# Aaron Epstein

> Aaron Epstein is a General Partner at Y Combinator, the world's most prestigious startup accelerator. A serial founder who built his first software product in a college dorm room, he went on to co-found Creative Market (YC W10) — a design asset marketplace he grew to a 2014 Autodesk acquisition in under 16 months, then spun back out as an independent startup in 2017. At YC, he has reviewed over 8,000 applications, advised companies now collectively valued at $57 billion, and helped define how the accelerator thinks about marketplaces, business models, and pricing.

- **Role:** General Partner at Y Combinator
- **Organizations:** Y Combinator, Creative Market, COLOURlovers, Autodesk, ColorSchemer
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Business, Entrepreneurship, University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded Creative Market (YC W10), acquired by Autodesk in under 16 months of launch, Helped generate over $100M in sales for independent creators through Creative Market, Reviewed more than 8,000 Y Combinator applications

## Career timeline

- **1999** — Built ColorSchemer — a color-matching desktop app — during spring break in his freshman dorm room at University of Maryland.
- **2003** — Graduated University of Maryland. By graduation, ColorSchemer was already earning ~$1,400/month.
- **2005-2009** — Grew ColorSchemer into a six-figure annual business, running it solo. Later connected with co-founders Darius and Chris of COLOURlovers.
- **2009** — Merged ColorSchemer with COLOURlovers, joining as co-founder. Participated in Y Combinator Winter 2010 batch with COLOURlovers.
- **2012** — Co-founded Creative Market and launched the standalone design asset marketplace in October. Grew 20% month-over-month from day one.
- **2013** — Received two acquisition offers on the same day (Halloween). Chose Autodesk for its cultural alignment over a competing offer that would have gutted the team.
- **2014** — Creative Market acquisition by Autodesk closed in February. Had his first-ever boss. Became Director of Marketplace at Autodesk.
- **2017** — Spun Creative Market back out as an independent startup from Autodesk. Generated over $100M in total sales for independent creators worldwide.
- **2018** — Joined Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner, serving four batches.
- **2020** — Became Group Partner (later General Partner) at Y Combinator. Noted as the first non-founding partner to help scale YC beyond 25 companies per batch.
- **2022** — Published YC Guide to Business Models for Startup School — the video accumulated 595K+ views.
- **2024-2025** — Continues as General Partner at YC, having reviewed 8,000+ applications and worked with companies now valued at a combined $57 billion.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Creative Market (YC W10), acquired by Autodesk in under 16 months of launch
- Helped generate over $100M in sales for independent creators through Creative Market
- Reviewed more than 8,000 Y Combinator applications
- Advised YC portfolio companies collectively valued at $57 billion
- YC Guide to Business Models has 595K+ YouTube views
- Notable YC companies advised: Retool, OpenSea, Deel, Airbyte, Vendr, Frubana, Prometheus
- Built ColorSchemer into a six-figure annual business running it solo from a dorm room
- Participated in scaling YC from 25 to hundreds of companies per batch
- Creative Market reached 70,000 pre-registered users before launch in 9 months

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Continues as General Partner at Y Combinator, actively reviewing batch applications and advising portfolio founders.
- **2025-06** — Publicly acknowledged Dalton Caldwell's departure from YC partner role, noting 7 years of close collaboration and mentorship.
- **2024-11** — Announced YC Winter 2025 batch application deadline (November 12, 2024) as part of YC's move to four batches annually.
- **2022-12** — YC Startup School lecture on Business Models and Pricing published — now with 595K+ views on YouTube.

## Links

- Website: https://aarone.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-epstein-a97105
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/aaron_epstein
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aepstein/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/aaron-epstein
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-09