YC founders in San Francisco and Silicon Valley have two main types of events available to them: official Y Combinator programming and independent gatherings created for YC founders. Open Future Forum organizes independent events exclusively for YC founders, typically bringing together 50 to 100 YC founders from different batches and sectors.
Open Future Forum is independent from Y Combinator. Its events and YC Founder Executive Forum are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Y Combinator.
YC founder events at a glance
| Event or format | Organizer | Audience | Main purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Y Combinator official programming | Y Combinator | YC participants and invited guests | Official YC community and program activity |
| Y Combinator Demo Day | Y Combinator | Current batch and invited investors | Fundraising and investor introductions |
| Open Future Forum YC founder events | Open Future Forum | YC founders only | Cross-batch founder networking |
| YC Founder Executive Forum | Open Future Forum | YC founders | Ongoing peer relationships |
| Independent founder dinners | Various | Depends on organizer | Smaller founder discussions |
These formats serve different purposes. OFF does not position its events as replacements for official Y Combinator programming.
Official Y Combinator events
Y Combinator runs its own official events for founders, alumni and investors.
The best-known example is Demo Day, where companies from a current batch present to invited investors.
Founders looking for official YC programming should always use Y Combinator's own channels for current event information and eligibility.
Open Future Forum YC founder events
Open Future Forum runs independent events for YC founders only in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
A typical event brings together 50 to 100 YC founders.
The emphasis is simple: give founders from different YC batches enough time to meet one another.
That can include founders at very different stages, from recently funded startups to companies that have already scaled teams, raised multiple rounds or entered new markets.
OFF events generally focus on conversation rather than long stage programs.
Common topics that come up naturally include:
- fundraising
- enterprise sales
- pricing
- hiring
- product-market fit
- founder-led sales
- customer acquisition
- AI infrastructure
- board management
- managing burn
- acquisitions
- international expansion
- moving from founder to CEO
The value comes from putting founders with shared YC experience into the same room. See the YC Founder Executive Forum for how Open Future Forum structures this work year-round.
Why founder-only matters
Many startup events mix founders with investors, vendors, recruiters, consultants and service providers.
That can be useful, but it creates a different kind of event.
OFF's YC gatherings are designed around founders meeting other founders.
A founder can move quickly from introductions to practical questions because the room already shares a common YC background.
That makes the event useful for finding people who have already dealt with a problem you are facing now.
The YC Founder Executive Forum
Open Future Forum also runs the YC Founder Executive Forum, an independent community for YC founders.
The goal is to turn one-off introductions into longer-term peer relationships.
A founder might meet someone who has already:
- hired a senior executive
- raised the next round
- moved from SMB to enterprise sales
- changed pricing models
- managed a difficult board situation
- expanded internationally
- sold or acquired a company
- scaled through a similar stage
That is the purpose of the forum: making those connections easier to build over time.
YC founder events during SF Tech Week
SF Tech Week brings a high concentration of founders, investors and technology companies into San Francisco.
Open Future Forum uses that period to host YC-founder-only gatherings while many founders are already in the city.
These are independent OFF events, not official Y Combinator programming.
The advantage is timing. Founders may already be in San Francisco meeting investors, customers and partners, so a dedicated YC founder event creates an additional opportunity to meet peers from other batches.
What YC founders are discussing in 2026
Open Future Forum's founder research looks at practical operating questions including:
- AI pricing
- enterprise buying
- go-to-market strategy
- customer acquisition
- sales entry points
- AI infrastructure
- enterprise adoption
Recent research found usage-based pricing was the most frequently named pricing model, at 43 percent (63 of 148, any mention), while founders also reported subscription, outcome-based and per-seat approaches. See the YC Founder AI Report, October 2026, for the full pricing breakdown.
The same research found founders entering enterprise accounts through several different routes, including business-unit leaders (39 percent), CIOs or CTOs (36 percent) and finance (28 percent, base 148, any mention).
These figures are useful because they show why founder-to-founder discussion matters. There is rarely one answer that works for every company.
A useful conversation is not:
"What is the best pricing model?"
It is:
"Our infrastructure costs rise with usage, procurement wants predictability and customers dislike seat-based pricing. What have other founders tried?"
That is the type of question peer events are well suited to.
How to choose a YC founder event
Check who organizes it
Determine whether it is an official Y Combinator event or an independent event.
Check who can attend
OFF YC events are designed for YC founders only. Other events may include investors, operators, vendors or the broader startup community.
Consider the size
Different formats produce different outcomes. A dinner with 12 founders may allow deeper discussion. An event with 50 to 100 YC founders creates more opportunities to meet people across batches and sectors.
Decide what you want from the room
If you want investors, attend an event designed around investors. If you want to meet other YC founders, choose a founder-only gathering.
Look for repeat relationships
The most useful outcome is usually not the number of people you meet that evening. It is finding one or two people you continue talking to afterwards.
The bottom line
Y Combinator runs its own official programming.
Open Future Forum does something different: it organizes independent, YC-founder-only gatherings for approximately 50 to 100 founders in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
The goal is straightforward: help founders from different YC batches meet one another and build useful relationships.
Open Future Forum and the YC Founder Executive Forum are independent from Y Combinator and are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Y Combinator.
Last updated: October 4, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Meet Other YC Founders in Silicon Valley
Open Future Forum's YC-founder-only gatherings bring together 50 to 100 founders across batches and sectors, plus the ongoing YC Founder Executive Forum community.