Sam Altman literally dropped the playbook for turning an idea into a multi-billion company
This 46-minute lecture is the best thing I've watched on raising in 2026
It will help you understand how the early-stage game actually works and which side of the table you're really sitting on
Sam ran YC from 2014 to 2019, scaled it into the most well-known accelerator on earth, then left to run OpenAI. He watched thousands of startups fail at every stage and he knows exactly what kills them
The part most founders won't want to hear:
> 90% of "fundraising advice" online is from people who never raised
> the partner picking up your slack DM at 2am matters more than the brand on your cap table
> "I raised at a $20M cap" is not a milestone, it's a debt to your next round
> half the "top 30 accelerators" lists in your feed still quote 2022 numbers
> the right accelerator decides your next 5 years more than the right investor
right now the average founder picks an accelerator from a Medium article written 4 years ago..
applies to a program that quietly died..
loses 60 days waiting for a reply that's never coming
they think they're doing the work
they're using maybe 10% of what's actually available
I went through 35 of them this week, verified every check size, every equity %, killed the ones that don't exist anymore
Full corrected spreadsheet in the post below
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All the best startup accelerators to apply in 2026 (below FULL spreadsheet):
[ Top-Tier ]
1. Y Combinator (~$500k, 7% on $125k + uncapped SAFE)
2. a16z Speedrun (~$500k for 10% + $500k follow-on)
3. Techstars (~$220k, bumped from $120k in fall 2025)
4. Founders Inc (~$100-250k for 4-7%)
5. Sequoia Arc (~$1M, terms per company)
6. South Park Commons (~$1M total, $400k for 7% + $600k guaranteed)
7. HF0 (up to $1M uncapped for 5%, repeat founders only)
8. On Deck ODX (DISCONTINUED 2022, skip)
9. Pear VC PearX (~$250k-2M for ~10%)
10. 500 Global Flagship (~$150k for 6%)
[ AI / ML Specific ]
11. AI Grant (~$250k for 7%, Nat Friedman + Daniel Gross)
12. AI Fund (~$1M+, Andrew Ng, studio model)
13. NVIDIA Inception (credits + perks, no equity)
14. Microsoft for Startups (up to $150k Azure credits, no equity)
15. Google for Startups AI Accelerator (credits, no equity)
[ Vertical / Deep Tech ]
16. SOSV (~$525k across IndieBio, HAX, Orbit)
17. IndieBio (biotech, ~$525k = $250k for 6-8% + Genesis SAFE)
18. HAX (hardware, ~$525k via SOSV)
19. Greentown Labs (cleantech, workspace + grants)
20. Activate (deep science fellowship, 2-yr stipend)
[ Crypto / Web3 ]
21. a16z crypto CSX (~$500k for 7%, SF in-person)
22. Alliance (~$500k, ALL18 starts Sept 7)
23. Outlier Ventures Base Camp (~$250k, per-chain verticals)
24. Coinbase Base Builder (varies, mostly non-dilutive)
[ International / Regional ]
25. Seedcamp (~€350k-1M first check, rolling, Europe)
26. Entrepreneur First (~$250k = $125k for 8% + uncapped MFN)
27. Antler Disrupt US (~$400k = $250k for ~9% + uncapped)
28. Brinc (~$100k, Asia + Middle East)
29. Station F (Paris campus, hosted-program terms)
30. Founder Institute ($499-999 fee + 2.5% Equity Collective warrant)
[ Pre-Seed / Idea Stage / Niche ]
31. Z Fellows (~$10k for 1%, pre-product)
32. ERA NYC (~$100k for 8%, generalist)
33. The Residency (community-first, no standard check)
34. Plug and Play (varies, often non-dilutive)
35. Build For Tomorrow (community + grants)
Four things worth knowing:
1. small program acceptance rates are higher than YC, not because they're easier, because the funnel is smaller. apply to 5-7, not 1
2. brand premium on YC is real but not infinite. Arc + Speedrun + HF0 carry signal too
3. "$X for Y%" is the only number that matters. uncapped MFNs are not free money, they dilute you on the next round
4. avoid any list still quoting Techstars at $120k, ODX as active, HF0 at $100k, or Founder Institute as "$10k for 4%". all wrong
Shared with you those where I am going to apply with my ideas and products
Terms shift annually. Verify on each program's site before applying
gl with successful raising
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