Those in the local tech scene may know YC's incoming president Garry Tan as an angel investor and founder of Initialized Capital. Those engrossed in S.F. politics may see him as one of the most outspoken proponents of this year's divisive school board and district attorney recall elections.
So reactions to the news of his appointment have run the gamut.
Upon the announcement that Tan would be taking over at YC, former YC head Sam Altman tweeted, "It's a big deal imo that YC will have a president so active in local politics! I think YC can make a real difference here..."
YC is a Bay Area institution, its accelerator program serving a a rite of passage for many of the area's most successful tech entrepreneurs. While it's not clear how Tan's political views will affect how he runs the organization, his appointment has won plaudits from prominent tech figures like Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and Rippling CEO Parker Conrad, but has also spawned criticism from political opponents who sparred bitterly with Tan over recent recall votes.
Over the past year Tan has publicly aired his views on city politics to his over 250,000 Twitter followers, focusing on topics like crime, homeless and the fecklessness he perceives in city leadership. He donated $25,000 to the successful campaign to unseat three S.F. school board members and $50,000 to recall the former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, according to public records.
Tan has been an outspoken critic of many of the city's more progressive politicians, such as supervisor Dean Preston. He is a donor to and advocate of the YIMBY movement — yes in my back yard — and avid supporter of more moderate local politicians like Supervisor Matt Dorsey, new DA Brooke Jenkins and the nonprofit advocacy group GrowSF.
On Twitter, he is known as a prolific blocker, blocking many accounts who have never had any interactions with him (including at least two reporters from the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal). Following the news of his new job at YC, dozens of people on Twitter began tweeting the hashtag, #BlockedbyGarryTan.
Contacted by email, Tan noted he doesn't start at YC until January and said he'd be "happy to chat once I get my bearings in the new role."
Like many other organizations in the tech space, Y Combinator has become more remote and less centralized with a broader geographical focus. Tan indicated his focus will be more on advancing technology entrepreneurship locally.
“Let’s just keep that prosperity happening because, you know, something is magic in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Tan told TechCrunch. “As YC is a magnet, as the San Francisco Bay Area is … it has a big role to play in the future of technology.”
