Y Combinator keeps an eye on Asia, radical tech, and the future of societies

Photo credit: Paul Miller.

Y Combinator president Sam Altman was recently in an engaging discussion with Vice News’ Nellie Bowles at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

He shared interesting insights into investing in startups, structuring future societies, and expanding into Asia.

Looking out to revolutionary tech

Altman spends most of his days helping his startups and YC portfolio companies, but he is always on the lookout for new and revolutionary technologies.

He said that he is interested in technologies that go beyond software and will impact our society in a pivotal way. Examples are nuclear fusion (he invested in Helion Energy), self-driving cars (Cruise Automation), biotech, and supersonic airplanes. “Startups will be the secular shift in the world,” Altman claimed.

His first investment was Stripe, which now has a valuation of US$9 billion, while YC’s portfolio companies have a combined valuation of over US$80 billion.

For those looking to invest in startups, Altman suggests being skeptical about investing in startups in current trends and focusing on “independent judgments and informed decisions” instead. “Some trends are more impactful than the others, and some trends are here to stay,” he said.

For example, Altman thinks that machine learning is such an exceptional and exciting trend and we only scratched the surface of the possibilities of its application. “Artificial intelligence and machine learning  can and will be applied to every industrial vertical known to us and such technologies need to be followed upon,” he said.

Another test that Altman makes for a potential investment is making a judgment call on whether investing will make or break the success of the startup. “If my personal involvement as an investor and advisor would make such a crucial and positive impact for a company, I am far more inclined to invest,” he explained.

Structuring societies of the future

YC does not only invest in and accelerate startups. Altman said: “We are facing unprecedented transformation in the coming years and Y Combinator is looking beyond short-term returns.”

Their most renowned pilot project is probably experimenting with the universal basic income (UBC) with 100 families in Oakland, just across San Francisco.

UBC is a concept whereby every person receives a fixed amount of money with no strings attached, a way to ensure that people are able to meet their basic needs. People are selected from across the economic spectrum and include both the employed and the jobless. Each person receives between US$1,000 and US$2,000 per month to use at their will.

YC has no definite answer as to whether the concept will work, but that is not the point. “The goal is to experiment, test, and collect data, which could give us valuable insight for how to structure societies of the future,” said Altman, who also stressed that it will be the government’s job to lead in the long term. But forward-looking organizations like YC can definitely contribute with their knowledge and data.

Opening up in Asia

Many of the Silicon Valley companies are borderline panicking with the unpredictable nature of the current administration and its impact on the development of the hotbed of global innovation. That is one of the many reasons why YC is looking beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.