I like to say ETH is “close” to some interesting places in the world. Why? Talent from ETH is wanted; therefore, institutions and companies go a long way to visit ETH and make themselves known there. This is certainly one of the biggest perks of being a student here. Last Friday (30.01.2026), we had a visit from Y Combinator (YC)—the most famous startup accelerator, with a name derived from fixed-point combinators in lambda calculus. Three startup founders—Tom Blomfield, Grey Baker, and Chris Golda, who also later started working at YC to help other startups—came to give a talk.

During the talk, the three shared their personal stories of how they did not like their office jobs and instead tried to create something they thought had more impact. There were a couple of points they aimed at us that I think are interesting to discuss. I will first present what was presented to us, and then share a few of my own takes.

(Although I have my final presentation for my project tomorrow and an exam coming up, I decided to take a deep breath, try not to let that swallow me, and write this blog. These might be famous last words, but oh well, here we go.)

1. A Rapidly Changing World

There is a revolution happening, and some say it is bigger than the internet revolution. One might not see it in the GDP yet, but it is a revolution of how we interact with the world and how we think of ourselves. Large Language Models (LLMs) are getting more and more powerful, creating new opportunities for the automation of information processing. It might be that soon, all jobs will not exist the way we know them (that does not mean they will disappear, but they might just change fundamentally).

This creates a tremendous opportunity for those who want to build a new, unique business because new gaps in demand are emerging, and one can look for them. It is also true that no one knows (yet) what the rules of business and society are in this new era; therefore, there is no playbook to follow on how to succeed. The only way forward is to try, and the way to try is to build a startup.

2. You Are Good Enough!

The smartest minds often do not go to business school. (To be fair, the talk was aimed at technical students, so I get why this was included—not necessarily my personal opinion.) The brightest minds usually go to math and sciences—the people who can solve the most difficult questions. Therefore, running a business is not that difficult by comparison. Starting a company that does something that has already been done before is doable. Starting a company that does what nobody else has ever done is the real challenge. If you want a real challenge, you should start a startup.

And by the way, you are good enough for it. If you are at a top technical university, the odds are you are smart enough to keep landing well-paying jobs for the rest of your life. This means you do not need to look for more credentials (more degrees, more internships) to prove you are “good”; you are already good enough to do whatever you want.

3. Venture Capital Mathematics

Most startups fail. Let’s face facts. But that is okay. Venture Capital (VC) does not worry about that; all they worry about is the return on investment. Most of the money YC has made comes exclusively from a handful of companies that have billion-dollar valuations. It is like rolling a die, but the outcomes are distributed with a very heavy tail. VCs will keep betting even though they know they will not roll high numbers often, because they know when they do, it pays off.

My Reflections

Y Combinator Fanaticism

Most startups will not succeed, but YC is still willing to fund them. That creates an interesting dynamic. Honestly, I think what most young people like about startups is that it gives them hope. There is somebody who believes in them and is willing to pay their bills, even if they fail. This is truly inspiring. Because even though most people have family and friends who support them, they mostly support them in things that are likely to succeed (e.g., getting a diploma). This faith in the possibility of success is contagious in the community, and that is amazing.

The thing I dislike is the survivor bias. All the founders talk as if what they did was the definitive way to success. Although I know they put in hard work, I believe there are many people who put in the work but things just do not work out for them. Once you sell a startup for a big valuation, you can basically spend the rest of your life talking about how you did it. While I respect those people for taking the bet, I think there is something irreproducible about startups that makes the whole narrative a bit skewed.

One thing that stuck with me was the sentence: “If you want an interesting life, start taking interesting decisions.” Those decisions might not be the most obvious or easy ones; they might be the unlikely ones. They are indeed about rolling the dice. You have to roll the dice to roll a six—without it, there are no sixes in life. And if one good roll is what it takes to be able to brag for the rest of your life, you might just as well roll.

Zurich vs. San Francisco

One final factual note: the feeling I have about startups from San Francisco is that they mostly focus on disruptive technology that can change how we live and reach billion-dollar valuations. What I have seen in the startup ecosystem around Zurich is that because Switzerland is a technologically advanced but quite conservative nation with a small market, most startups that get traction here are those with specific (mostly technological) Intellectual Property (IP).

Folks here are not always open to the quick adoption of disruptive services (look around—there are still working phone boxes installed on the streets of Zurich). The market is also too small for that, so startups like that often have to move to the US anyway. Startups from Switzerland need a strong technological advantage over their competitors to survive. I do not think this is a hurdle—today you can expand internationally and adapt—but it is a factor to keep in mind when listening to people from San Francisco.

Okay, now back to studying. Have a nice day. Love you!