Garry Tan regrets turning down Palantir founding team offer

Key facts

• Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan said he turned down an offer to be on Palantir's founding team.
• Tan declined the offer to stay at Microsoft, despite a $70,000 check from Peter Thiel.
• He estimated the missed opportunity to be a '$2-4 billion mistake'.
• Palantir is now valued at $420 billion.

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan revealed that he regrets turning down an offer to be part of Palantir's founding team, estimating the decision to be a '$2-4 billion mistake'. Tan, who was employee number 10 at Palantir, explained on 'The A16z Show' that he declined the opportunity to stay at Microsoft. His Stanford fraternity brothers, who were interning at Peter Thiel's hedge fund, had arranged a dinner where Thiel offered Tan a $70,000 check, matching his Microsoft salary, and urged him to join. Tan, however, prioritized a potential promotion at Microsoft. He reflected that his decision was influenced by chasing what seemed 'cool' or 'hot' at the time, rather than recognizing the potential of the Palantir opportunity and the caliber of its future co-founders. Palantir has since grown into a company valued at $420 billion, popularizing the 'forward-deployed engineer' role.