Y Combinator—Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham publicly opposed DEI programs while diversity metrics declined
Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham publicly shared anti-DEI sentiments in 2024, questioning whether diversity funding metrics were excessive. Under CEO Garry Tan's leadership, YC has not emphasized diversity as a priority. Diversity metrics showed declining representation: the Summer 2022 batch had only 15% women founders (down from 17.9% prior cohort) and only 7% Black founders. As of 2025, only 11% of YC founders are women overall.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEI Programs | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Racial Justice | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.483 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.64)
Evidence (2 signals)
TechCrunch reported Y Combinator founder Paul Graham shared anti-DEI sentiments
TechCrunch reported in July 2024 that Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham had publicly shared sentiments against DEI programs, as part of a broader tech industry backlash against diversity initiatives. Graham questioned on social media whether Black founders receiving 0.4% of all venture capital funding was somehow too much.
TechCrunch analysis showed declining diversity metrics in YC cohorts
TechCrunch analysis of Y Combinator's Summer 2022 batch showed that about 15% of companies had a woman founder, down from 17.9% in the prior cohort. Around 7% had a Black founder, followed by 12% with a Latinx entrepreneur. These figures represented declining diversity compared to earlier cohorts.