How Garry Tan Got Noticed by Silicon Valley’s Elite
From photographer sat on the floor, to CEO of the entire business...
Good morning, everyone.
This week’s newsletter includes: the true story of Garry Tan going from ‘being helpful’ to running one of silicon valley’s most elite communities.
The YC Story: Garry Tan Went From Photographer To CEO
Garry Tan was a struggling founder with no funding and no network – but one act of kindness caught the attention of Silicon Valley’s elite…
In 2008, Garry Tan was stuck.
He had worked at Microsoft and Palantir, but wanted to launch his own company.
The problem?
He had no funding. No network. No traction.
He was desperate for a break.
So desperate, he started taking photography gigs, shooting local hip-hop album covers just to make money.
Then he heard about Startup School.
A prestigious event hosted by Y Combinator (YC), where legends like Jeff Bezos and Marc Andreessen were speaking.
Garry wanted to be useful, but didn’t know how.
So he did something unusual…
He arrived early, sat in the front row, and - unannounced - started taking high-quality photos of every speaker.
No one asked him to. No one paid him. He just showed up and helped out.
Garry raced home, edited the photos, and uploaded them to Hacker News that evening.
He had no idea what would happen next, but when he woke up, his inbox was flooded.
His post went viral and attracted the attention of Paul & Jessica Graham - the founders of YC.
The duo received hundreds of requests for mentorship. But Garry? He didn’t ask for anything.
He just helped.
A year later, Garry stood in the same room - but this time, he wasn’t taking photos.
He was on stage, pitching his company. When YC announced their new batch, Garry’s name was on it.
Paul & Jessica later said that Garry’s act of initiative and kindness was one of the reasons they backed his business.
Then, the ultimate full-circle moment…
After selling his company, Garry returned to YC as a Partner.
And in 2022 Paul Graham called him with an even bigger offer: to become CEO of Y Combinator.
The same organization he once hustled to impress - now had his name at the top.
Garry later reflected on this time:
“If you give first, you’ll be surprised what you get back. What you put out in the world will come back to you ten thousand times over.”
Recommendation’s
If you’ve got 5mins, check out Garry re-telling this story here. If you’ve got 1hr, a deeper dive interview is here.
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Joseph Cass