INTERVIEW: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan on his top three priorities and the future of Little Tech in Trump’s America

THE LOWDOWN:

• Y Combinator, a startup accelerator, has helped companies like Coinbase, Dropbox, DoorDash, and Twitch go from fanciful ideas to household names.

• In an interview with the Washington Reporter, Tan outlined his priorities, in order:

  • “immigration”

  • “protecting open source AI”

  • “competition policy and antitrust”

• YC is doing all of this with only one D.C. employee: its head of public policy, Luther Lowe.

For two decades, startup accelerator Y Combinator has helped companies like Coinbase, Dropbox, DoorDash, and Twitch go from fanciful ideas to household names. Now, with President Donald Trump back in office, it’s poised to work with allies of Little Tech like Sriram Krishnan, David Sacks, and Michael Kratsios to give American innovators the tools they need to succeed.

In an interview with the Washington Reporter, Tan outlined his priorities, in order: “immigration. YC believes very strongly that the United States should brain drain the most incredible talent in the world and incentivize those individuals to build companies here.”

“Just over half of YC founders are born outside the United States,” Tan said. “It is incredibly difficult to be admitted into: fewer than one percent of those who apply get in. It's not uncommon for founders outside the U.S. to encounter difficulties in obtaining O-1 visas in order to participate in the three month program. If we are giving a founder the thumbs up, it means they are the cream of the crop.”

YC’s second priority is “protecting open source AI,” Tan said. “Competition in the application layer of AI is unbelievably exciting. In Washington and in state capitols there is an effort afoot to control AI, typically under the auspices of "safety" or national security. The irony is that we will be less safe and our national security more vulnerable if open source AI projects stop keeping competitive pressure on the market.”

Its final top priority is “competition policy and antitrust,” he explained. “Last week I testified before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, advocating for "little tech" and explaining how unchecked big tech concentration limits innovation through restricted API access, blocked interoperability, and harmful self-preferencing. I urged Congress to pass legislation that mandates open APIs, enforces interoperability, and limits self-preferencing to restore competition and ensure America's technological leadership.”

YC is doing all of this with only one D.C. employee: its head of public policy, Luther Lowe.

Tan’s goals of boosting little tech aren’t even partisan by nature. During Trump’s famous Liberation Day, Y Combinator hosted a Little Tech Competition Summit at Gallup HQ, which featured speakers from the entire ideological spectrum.

“It was a great event,” Tan said.

“We had all the top global antitrust enforcers, like FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, DOJ AAG for Antitrust Abigail Slater, and European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera. We had Sens. Josh Hawley and Sen. Cory Booker, the new ranking member of the Antitrust Subcommittee. We had Biden administration antitrust leaders Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter.”

From outside of the current government, Tan noted that “we had Epic Games CEO and Founder Tim Sweeney and Boom Aerospace CEO and Founder Blake Scholl. We put Steve Bannon on stage with former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to talk about whether populists can be techno-optimists and vice versa. We had MAGA firebrand Mike Davis in an on-stage conversation with Doha Mekki, the Former Acting Assistant Attorney General.”

While Tan is himself a moderate Democrat, he lauded Trump’s antitrust picks, like DOJ AAG for Antitrust, Abigail Slater, FTC Commissioner Mark Meador, and FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, as being “very strong picks for these roles and they are saying the right things.”

“It's important to have strong remedies in the Google trials and continue the important work started under the Biden DOJ around Apple,” he explained. “Founders of little tech companies aren’t looking for a leg up, but they need a fighting chance. Promoting interoperability and curbing egregious self-preferencing where the largest platforms can create chokepoints is critical to ensure the next generation of services (many benefiting from the breakthroughs of large language models) can thrive and grow.”

One of Tan’s top legislative priorities has been urging the Trump administration “to recognize the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) as potentially beneficial to U.S. innovation and economic growth,” he said.

“Rather than viewing the DMA through an ‘America vs. Europe’ lens, we emphasized how its pro-competition framework aligns with core American antitrust principles by decentralizing market power and opening doors for entrepreneurship,” he said. “The DMA's commonsense obligations — banning self-preferential treatment, requiring interoperability with would-be rivals, and removing artificial barriers to competition — simply ensure the biggest tech firms play fair so that smaller American companies can compete on merit.”

“This is particularly important in an environment where American antitrust enforcement, while strengthening, still lacks robust interoperability requirements or other ex ante rules to prevent dominant platforms from abusing their gatekeeper power,” Tan said.

Below is a transcript of our interview with Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator, lightly edited for clarity.

Washington Reporter:

You helped put on a little tech conference. Tell us more about that. Who attended, what were the big moments?

Garry Tan:

Wednesday April 2, 2025 was 'Liberation Day' but it was also the day Y Combinator gathered hundreds to attend the Little Tech Competition Summit at Gallup HQ. It was a great event. We had all the top global antitrust enforcers, like FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, DOJ AAG for Antitrust Gail Slater, and European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera. We had Sens. Josh Hawley and Sen. Cory Booker, the new ranking member of the Antitrust Subcommittee. We had Biden administration antitrust leaders Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter. We had Epic Games CEO and Founder Tim Sweeney and Boom Aerospace CEO and Founder Blake Scholl. We put Steve Bannon on stage with former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to talk about whether populists can be techno-optimists and vice versa. We had MAGA firebrand Mike Davis in an on-stage conversation with Doha Mekki, the Former Acting Assistant Attorney General. And all day long, YC founders offered demos of their products and services, often tying their talks to how they are attacking concentration in a particular market.

Washington Reporter:

What is Y Combinator's presence in Washington D.C.? What are you tracking?

Garry Tan:

Our only D.C. employee is head of public policy Luther Lowe. Our main issues, ranked in order of importance: (1) Immigration. YC believes very strongly that the United States should brain drain the most incredible talent in the world and incentivize those individuals to build companies here. Just over half of YC founders are born outside the United States. It is incredibly difficult to be admitted into: fewer than 1 percent of those who apply get in. It's not uncommon for founders outside the U.S. to encounter difficulties in obtaining O-1 visas in order to participate in the 3 month program. If we are giving a founder the thumbs up, it means they are the cream of the crop. (2) Protecting open source AI. Competition in the application layer of AI is unbelievably exciting. In Washington and in state capitols there is an effort afoot to control AI, typically under the auspices of "safety" or national security. The irony is that we will be less safe and our national security more vulnerable if open source AI projects stop keeping competitive pressure on the market. (3) Competition policy and antitrust. Last week I testified before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, advocating for "little tech" and explaining how unchecked big tech concentration limits innovation through restricted API access, blocked interoperability, and harmful self-preferencing. I urged Congress to pass legislation that mandates open APIs, enforces interoperability, and limits self-preferencing to restore competition and ensure America's technological leadership.

Washington Reporter:

What is the future of little tech and big tech under the Trump administration?

Garry Tan:

It's early, but we are optimistic. As for the larger companies, you'd have to ask them. Access for the larger players doesn't seem to be a challenge, but that (so far) doesn't seem to have led to the enforcement agencies being knocked off course of the bipartisan work that has spanned back to the first Trump administration. Sriram Krishnan, David Sacks, and Michael Kratsios are also very strong picks that signal little tech will have a seat at the table. We were excited to see the President's acknowledgment of "little tech" when making some of his key appointees.

Washington Reporter:

How do you feel about President Trump's appointments at the FTC and DOJ handling antitrust and competition issues?

Garry Tan:

Again, it's still early, but DOJ AAG for Antitrust, Abigail Slater, FTC Commissioner Mark Meador, and FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson all seem like very strong picks for these roles and they are saying the right things. It's important to have strong remedies in the Google trials and continue the important work started under the Biden DOJ around Apple. Founders of little tech companies aren’t looking for a leg up, but they need a fighting chance. Promoting interoperability and curbing egregious self-preferencing where the largest platforms can create chokepoints is critical to ensure the next generation of services (many benefiting from the breakthroughs of large language models) can thrive and grow.

Washington Reporter:

What should Republican lawmakers think about the DMA? Is there legislation in the United States YC is tracking?

Garry Tan:

Last month, we wrote to President Trump urging his administration to recognize the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) as potentially beneficial to U.S. innovation and economic growth. Rather than viewing the DMA through an "America vs. Europe" lens, we emphasized how its pro-competition framework aligns with core American antitrust principles by decentralizing market power and opening doors for entrepreneurship. The DMA's commonsense obligations — banning self-preferential treatment, requiring interoperability with would-be rivals, and removing artificial barriers to competition — simply ensure the biggest tech firms play fair so that smaller American companies can compete on merit. This is particularly important in an environment where American antitrust enforcement, while strengthening, still lacks robust interoperability requirements or other ex ante rules to prevent dominant platforms from abusing their gatekeeper power. Republican lawmakers should recognize that when Europe acts to ensure open markets through the DMA, U.S. innovators stand to benefit. Supporting legislation that mandates open APIs, enforces interoperability, and limits self-preferencing would restore competition and help ensure America's technological leadership. The alternative — protecting entrenched monopolies — risks stifling our own next generation of innovators in critical fields like AI, digital services, and consumer technology. And as Senator Hawley signaled at the Little Tech Competition Summit last week, it's critical that we resume work in the U.S. Congress along similar lines, so that the benefits of open markets and fierce competition don't solely benefit European consumers.