This past weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Y Combinator's Startup School India. Surrounding myself with hundreds of driven founders, builders, and some of the most influential figures in the startup ecosystem was an experience I won't soon forget. Here's a look back at the insights, the energy, and the key takeaways from the event.

Arriving at Startup School

The energy was palpable from the moment I walked in. Seeing the iconic "Y Combinator STARTUP SCHOOL INDIA" branding right at the entrance set the tone for a packed day of learning.

Insights from the Best: Harshil Mathur & Jared Friedman

We were treated to some absolutely top-tier talks from founders and YC partners. Hearing from Harshil Mathur, the co-founder of Razorpay, was a massive highlight. Listening to how they scaled one of India's biggest fintech unicorns from the ground up offered incredibly grounded, actionable advice on perseverance and finding product-market fit in a tough landscape.

Jared Friedman also brought his distinct energy to the stage, dropping knowledge bombs on how YC evaluates startups, what they look for in AI deals right now, and how early-stage founders should be thinking about their trajectory.

The Era of AI, YC's Big Push, and Building for Free

A major theme of the event—and arguably the tech world at large right now—was Artificial Intelligence. YC has been making massive bets on AI startups, and this event deeply validated that push. The sessions covered how AI is no longer just a "feature" but rather a fundamental shift in how software is built and consumed. The discussions around how YC is backing AI companies, their core theses on foundational models versus application-layer AI, and the unique opportunities available right now for builders in this space were eye-opening. It was super motivating to see how aggressive YC is about funding ambitious AI projects and getting them to market rapidly. One of the biggest enablers for this AI push is how accessible the tooling has become, especially for students. They heavily emphasized the extensive network of YC Deals for Students, giving young founders the firepower to build heavy AI applications practically for free. From thousands of dollars in Azure, DigitalOcean, and AWS credits, to heavy discounts or free tiers on OpenAI API usage, Vercel, MongoDB, and scaling infrastructure. As a student builder, this removes the biggest bottleneck: server and compute costs. YC's message was clear—infrastructure is virtually free right now, so there are zero excuses not to be shipping.

Swag and Community

Of course, no event is complete without some incredible merch. The YC swag pack—complete with the classic branded tote, cap, and a sick wooden notebook—was a very nice touch.

But beyond the talks and the swag, the real value was in the hallway track. Connecting with other developers and founders who are in the trenches, actively shipping code, and trying to solve hard problems was deeply inspiring.

Final Thoughts

Going to YC Startup School India was a massive milestone for me. It crystalized a lot of my thoughts around what it takes to build something people want. The focus on shipping quickly, staying close to users, and leveraging the monumental shift happening in AI right now has me more fired up than ever. If there is one takeaway: there has never been a better time to be a builder. Time to get back to writing code.