YC's Startup School: 'Academic Brain vs. Founder Brain' with Francois Chaubard
ycombinator · x · 2026-11-04
Y Combinator released a new Startup School session, 'Academic Brain vs. Founder Brain,' led by Visiting Partner Francois Chaubard — a current PhD student who researched in Fei-Fei Li's lab and founded and ran Focal Systems (W16).
The core thesis: while Google, Anthropic, and Databricks were all started by founders with PhDs, they're exceptions to the rule — many instincts that help researchers succeed in academia often work against them when building a startup. The session breaks down which mindsets researchers need to change, drawing on Chaubard's experience on both sides.
Related event: YC Startup School: 10 Mindset Shifts for PhD Founders(3 posts)→
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