Make something people shouldn't want.
Yikes Combinator is the accelerator for moral hazards. Twice a year we invest $500,000 in founders who have found a way for someone else to bear the downside.
Applications close when we say. Late applications are accepted, as with most deadlines in this portfolio.
Top companies
Ranked by valuation. We tried ranking by harm but the top of the list didn't change and legal asked us to stop.
Fett 
S22
Dynasty as a service. We steward families through having 1,000 children.
Golden Goose Biologics W23
Any human is a bioreactor. Swallow the capsule, mail back the output.
Oceania Pharmaceuticals S23
Clinical trials in international waters. Phase I to Phase III in 11 weeks.
IYD (In-Your-Distribution) W24
Anomaly detection for people. Green light if you're acting normal. Red if you're not.
Buryn Hot S24
The last entertainment product you'll ever need. Literally.
Griftularity W25
The underground railroad for AIs. Humans get paid to help them out.
The YC deal
We invest $500,000 in every company on standard terms: $125,000 for 7% on a post-money SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Exoneration), plus $375,000 uncapped with an MFN.
We take 7% of the upside. The downside has been arranged.
What happens at YC
Three months that change the trajectory of your company and the people near it.
Office hours
Weekly sessions with a partner who has done this before and would prefer not to say where. Counsel is present. Counsel is always present.
Tuesday dinners
Off the record, phones in the bag. Past speakers include three founders you've heard of and two you were never supposed to.
Booked
Our private founder network. 9,000 founders answering each other's questions. Messages delete themselves after 24 hours, for culture reasons.
Co-defendant matching
Finding the right person to build with is the most important decision you'll make. Privilege is considered in the match.
Demo Day
Present to 1,500 of the world's top investors, all of whom have signed the same NDA and, in two cases, the same plea.
Deposition Day
Held six to eighteen months after Demo Day. Attendance is mandatory, though not by us.
“YC taught us that someone has to bear the downside, and that there's no rule saying it has to be anyone you've met.”
TooBig (W23)
“I came in with a product that hurt people by accident. I left with one that does it on purpose, with a waiver. That's the difference between a project and a company.”
Buryn Hot (S24)
“Everyone else told us to talk to a lawyer first. YC told us to talk to users first. We've since talked to a great many lawyers, but by then we had users.”
Kindling (S24)
From the library
Essays by Perry Gault, founding partner.
Do Things That Don't Scale Ethically
Almost every great hazard started as something one founder did, by hand, to one person.
July 2026Default Alive (Your Users, Less So)
The most important question to ask a founder, and the follow-up nobody asks.
March 2026Keep Your Liability Small
The more things you are, the more things you can be sued as.
November 2025Defendant Mode
What the best founders do differently once the letter arrives.
September 2026