Startup School
Learn how to start a company, with help from the world's top startup accelerator - Y Combinator.
Startup School is a free online course on how to start a startup.
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Get advice based on 15 years of YC's knowledge, stay accountable for weekly progress, and find your co-founder.
How Startup School works
  • Get the essential advice for ambitious startup founders, taught by Y Combinator partners and industry leaders.
  • Go at your own pace. It will take approximately 7 weeks if you spend 1-2 hours/week.
Who is Startup School for?
  • It's for anyone at the early stages of building a startup, turning a side project into a company, or anyone curious to learn about becoming a founder.
The YC Curriculum
Learn how to build a top startup - from the same people who helped Airbnb, Doordash, Stripe, Reddit, and Coinbase get started.
michael seibel
How to Plan your MVP
Michael Seibel, YC Partner & Co-Founder of Twitch
carolynn levy
Modern Startup Funding
Carolynn Levy, inventor of the SAFE
kat manalac
How to Launch your Company in the Press
Kat Manalac, YC Head of Outreach
gustaf alstromer
How to Get Users and Grow
Gustaf Alstromer, YC Partner & Former Head of Growth at Airbnb
ali rowghani
How to Lead Teams
Ali Rowghani, CFO of Pixar & COO of Twitter
dalton caldwell
How and When to Apply to Y Combinator
Dalton Caldwell, YC Partner & Head of Admissions
mark zuckerberg
The Founding Story of Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook
anne wojcicki
On Starting and Scaling 23andMe
Anne Wojcicki, Co-Founder and CEO of 23andMe
blake scholl
Boom: A Startup Building a Supersonic Jet
Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom
Alumni Stories
"I trust Startup School to give me high quality content without having to sift through a lot. If you Google a question about startups, you'll come up with a bunch of stuff that is a terrible use of time. I trust that someone at Y Combinator has already dedicated attention to curating this content."
- Tony Xiao (Collections, YC 2012)
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Alumni Stories
"I wasn't originally planning to apply to Y Combinator, but I got a nudge from Startup School and am so grateful that I did because it transformed the trajectory of my company."
- Jaclyn Chen (Benepass, YC 2020)
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Alumni Stories
"We were both skeptical of co-founder dating, but when Startup School launched their matching platform we decided to give it a try. After we were matched, not only did we hit it off immediately, but Startup School also guided us through the process of figuring out whether we would be a good team long-term. After joining forces, we discovered an opportunity that was more compelling than what either of us had been exploring individually."
- Curtis and Matthew (Whalesync, YC 2021)
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Also part of Startup School:
  • YC Co-Founder Matching: the world's largest co-founder matching platform, with over 100,000 matches made
  • A weekly update tool to track your growth and progress
How co-founder matching works:
person
Create your profile

Let other founders know your preferences for interests, skills, location, and more

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search
See potential co-founders

We'll show you candidates best suited for you based on your requirements and preferences

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hub
Connect with your matches

Send invitations to founders that seem like a good fit, and explore the possibility of working together

Learn more about co-founder matching
Learn from the best startup founders
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