, generous parental leave, paid holidays, and flexible paid time off policy.

Work Authorization: Y Combinator is willing to sponsor certain employment visas in accordance with company policy.

Legal note: Y Combinator considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law, including San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance. Y Combinator is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of job applicants and complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act. The privacy policy of Ashby, Inc., the hiring platform used by Y Combinator, governs the collection of such data and can be found here.

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