Paul Graham
American computer scientist, essayist and investor who co-founded the web-store company Viaweb (sold to Yahoo in 1998) and, in 2005, co-founded the startup accelerator Y Combinator, which he led as president until 2014.
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- Country
- United States
- Education
- AB, Cornell University; PhD in computer science, Harvard University; also studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florencestated by the subject
- Known for
- Co-founder of Viaweb (sold to Yahoo, 1998); essayist at paulgraham.com; co-founder and, until 2014, president of Y Combinator; creator of Hacker News
- Y Combinator co-founders
- Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, Trevor Blackwell
- Author
- Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age (essay collection)
Overview
Paul Graham is an American computer scientist, essayist and investor. He holds a PhD in computer science from Harvard University, where he originally intended to concentrate on artificial intelligence, and later studied painting at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence and the Rhode Island School of Design (Forbes). Graham’s own biography additionally states an AB from Cornell University, though no independently fetched source read for this profile separately confirms that degree (paulgraham.com; see “What this profile does not claim”). He is best known for co-founding the web-store company Viaweb, for his essays published at paulgraham.com, and for co-founding and leading the startup accelerator Y Combinator.
Viaweb and early career
In 1995, Graham co-founded Viaweb with Robert Morris and others; Forbes describes it as the first software-as-a-service company, providing software that let merchants build online storefronts (Forbes). Yahoo acquired Viaweb in 1998 for roughly $50 million, after which it became Yahoo Store (Forbes).
Essays and Hacker News
Graham began publishing essays at paulgraham.com in 2001 (paulgraham.com). Forbes describes one early essay, “Beating the Averages” — which praised the Lisp programming language — as drawing around 50,000 page views, and describes another, “How to Start a Startup,” based on a talk Graham gave at Harvard, as shaping the thinking about angel investing that led him toward founding Y Combinator (Forbes).
In February 2007, Graham built a site called Startup News, originally as a demonstration of Arc, a programming language he was developing; he said at the time he built it to recreate the startup-focused community that had once existed on Reddit before Reddit’s user base broadened, quoting himself as saying “Reddit used to have a good concentration of startup-related links, but that’s because so many of Reddit’s initial users were connected in some way to Y Combinator” (TechCrunch). Startup News was later renamed Hacker News and grew into a community site for programmers and founders (TechCrunch). Graham ran Hacker News through Y Combinator until March 29, 2014, when he handed day-to-day control to a YC team — Kat Manalac, Garry Tan, Daniel Gackle, Kevin Hale and Nick Sivo — saying he would remain “around as a user,” though less frequently than when he felt he had to check the site every hour or so (TechCrunch).
Y Combinator
In 2005, Graham co-founded the startup accelerator Y Combinator together with Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell, starting it as a summer program near Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Forbes). Y Combinator’s own account credits the same four co-founders and says it has since funded more than 3,000 startups, including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe and Reddit (paulgraham.com). Additional detail on Y Combinator’s history, business model and later leadership is covered in its own profile.
Graham led Y Combinator as its president for its first nine years. In February 2014, he announced he was stepping down, to be succeeded by Sam Altman, who had been a part-time YC partner since 2011. Graham explained the decision in a phone interview: “Really, what’s going on is that YC needs to get bigger, and I am not really much of a manager. Sam Altman is.” He said he intended to keep holding office hours with startups and to return to writing essays, “maybe about topics other than startups” (TechCrunch).
The 2019 Altman departure: two accounts
Sam Altman left Y Combinator in 2019, the same year OpenAI announced a for-profit subsidiary with Altman as its chief executive. Accounts of the circumstances of that departure differ, and this profile states both rather than adopting either.
On May 30, 2024, Graham posted on X disputing reports that Y Combinator had “fired” Altman. As reported by TechCrunch, he wrote: “People have been claiming [Y Combinator] fired Sam Altman. That’s not true,” and said that when OpenAI announced its for-profit subsidiary in 2019, Jessica Livingston told Altman he needed to choose between the two roles: “if he was going to work full-time on OpenAI, we should find someone else to run YC, and he agreed” (TechCrunch). Forbes reported the same posts, quoting Graham as saying “We didn’t want him to leave, just to choose one or the other” (Forbes).
Both outlets reported that this account contradicts earlier reporting. TechCrunch said The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post had previously reported that Altman was forced to resign after YC partners raised concerns he was prioritizing his own projects over his YC duties, and cited one account that Graham cut short an overseas trip to remove Altman in person (TechCrunch). Forbes similarly reported that The Washington Post, citing three sources, said Graham removed Altman over concerns about divided loyalties, and quoted former OpenAI board member Helen Toner telling the TED AI Show that the real reasons for the departure had been “hushed up at the time” (Forbes).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not resolve the conflicting accounts of Sam Altman’s 2019 departure from Y Combinator: it states Paul Graham’s own account (a choice between YC and OpenAI, accepted amicably) and the differing Washington Post/Wall Street Journal/Helen Toner account (a removal over divided loyalties) side by side, without asserting which is correct. It does not independently confirm Graham’s Cornell undergraduate degree beyond his own biographical page, since no other source read for this profile addressed his undergraduate education specifically — his Harvard PhD and art-school study are independently confirmed by Forbes. It does not state Graham’s date or place of birth, current net worth, or current activities beyond his stated 2014 intent to keep writing essays and holding office hours, since no source independently read for this profile addresses those points. It does not catalogue his full body of essays or other writing beyond the specific essays and the collection “Hackers & Painters” discussed above.
Timeline
- 1995
- Co-founds Viaweb, described in Forbes as the first software-as-a-service company, with Robert Morris and others.
- 1998
- Yahoo acquires Viaweb for roughly $50 million; it becomes Yahoo Store.
- 2001
- Begins publishing essays at paulgraham.com.
- 2005
- Co-founds Y Combinator with Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell, starting it as a summer program near Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 2007-02
- Builds Startup News, later renamed Hacker News, originally as a demonstration of his Arc programming language, then develops it into a community site for founders and programmers.
- 2014-02
- Announces he is stepping down as Y Combinator's president after nine years, to be succeeded by Sam Altman, citing a need for more management-focused leadership as YC scales.
- 2014-03-29
- Following Y Combinator's Winter 2014 Demo Day, hands over day-to-day control of Hacker News to a YC team including Kat Manalac, Garry Tan, Daniel Gackle, Kevin Hale and Nick Sivo.
- 2019
- Sam Altman leaves Y Combinator as OpenAI announces a for-profit subsidiary with Altman as CEO. Accounts of the circumstances differ (see below).
- 2024-05-30
- Posts on X disputing reports that Y Combinator "fired" Altman in 2019, saying instead that Jessica Livingston gave Altman a choice between running YC and running OpenAI, which he accepted; Forbes and TechCrunch both report that this contradicts earlier Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporting.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Sources disagree on the nature of Sam Altman's 2019 departure from Y Combinator. Paul Graham has said on X that Y Combinator did not "fire" Altman, and that Jessica Livingston instead presented him with a choice between running Y Combinator and running OpenAI full-time, which Altman accepted amicably. Forbes and TechCrunch both report that this contradicts earlier reporting by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, which described Altman being forced to resign after YC partners raised concerns that he was prioritizing his own interests — one account cited by TechCrunch says Graham cut short an overseas trip to remove him in person — and quote former OpenAI board member Helen Toner saying the real reasons were "hushed up at the time." This profile states both accounts without asserting which is accurate.
- Graham's Cornell undergraduate degree is stated on his own paulgraham.com biography page. No independently fetched tier1, tier2 or tier3 source read for this profile separately confirmed the Cornell degree (his Harvard PhD and RISD/Accademia di Belle Arti painting study are independently confirmed by Forbes), so this fact rests on first-party sourcing alone.
- No source independently read for this profile gives Graham's date or place of birth, so none is stated.
- This profile does not attempt to catalogue Graham's individual essays or his full bibliography beyond the essay collection "Hackers & Painters" and the specific essays discussed below; it also does not address his activities, if any, after handing over Hacker News in 2014 beyond his stated intent, reported by TechCrunch, to keep writing essays and holding office hours with startups.
Sources
7 sources (6 tier 1, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Every source below was independently fetched and read for this profile. No Wikipedia page was used as a source. Where Paul Graham's own account of Sam Altman's 2019 departure from Y Combinator differs from reporting attributed to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and former OpenAI board member Helen Toner, both accounts are given rather than resolved. The claim of a Cornell undergraduate degree rests only on Graham's own biographical page; no independent source read for this profile separately confirmed it (see openItems).
- The Disruptor In The Valley Supports: Graham's Harvard PhD in computer science (initially intended as a concentration in artificial intelligence); his later study of painting at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence and the Rhode Island School of Design; his co-founding of Viaweb with Robert Morris and its 1998 sale to Yahoo for roughly $50 million; his essays "Beating the Averages" and "How to Start a Startup"; and Y Combinator's 2005 founding with Robert Morris, Jessica Livingston and Trevor Blackwell.
- Sam Altman Taking Over As President Of Y Combinator, Replacing Paul Graham At The Helm Supports: Graham's nine years leading Y Combinator before stepping down as president in February 2014, his stated reason ("YC needs to get bigger, and I am not really much of a manager. Sam Altman is."), and his stated plan to return to writing essays, including on topics beyond startups.
- The Evolution Of Hacker News Supports: Graham building Startup News (later Hacker News) in February 2007 originally as a demonstration of his Arc programming language, and his stated motivation of recreating a startup-focused community after Reddit's user base broadened.
- After Stepping Aside From Y Combinator, Paul Graham Hands Over The Reins At Hacker News Supports: The March 29, 2014 handover of day-to-day control of Hacker News, which Graham had built and run through Y Combinator since 2007, to a YC team (Kat Manalac, Garry Tan, Daniel Gackle, Kevin Hale and Nick Sivo), and Graham's own statement that he would remain "around as a user" but less involved.
- Sam Altman Wasn't Fired From Y Combinator, Founder Claims, As OpenAI Chief Faces Criticism From Ex-Board Member Supports: Paul Graham's May 30, 2024 statement on X that Y Combinator did not "fire" Altman ("We didn't want him to leave, just to choose one or the other"), his account that Jessica Livingston gave Altman a choice between Y Combinator and OpenAI which Altman accepted, and the contrasting account — reported by The Washington Post and repeated by former OpenAI board member Helen Toner on the TED AI Show — that Graham himself removed Altman over concerns he was prioritizing his own interests, with Toner describing the episode as "hushed up at the time."
- Paul Graham claims Altman wasn't fired from Y Combinator Supports: Independent confirmation of Graham's May 30, 2024 posts on X denying that Y Combinator "fired" Altman ("People have been claiming YC fired Sam Altman. That's not true"), his account that Jessica Livingston told Altman he needed to choose between YC and OpenAI when OpenAI announced its for-profit subsidiary in 2019 ("if he was going to work full-time on OpenAI, we should find someone else to run YC, and he agreed"), and its report that this contradicts earlier Wall Street Journal and Washington Post reporting, including an account that Graham cut short an overseas trip to remove Altman in person.
- Paul Graham Supports: Graham's own statement of his education (AB from Cornell, PhD in computer science from Harvard, painting study at RISD and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence), that he began publishing essays at paulgraham.com in 2001, and that Y Combinator has funded more than 3,000 startups since 2005, including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe and Reddit.
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