---
title: 'Front Desk Receptionist at Y Combinator'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/front-desk-receptionist-y-combinator-san-francisco-yt2y2ywg59dr'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-16'
---

# Front Desk Receptionist at Y Combinator

- **Company:** Y Combinator
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-09-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-16
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/ycombinator/eebac09a-79db-4852-9970-b3c7afb80e57

## Job description

Y Combinator is the leading startup accelerator for entrepreneurs. Since 2005, YC has invested in over 6,000 companies, including Airbnb, Dropbox, OpenAI, Stripe, Reddit, DoorDash, Coinbase, and Instacart. Today, YC has built the most powerful startup community in the world and is committed to supporting founders for the life of their company.

Job Description Y Combinator is looking for a Receptionist to be the first point of contact for founders, guests, and employees at our Dogpatch, San Francisco offices. You’ll help create a welcoming experience and answer general inquiries with warmth and professionalism, and direct visitors to where they need to go for meetings and events. You will use internal YC software to manage communication across various teams, including our on-site security personnel. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys helping people, notices the details, and stays calm when several things need attention at once.

This is a full-time, on-site position Monday through Friday at our Dogpatch offices in San Francisco. This is an active role. The receptionist should be prepared to stand and walk for much of the workday while welcoming visitors and supporting our daily office operations.

Key Responsibilities:

- Welcome founders and visitors, manage check-ins, verify appointments, and direct guests to where they need to go.
- Respond to general inquiries with warmth and professionalism.
- Coordinate deliveries, mail, and incoming and outgoing packages.
- Keep the reception area and shared spaces tidy, stocked, and ready for guests.
- Coordinate with vendors, cleaning crews, and our Workplace Team as needed.
- Maintain familiarity with emergency and evacuation procedures.
- Stay alert to activity at the front desk and entrances, follow visitor and security procedures, and promptly notify the security team of any concerns or unusual activity.
- Work cross-functionally with teams across YC, including our on-site security personnel.

Skills & Experience:

- Experience in reception, hospitality, office coordination, or another service-focused role.
- Clear, friendly communication and strong organizational skills.
- Good judgment and the ability to prioritize in a busy environment.
- Reliability, attention to detail, and a willingness to pitch in wherever needed.
- Comfort using common workplace tools, including email, calendars, and spreadsheets.
- Friendly demeanor.
- Familiar with startups (a big plus).

Every employee at YC has a lot of individual responsibility and access to sensitive information, so we need to hire people we can trust. Your ability to make good trade-offs and exercise good judgment is particularly important to us.

Location: YC is headquartered in San Francisco, and candidates must reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is a full-time, on-site position Monday through Friday at our Dogpatch offices in San Francisco. Additional in-person availability may be needed for afternoon and evening events, and the occasional weekend.

Compensation: $50/hour (non-exempt, hourly position, overtime eligible)

Benefits: Our full benefits package includes medical, vision, and dental plans, infertility benefit, STD/LTD, life insurance, commuter benefits, flexible spending account, health savings account, 401(k) + 4% matching, generous parental leave, paid holidays, and flexible paid time off policy.

Work Authorization: This position does not support work authorization/visa sponsorship.

Y Combinator considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law, including San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance. Y Combinator is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of job applicants and complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act. The privacy policy of Ashby, Inc., the hiring platform used by Y Combinator, governs the collection of such data and can be found here.

## About Y Combinator

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Y Combinator is a startup accelerator that provides seed funding, intensive mentorship, and a powerful alumni network to early-stage startups, helping them launch and scale.
- **Entity Type**: Private (startup accelerator)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2005
- **Founders**: Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, Trevor Blackwell

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Startup accelerator, venture capital, startup community
- **Target customers**: Early-stage startup founders (B2B and B2C, across all industries)
- **Mission**: “Make something people want” – to help startups get into dramatically better shape in three months and set them up for long-term success.

## Products & Services
- **[YC Program](https://www.ycombinator.com/about)**: A three-month, in-person (San Francisco) accelerator program. Y Combinator invests $500k per company ($125k for 7% on a post-money safe + $375k on an uncapped safe with MFN). Startups receive group and one-on-one office hours, weekly meetups, access to alumni talks, Demo Day, and ongoing support.
- **[Bookface](https://www.ycombinator.com/about)**: A private social platform for YC founders to connect, ask questions, share expertise, and find co-founders or hires.
- **[Hacker News](https://www.ycombinator.com/about)**: A news aggregator and community where YC alumni and the tech world discuss technology, startups, and job postings.
- **[Work at a Startup](https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs)**: A job platform connecting job seekers with thousands of roles at YC-backed companies.
- **[YC Continuity](https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/come-work-at-yc)**: A program offering resources and investment for growth-stage YC companies, including a Series A Program and investment associates.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private organization)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding deployed – YC has invested in over 6,000 startups (as of 2025). Portfolio includes companies like Airbnb (went public at over $100B valuation), Stripe, DoorDash, Coinbase, and OpenAI.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: YC itself is the investor. Partners include Sam Altman (former president, now CEO of OpenAI), Jessica Livingston, and other YC alumni who serve as partners.
- **Growth Signals**: YC now runs four batches per year (winter, spring, summer, fall). The alumni community is described as “probably the most powerful community in the startup world.” YC Continuity was launched to support growth-stage companies.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Brand and track record**: YC’s name alone signals quality to investors, early adopters, and press, giving portfolio companies instant credibility.
- **Alumni network**: 6,000+ founders who actively help each other through Bookface, intros, and deals – a powerful, self-reinforcing moat.
- **Intensive program**: The compressed three-month timeline forces rapid progress; founders often call it the most productive period of their lives.
- **Access to capital**: Demo Day creates price competition among top investors, leading to higher valuations for YC startups.
- **Perpetual support**: Office hours and community access continue for the life of the company and beyond.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the accelerator**: Running four batches per year and expanding the number of companies per batch (recently ~200 per batch).
- **Supporting later-stage companies**: YC Continuity helps portfolio companies raise Series A and beyond with workshops, templates, and 1:1 support.
- **Building internal tools**: The software team builds the “OS that runs all of YC” (Demo Day experience, financial systems, founder tools) to improve operational efficiency.
- **Global reach**: While the program is in San Francisco, YC attracts founders from all over the world and has specific channels for international, women, Black, and Hispanic/Latino founders.

## Why Work Here
- **Impact**: Work directly on products used by thousands of the world’s most ambitious founders. You get to see the inner workings of the startup ecosystem and learn from top entrepreneurs.
- **Culture**: Small team (~100 people) with a strong sense of mission. The environment is described as high-urgency, collaborative, and founder-focused.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Most roles are based in San Francisco, CA. Job postings indicate on-site presence is expected, though some roles may offer flexibility.
- **Perks**: Access to all YC talks and resources (same as founders), exposure to the startup community, and the opportunity to learn how to build a startup from the inside.
- **Compensation**: For engineering roles, salary ranges from $160K – $485K (based on job postings). The team includes product engineers, software engineers, and legal analysts.

## Sources
1. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/) – Company overview and program details
2. [ycombinator.com/companies/y-combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/y-combinator) – Team size, founding info, job listings
3. [ycombinator.com/about](https://www.ycombinator.com/about) – Detailed program description, community, and benefits
4. [ycombinator.com/careers](https://www.ycombinator.com/careers) – Careers page and open roles
5. [ycombinator.com/blog/come-work-at-yc](https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/come-work-at-yc) – Blog post about working at YC and YC Continuity

## Other roles at Y Combinator

- [Editorial Researcher](https://feeny.ai/job/editorial-researcher-y-combinator-san-francisco-b2mfgk3rf8bn) — San Francisco, CA
- [Associate Video Producer](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-video-producer-y-combinator-san-francisco-5tsff1eb084n) — San Francisco, CA
- [Executive Assistant](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-assistant-y-combinator-san-francisco-r6vq8hmg5h46) — San Francisco, CA
- [Events Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/events-manager-y-combinator-san-francisco-jq9swn4y1swr) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Engineer, New Products](https://feeny.ai/job/product-engineer-new-products-y-combinator-san-francisco-xp72ynj2xrpm) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Engineer, Applications Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/product-engineer-applications-operations-y-combinator-san-francisco-c5wqb7fnbex2) — San Francisco, CA
- [Investment Associate & Product Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/investment-associate-product-engineer-y-combinator-san-francisco-q5kamb7f9pak) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Engineer, Internal Tools](https://feeny.ai/job/product-engineer-internal-tools-y-combinator-san-francisco-q1j2978ye0t8) — San Francisco, CA
- [Software Product Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/software-product-design-engineer-y-combinator-san-francisco-54mwpg0b5fm2) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Engineer, Bookface](https://feeny.ai/job/product-engineer-bookface-y-combinator-san-francisco-31xdwazj7ysw) — San Francisco, CA