The next generation of startups will be built by smaller teams than ever before.
At Startup School 2026, YC President & CEO Garry Tan explains why we’re entering the era of personal AGI: AI agents that run on your own infrastructure, compound your knowledge over time, and dramatically increase your ability to build. He shares the tools and workflows he uses every day, why every founder should own their intelligence instead of renting it, and what it means to build under your own power.
Transcript: https://www.ycrootaccess.com/p/garry-tan-own-your-intelligence
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply
Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
Chapters:
00:00 — Intro
00:07 — What Founders Can Learn From Spinoza
04:46 — Personal AGI Is Already Here
07:57 — Why AI Makes One Person More Powerful Than Ever
12:29 — Your Life Is a Library
15:15 — Inside My Personal AI System
17:06 — Markdown Is Code
18:20 — Latent Space vs. Deterministic Code
21:13 — Building a Company of One
24:16 — How to Build Your Own Personal AGI
27:58 — Why Most People Will Quit Too Soon
29:09 — Own Your Skills Before Someone Else Does
32:24 — Personal AGI Means Owning Your Intelligence
35:21 — Why I Open Sourced Everything
38:30 — A Personal AGI for One Small Boy
40:18 — It’s All Made Up. You Get to Make It Up.
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