Ali Khader

20 | building virtual thirdspaces @ synk

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

@sama on YC hate

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

should I let them into YCC?

#startup #buildinpublic #tech

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

#yc #ycombinator #startup #buildinpublic

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

@christophersaum working on some weird ass shit @ https://t.co/HssMBRHa1A

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

@appsicle_ chill bro im using my moms credit card

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

didn't get into YC?
not at YC startup school either?

perfect. today I'm launching YCC - Y-Community College.

the accelerator for everyone else:

• instead of investing $500K, we invest $5
• one shared $20 Claude plan every founder can use (you all share the same account. please coordinate.)
• acceptance rate: 100%
• equity taken: 0% (we're broke too)
• demo day: your group chat
• applications close: never.

check it out here: https://t.co/UVCvhImPMs

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

@mdam10x the shit I be doing for even more investors lmfao

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

@TheTotallyRed it was my video lol

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

#startup #buildinpublic #ycombinator

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

investing $1 into any startup for 99 percent equity

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

"Talk to your customers" - sure. But nobody tells you how to get hundreds to show up.

Our flywheel at Synk:

• 1.5K waitlist
• Sort every signup by hand (LinkedIn stalking, honestly)
• Invite ~30 similar people to a small networking event
• Host the event ON Synk

One hour = 30 target users experiencing the product, live usability data, and new signups because attendees bring friends.

Feedback isn't a favor they're doing us. They leave with 29 new connections; we leave with an hour of live product insight.

Want in on one of these private events? → https://t.co/7ryguhA0sX

#buildinpublic

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

i cant wait for all YC AI startup school attendees to larp YC on their linkedin

[Han Wang @handotdev]

@mil000 Then stop asking for a job

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

@GeorgeJeffersn people hate on yc just to be different

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

@ChadAppDev lol it happens

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

one of https://t.co/HssMBRHa1A's first virtual persistent spaces will be a corgi 24/7 founder cafe equivalent

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

I woke up to a hospitalized patient saying they needed SYNK.

5 years ago, virtual world companies failed. Almost all of them.

Here's why it didn't work then:

❌ Many launched right after quarantine, when people were exhausted from being online
❌ They bet big on VR - expensive, clunky, nauseating
❌ Wrong use cases: small meetings and workspaces that Zoom already handled fine. Not a great idea with back-to-office mandates.
❌ They were finding problems for a "solution" they'd already built

But now it's an interesting time. SpatialChat did $1.4M ARR in 2025. They're a close comparison to where Synk is initially, but long term we want to move toward live, persistent experiences.

Think the IRL 24/7 Corgi Cafe for SF founders: you walk table to table, meet people spontaneously, and shake hands. It's one of the only spaces like that in the world, only located in SF, so a virtual equivalent as one of Synk's spaces would be an amazing implementation.

There's also a specific space on Roblox right now, a 3D environment with avatars and proximity-based voice chat, completely social and 18+, that has hit 1 billion plays. It's not even a game. I think that success speaks for itself to a certain degree, and it also raises a question: Gen Z and Gen Alpha, two generations that grew up online, are now entering adulthood in a world with a lack of irl third spaces. The loneliness epidemic will be exacerbated by that shift.

And I think the world is already adapting to that need. Just two weeks ago, Discord began experimenting with a spatial audio feature that got 30M views on Twitter and, unlike the whole metaverse thing years ago, was met with a lot of positivity.

The timing is finally right. The infrastructure is there. The demand is undeniable.

We're building Synk. [ai-generate any 3d environment. join as avatars w/ proximity-based voice chat and host events on ur browser.]

1K on the waitlist. 3 startup/founder communities as paying clients, about to sign 3 more. We're also exploring nursing homes and hospitalized patients, people who physically cannot leave, where loneliness directly contributes to cognitive decline. It would be something special to have a space like this for them.

If you're building events & community - or investing in it - let's talk.

also looking for devs. https://t.co/7ryguhA0sX

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

ATTENTION YOUNG BUILDERS:

We made a Discord for YC AI Startup School + young founders building real things.

Not a cult. Just builders who get it.

⚡ Meet other Gen Z founders
📈 Drop your MVP and get feedback
🎯 Talk fundraising, PMF, and what’s actually working
💡 Learn from people a few steps ahead
Building something? Have questions? Want honest feedback?

Drop your startup link, portfolio, or GitHub below and I’ll send you the discord invite link.

Built for the YC AI Startup School community.

#YCStartupSchool #GenZFounders #BuildInPublic #AIStartups #YCombinator

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

faze apex just got into YC???

[Ali Khader @ali_mkay]

if you’re not distributing fake drugs to find investors, you’re NGMI