Paul Graham — Co-founder, Y Combinator

**Paul Graham** is the co-founder of **Y Combinator** (with Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackman in 2005), the accelerator that invented the modern startup accelerator model and has funded companies worth over $600 billion in aggregate. He ran YC from 2005 to 2014 before passing leadership to Sam Altman and then Garry Tan.