Former Y Combinator CEO and Partner Michael Seibel Announces Transition

Michael Seibel, an influential Black entrepreneur and investor in Silicon Valley, is transitioning to a “partner emeritus” role at Y Combinator. 

He made the announcement late Wednesday on his X account after more than 12 years at the famed startup accelerator.

“This role allows me to continue to do office hours with the 1000+ companies I’ve worked with in the past decade while giving me the free time to explore new adventures,” he said on X. “It also means that the W25 batch was my last batch funding new YC companies.”

Seibel first joined YC as a partner and Ied the accelerator at YC from 2016 to 2024. Notably, last year, Seibel stepped back into a less operational group partner ahead of this week’s announcement.

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Garry Tan, President and CEO of Y Combinator, confirmed the news in a company press release. He stated that although Seibel will no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations or directly working on funding new startups, “he’ll continue to support our community in meaningful ways.” Tan commended Seibel’s contributions, saying, “He’s been instrumental in shaping our program, our culture, and our values.”

Seibel’s Remarkable Career in the Startup World

Seibel’s journey into startups and technology began after his political science degree from Yale University in 2005 and a year as the finance director for a US Senate campaign.

He ventured into the tech world as the co-founder and CEO of two YC startups, Justin.tv (which became Twitch) and Socialcam. Socialcam was acquired by Autodesk Inc. in 2012 for $60 million; in 2014, under Emmett Shear’s and Kevin Lin’s leadership, Twitch sold to Amazon for $970 million.

Seibel became YC’s first Black partner in 2014 and later served as Managing Director/ CEO from 2016 to 2024. Under his leadership, Y Combinator expanded its reach, significantly increasing diversity among its funded startups. 

In a 2021 interview with Reuters, Seibel highlighted that since 2015, Y Combinator had funded over 500 female founders, over 200 Black founders, and almost 300 Latine founders. “You change the stats by funding people,” he explained.

In 2020, he became Reddit’s first Black board member after co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigned and urged the company to replace him with a Black candidate amid global anti-racism protests. That same year, he also joined Dropbox’s board.

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Embarking on a New Journey

Notably, Seibel had already stepped back into a less operational group partner role since 2024. In a YC blog post last year, he wrote that he was ready to “hand over my leadership responsibilities,” with the transition becoming “effective” after the accelerator’s winter batch of startups completed the program.

Now, Seibel is embarking on a new journey. “The next adventure I’m excited to pursue (after taking the summer to relax) is how I can help the government better serve its citizens,” he wrote on X. “Thank you to the countless friends who have been pushing me in this direction for years. Government was the passion of my youth, and I’m excited to reengage.”

The news comes roughly two weeks before YC’s spring batch of founders kicks off their own tour of duty; the program will run from April through June.

Image Source: Michael Seibel Flickr