In order to ensure an intimate and successful Off-The-Record Series conversation with our special guests, we do optimize/limit capacity for a few reasons:

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1. Diversity: We pride ourselves in cultivating a diverse audience to help enrich the conversation by offering unique perspectives and experiences. In that vein, we are always looking for more ways to make our events more diverse. You can help us achieve this by spreading the word and inviting more women and minority YC founders to join our alumni group. Waitlist hack: If you happen to be waitlisted, the fastest way to get off is to refer a fellow minority YC Alumni to join you at the event.  

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2. An intimate, open conversation: For our Off-The-Record Series, 35 attendees is optimal to foster a more personal and honest discussion. However, we do understand that some special guests receive a large amount of interest, in which case we double or triple capacity. Also, the special guest may hold spots for their portfolio companies or their internal team. 

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3. Relevancy: To achieve successful and constructive conversations with our special guests, relevancy among the attendees is incredibly important. Relevancy being founder/business affinity with the special guest based on industry, portfolio, stage, etc. 

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4. Active, Engaged Participants: This event series has been designed for attendees to actively listen and engage in the conversation, participating and asking questions to the special guest when appropriate and following our Rules & Etiquette guidelines.

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We are finetuning these events as we go. Having controlled, tailored events allows us to grow and expand thoughtfully without losing the unique attendee participation as well as the high-quality, crisp execution that our special guests both require and merit. 

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Please keep in mind that all RSVPs open automatically exactly one week before the event.

 

Event Time: The time selected is correlated to the time that works best for the special guest joining us. That usually means at the end of the work day in PST or EST. That is why we normally end up scheduling it at 2PMPST (5PMEST) if the guest is in the east coast, or 4PMPST (7PMEST) when the guest is on the west coast.