Ryan Wegner / Spot VC

Ryan Wegner and Jay Reno are Co-Founders and General Partners of Spot VC, a $20M fund writing $75K checks exclusively into Y Combinator companies, with a goal of 150 across the fund’s lifecycle.

Together, they are 3x YC founders. Ryan built Audm (S17), turning long-form journalism into audio, which The New York Times acquired in 2020. Jay built Feather (S17), raised $75M from Kleiner Perkins and Bain Capital before it was acquired in 2022, then went back through YC with Pointhound (S23). They’ve each been angel investing in 25+ YC companies since 2017. The two bumped into each other at a demo day, both cutting checks as angels.

Our conversation gets into why YC is arguably the last relevant accelerator in the ecosystem. With Spot, Ryan and Jay know they have to get in before everyone else shows up. It’s not just early looks. It’s early involvement, weeks before demo day. They’ve invested in multiple cohorts together now, spotting the best opportunities even within the world’s best accelerator. It’s not just about access. Plenty of people have access. It’s about knowing what to look for when everyone around you is exceptional.

Throughout our conversation, Ryan showed an incredible amount of resilience. From the profound effects of losing his Audm co-founder, Christian, to losing his house in the Palisades fire in January 2025. These personal experiences shape how he shows up to his founders as an investor.

Full episode below, or on Spotify / Apple Podcasts