Vin Lay

angel investor & former operator | backing early-stage founders in AI and emerging tech | alum @UCBerkeley

[YC Insights. @YCInsight]

Founders, Read this before your next investor call. A lot of first-time founders accidentally (or intentionally) inflate numbers by mixing up LOIs, pilots, bookings, and real revenue. Investors notice.

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

a great accelerator for ambitious founders!

[andrew chen @andrewchen]

hey all - update for SR008:

It's now the FINAL weekend to apply for our next residency in San Francisco. Applications close this Sunday, Nov 1 at 11:59 PM PT.

Here's the link:
https://t.co/S3kRUNKUzn

How it works:
- you apply
- we review, reach out to get introduced, etc
- if there's a fit, we handshake and sign
- we wire our investment right away!
- plus you get access to >$10M in credits right away
- you'll onboard + start working with us immediately, have access to working out of our SF offices, etc

The official residency starts Feb 2027 where we'll have speakers, office hours, and much more. I plan to be on site and look forward to meeting many of you

You might ask- who's the best fit for this? We want to talk to you as early as possible, and that means:
- no company yet
- no deck
- no huge insight tweet thread
- sometimes not even fully committed yet

You don't need the perfect idea. We can start working together when you're iterating and getting the idea off the ground. That's the whole point of speedrun - it's our way of backing you from Day 0.

More official stuff below:

- Deadline is this Sunday, Nov 1 at 11:59 PM PT (this weekend!)
- SR008 runs Feb 1 through April 18, 2027 in San Francisco -- twelve weeks of firesides, office hours, and sessions, closing out with Demo Day on April 13 in front of thousands of investors
- Capital: up to $1M with a two-week close target, plus $10M+ in credits from 200+ partners
- Customers: SR Insiders gets you in front of 10,000+ buyers and operators, including 150+ C-suite execs, plus a full day of live demos at AI Faire
- Talent: our Talent Network of 171,000+ engineers, designers, and product people. 230+ hires so far, $0 in fees. Plus visa, banking, and housing help if you're coming from abroad
- A team of ~40 battle-tested investors and operators who help cover your gaps without adding headcount -- GTM, marketing, brand, talent, fundraising, and more
- a16z speedrun is super selective -- fewer than 0.4% of applicants get in. You'll join a tight-knit community of founders from 20+ countries who stay involved as speakers, advisors, and often each other's first customers
- Still in school or still finding your idea/team? Check out the alpha fellowship too -- up to $250K for students, recent grads, and dropouts

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@alexkoch_ai @patricktlong I think we need this service

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

They grow up fast!!

[Prajwal @bmprajwal_]

All you married couples with one kid, this is your sign!

Do whatever it takes, just don’t stop at one. Have the second kid. 😌

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@ycombinator's latest RFS highlights a breadth of opportunities, from robotics and specialized AI models to infrastructure and financing the physical AI economy.

@patricktlong and I have been angel investing both pre- and post-YC, with experience across fundraising, GTM, and growth. One of our favorite parts is helping founders navigate the early stages!

With W27 applications due November 2, we’re opening up a few office hours over the next few days. Whether you’re exploring an idea in these areas, refining your pitch, or looking for feedback on your YC app, we’d love to help and share perspectives.

Feel free to message us!

https://t.co/RwYQq36lEg
https://t.co/tqDHlEI0fL

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@patricktlong crypto OG since 2011, and we’re excited to see what’s next, especially at the intersection of AI + finance. We’re opening up a few 30-minute office hours for founders building in this space. Would love to hear what you’re thinking about and brainstorm together. Feel free to reach out!

[Nemil Dalal @nemild]

At @ycombinator, we're excited to fund more crypto startups solving financial needs including AI capital raising, stablecoins, trading, and agents.

Here's our latest crypto request for startups. Our next application deadline is Monday.

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

Exciting to see the breadth of opportunities in @ycombinator’s latest RFS.

YC is such a great platform for ambitious founders. @patricktlong and I have been actively angel investing in YC startups and love getting to know founders early. If you’re applying to W27, our DMs are open!

[Y Combinator @ycombinator]

The bottlenecks in AI are moving beyond the models.

We’re excited about startups building the hardware, infra, financial systems, and specialized software to bring AI into the real economy, from factories and data centers to government and space.

https://t.co/Ms3Vn5Vq7q

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

Love this perspective from PG. And how fun to spot @bencxr from @lightsprintai in the photo! 😊

[Paul Graham @paulg]

One of the most unexpected things about YC is how long we continue helping the founders. Even though we're generally the first investors, we're the ones still advising them 10 years later. I think it's because we're the investing analogue of old friends.

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

A historic day for AI. Congrats to the @AnthropicAI team and the whole ecosystem! 🧡

[Anthropic @AnthropicAI]

Anthropic has filed an S-1 registration statement with the SEC related to its proposed IPO.

Read more: https://t.co/ofhv0DK3Zp

Legal disclaimer: A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This post does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@namdao2000 @silkkadala @blackbirdvc @explorersal @KingRiverVC how fun!! when’s the next game? my partner @patricktlong and I would def love to join!

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@jayypatel18 GJ! how did you do it?

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@scsherm_ At some point, it’s all relative. Even billions can feel like not enough when you’re comparing it to what could’ve been 😂 hindsight makes everything look easier.

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@saranormous @she_travels @stripepress Adding this to my reading list! Sales and distribution are becoming even more interesting as AI makes building products easier. Curious to hear your take on this one!

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

what I remember most about crypto in 2015 and AI in 2022 was how little good info was out there, yet a small community of curious minds kept sharing ideas, experimenting, and obsessing with what was possible. that feeling of being early to something big is hard to forget.

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@lightsprintai @645ventures @ycombinator @January_Capital @RebelFund_VC @sterlingroadvc @transposevc @nejatian @iEchoic @sternhenri @ooshma Huge congrats team! Big things ahead! 🚀

[Lightsprint(YC P26) @lightsprintai]

We're excited to announce that we have raised a $6.1M seed led by @645ventures, with @ycombinator, @January_Capital , @RebelFund_VC , @sterlingroadvc , @transposevc and prominent angel investors including @nejatian @iEchoic @sternhenri @ooshma 🚀

AI prototypes were act one. Act two is PMs, designers and ops shipping high quality PRs on the real codebase, even across multiple repos, with engineering in control of every merge.

Story in @BusinessInsider 👇
https://t.co/ew9qCRj4zn

[Y Combinator @ycombinator]

Blockchains allow instantaneous asset movement for pennies, global access, 24/7 trading, and open APIs. What the internet did for information, blockchains do for every asset, including money.

Adding an API to every asset is especially a big deal. Suddenly, anyone can build on top.

[Vin Lay @VinessaLay]

@zacharyonx @salesforce @DarioAmodei @Benioff @AnthropicAI @Dreamforce I was just thinking about the same thing haha

[Arjun Chaliha @arjunjchaliha]

Demo day S26 in the books ✅

incredible to meet some of our earliest supporters in person and watch founders pitch their visions of the future

[Dylan Abruscato @DylanAbruscato]

That makes 5 TBPN sponsors acquired:

Fin → Salesforce
Vibe → Walmart
Graphite → Cursor → SpaceX
Privy → Stripe
Console → Palo Alto Networks