Shawn Kahen ⁽²⁾

I just hit "Submit." Applying to Y Combinator is a rite of passage for many startups. It’s nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time. But now that the application is in and the Founder Video is uploaded, I realized something important: Even if we don't get in, the process itself was invaluable. Over the past month, as we've been busy in the weeds building the company site and AI application, the YC application was a nice change up that forces you to zoom out. It demands that you answer hard questions: What is the specific insight you have that others…

It started in a classroom at UCLA in 2014. I was working on my Master’s in Urban Planning, when I decided to take a business plan development course jointly offered by the business school. The assignment was to build a business plan for a startup idea, and so my mind went to a recurring problem I had come across during my graduate studies. I was frustrated. As I learned about the major role local governments have played in shaping our built environment, I saw a stark contrast. Private organizations were constantly upgrading their tech stacks, streamlining operations, and becoming more…