The Immigrant Journey Behind A Silicon Valley Success Story

Today Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan sits down with one of the best founders of a generation, Tracy Young. She cofounded Plangrid which sold to Autodesk for $875M, and is back with her new startup called Tigereye. But since it’s AAPI heritage month, we’re talking about a different kind of origin story.
The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Tracy Young's story will change how you think about what's possible. Despite facing immense hardships, Tracy persevered to build PlanGrid into one of Silicon Valley's biggest success stories. Her raw, honest advice is for anyone trying to overcome obstacles and achieve bold dreams.

00:00 - Immigrants - We get the job done
00:43 - Coming to America
02:48 - Strangers in a strange land
06:03 - Starting up
11:12 - Outro

[ycombinator]

What is your immigration story? How has it shaped your journey as a founder?

[junojo]

I love the journey of Tracy and the significance of sharing stories like these to showcase the thriving lives of immigrants. As a first-generation immigrant myself, my parents immigrated to Brazil from South Korea after the war, while my spouse and I made the move to the USA. We are both working hard to make our company succeed, but we face numerous challenges, ranging from networking to our college background.

[saiaditya]

The weakness, the trauma, the discrimination, that one goes through is your strength. This made my day... Gave me a hope to try a little bit more to make an impact with my solutions. Great inspiration.. Loved the thoughts ❤

[viralshah]

One of the most inspiring story ive heard. Tracy's proven that hard work pays but the discipline shes gone through. I live in Kenya and my parents built me to a similar story. Mad love Tracy :)

[chapterme]

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) -
00:00 - Immigrants - We get the job done
00:43 - Coming to America
02:48 - Strangers in a strange land
06:03 - Starting up
11:12 - Outro

[padthaizilla]

I'm currently tied up in a 9-5 job, where the necessity of money binds me to the corporate world, supporting my family's needs. It's been a struggle, as I've found myself unable to spend as much time with them as I'd like. Lately, my leave requests have been consistently denied, which has ignited a burning desire within me to break free from these constraints.

Stumbling upon this YouTube clip has provided a powerful boost to my motivation. It's a reminder that I shouldn't give up on my dreams and that I can start my own side hustle and build it into something incredible. I'm committed to testing my ideas and pushing forward, no matter the challenges that come my way.

[Emilieho]

Tracy is one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs that I look up to. I have been following her since her Plangrid journey and it motivated me to build my own vertical SaaS company. Now hearing about her family's immigrant story is pretty surreal given that my mom went through the exact same scenario as a Chinese Vietnamese refugee, except she ended up in France. Thank you for sharing this story! It's a great reminder that regardless of my YC application result for this batch, I just gotta have grit and keep going!

[jesselee]

Lol did Garry post on the wrong YouTube channel

[elyseacanda]

Thank you, Tracy. As always, you are inspiring! I'm a second generation American, born in Washington, DC. Grateful for the choices my grandparents made.

[barbarosozturk]

Truly an inspiring story. Tracy is an excellent communicator.
Thanks for providing her with the platform to share her story, Y!

[corporateauthentication]

This was real because you will experience heartbreak and trauma on your way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. I thank her for being transparent. So many interviews lack the depth she relayed.

[martinstine]

Touching story Tracy. Most importantly, you made it. Thanks Garry and YC.

[greycrow]

I don't usually comment on videos but I actually smiled around minute 4:19 because I know for a fact that this is what I'm built for. It's funny because even while employed I just create difficult situations for myself which I have to go through in order to build things that are missing, learn and become better while doing it.

[MRHOPPERC]

Really appreciate for sharing your stories, Tracy. It's super inspiring and encouraging ❤ Thanks Garry for still taking time to make great interview like this and post in YC channel (I saw your watermarks and thought it was your channel 😂) . Keep up the good work, both Tracy and Garry 💪

[casinarro]

Tracy is so good at expressing her thoughts

[daveg]

Thanks, Gary, always good to hear the positive side from immigrants, hopefully an inspiration to others to do the same

[wishIKnewHowToLove]

When you lived through so much pain, everything else seems so easy

[Dorian_Barber]

This story is touching. I love the come up.

[evangewho]

How do you sign up for Predictable Growth newsletter only see a podcast for her in Tigers Eye.

[GabrielSestrem]

Immigrants! We get the job done!! Waiting for the YCombinator interview! 🤞