Tday https://t.co/09KMy3ldfP @s43stha @garrytan @paulg @jesslivingston
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 18, 2026
- Prompt-to-Design Workflow: Describe an idea in plain English → AI generates polished graphics (posters, social media assets, thumbnails, banners, presentations, quote cards, carousels, etc.). It supports multi-panel outputs like Instagram carousels or campaign grids from one prompt.
- Brand Intelligence: Upload logos, colors, fonts, and guidelines once; generations default to your brand.
- Iterative Editing: Refine with natural language feedback (e.g., "make background darker," "bolder font"). Includes a visual canvas editor with layers, properties, and precision controls.
- Production-Ready Output: Clean, readable text; multi-resolution exports (PNG, JPG, PDF); avoids common AI artifacts. Supports video generation and resizing.
- Integrations: Shopify/WooCommerce (product data to designs), Slack, social media publishing (X, Instagram, etc.), PDF uploads for context, social analytics.
- Additional Modes: Planning mode for briefs; fast generation (often under a minute for first versions).
Pricing (as listed on site): Free tier (unlimited generations with rate limits, 1 brand kit); paid plans like Starter and Growth (higher volume, teams, priority). Commercial use allowed.
Background: Built by the team behind communities.one (a community management platform for events, members, payments, etc.). It started as an internal tool for their needs—fast creative for events/campaigns without design bottlenecks—and was spun out.
The company is part of Y Combinator Spring 2026 (YC P26) batch. Founder: Shyamsundar Shrestha (
- Role: Co-founder of tday.com (YC P26).
- Background: 23 years old, from Nepal (
). Previously involved with communities.one / markup.one. Active builder; describes himself with phrases like "Tokenmaxxing" and shares ambitious, reflective posts (e.g., on ambition, imposter syndrome in YC, personal stories from school).
- Co-Founder: Cyrus Kelly (CEO, from Australia, ~19-20 years old; background in community organizing and design/AI). They have collaborated on prior projects and moved in together to build.
For the latest, visit https://tday.com/ directly or follow the founders/company on X. As a new YC company, expect rapid iteration.
Canva reached ~$4B ARR with massive user scale and AI features; AI video tools like Runway hit multi-billion valuations on hype + traction. The AI design tools market grows at 15-22% CAGR (projected $20B+ by early 2030s), while AI video explodes at ~46% CAGR (from ~$1-2B to $20B+). Adjacent markets (3D assets, avatars, animation, social commerce) add tens of billions more.
Target Trajectory (aggressive but plausible with execution):
- Year 1 (2026): 100K+ MAU, $5-10M ARR, $100-300M valuation post-Series A/B.
- Year 2-3: 5-10M MAU, $100M+ ARR, $1-3B valuation (unicorn).
- Year 4-5: 50M+ MAU / enterprise penetration, $500M-$1B+ ARR, $8-20B+ valuation (via 10-20x+ AI multiples on growth + platform lock-in).
Marketing & Growth:
- PLG + Virality: Freemium with generous limits. "Prompt → Ship" challenges, templates gallery, referral credits. Creator program: Top users get revenue share or credits for viral templates.
- Community & Content: Heavy on X/TikTok/Instagram/YouTube. Daily "Made with tday" showcases (user + team). Founder-led storytelling (@s43stha,@designtday). Partnerships with communities.one users, YC network, indie hackers.
- Performance Marketing: Meta/Google ads targeting "no designer needed," SMB marketers, creators. SEO for "AI design tool," "text to social media graphics."
- Influencer & Partnerships: Sponsor creator economies, Discord communities, Shopify apps. Integrate deeply with Notion, Figma (export/import), social platforms.
- Events: Demo Day-style launches, virtual "Shipathons," YC/ startup events. Free tiers for students/NGOs for goodwill + data.
Video Domination:
- Evolve to full text-to-video, image/video-to-video, lip-sync, music integration, multi-shot stories with consistency.
- Use cases: Social ads, YouTube intros/outros, product demos, event promos, micro-dramas/Reels/TikToks.
- Monetize via usage-based (credits) + premium "cinematic" models. Compete with/partner Runway/Pika/Kling while being more accessible + brand-consistent.
- Animation & Motion: Auto-animate designs, 2D/3D transitions, explainer videos.
- 3D & Immersive: Text-to-3D assets/models (for e-comm product viz, AR try-ons, metaverse). Huge in gaming/e-commerce.
- Avatars & Personalization: Brand ambassadors, talking heads, virtual influencers. Tie to video.
- Full Content Pipelines: AI copy + design + video + A/B testing + publishing/analytics dashboard. "One prompt → full campaign."
- Vertical SaaS Plays:
- E-commerce (Shopify/Woo deep integration: auto product visuals, ads, variants).
- Social/Community (built-in scheduling, performance-based generation).
- Marketing Agencies (white-label, client portals).
- Enterprises (compliance, approval workflows, team seats).
- Education/Events (from communities.one roots).
- Enterprise/Agency: Custom models, on-prem options, API for white-label.
- Marketplace: Sell/buy templates, prompts, extensions, stock assets, pre-trained brand models.
- API & Developer Platform: Let others build on tday (plugins, vertical apps).
- International: Localized models, emerging markets (high mobile/social growth).
- Acquisitions: Smaller video/3D tools or data providers for acceleration.
- Partnerships: Big Tech (integrate with Meta/Google/Adobe), hardware (Apple Vision Pro, AR glasses), ad platforms.
- Usage/credits (high-margin for video/3D).
- Enterprise (seats + SLAs).
- Marketplace commissions.
- Premium models/training.
- White-label/embedded (e.g., in Shopify, social tools).
- Competition (Canva AI, Adobe, pure video tools): Differentiate on speed + editability + brand fidelity for non-designers. Move faster on video/multi-modal.
- AI Costs/Quality: Optimize models, hybrid (local + cloud), human-in-loop for premium.
- Regulation/IP: Commercial-safe training, clear ownership.
- Execution: Hire aggressively (AI researchers, growth, vertical experts). Founder storytelling + YC halo helps recruiting/fundraising.
This is aggressive—requires flawless execution, capital (multiple $100M+ rounds), and luck in AI progress. But with tday's early strengths in usability and brand focus, plus video expansion, it's a credible moonshot path. Start executing Phase 1 immediately: viral campaigns, video beta, and aggressive user acquisition.
Follow
someone asked “what’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken”
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 5, 2026
we wore lobster costumes to our @ycombinator interview
and we got in :) pic.twitter.com/Fz8TRU3GU0
Here is a data-grounded refinement of the earlier 5-year moonshot plan, using 2025-2026 benchmarks from comparables like Canva, Runway, Figma, and broader AI/SaaS market data.Market Context (TAM & Growth)
- AI-Powered Design Tools: ~$6.7-8B in 2025-2026, growing at 15-22% CAGR to $18B+ by 2030-2035.
- AI Video Generation: $0.8-1B+ in 2025, with CAGRs of 20-36%+ (some estimates project multi-billion to $10B+ segments by early 2030s). Broader generative AI/video markets are larger and faster-growing.
- Combined Creative AI TAM (design + video + adjacent): Easily $20-50B+ addressable for a platform player expanding into full content pipelines, 3D, animation, e-comm, and enterprise.
Runway (AI Video): ~$300M ARR (2025 est.), $5.3B valuation post-2026 raise (high multiple on growth/hype).
Figma: Post-IPO volatility but previously commanded 20-50x+ multiples at high growth; design platform value is proven.
SaaS/AI Multiples (2026): Traditional SaaS ~4-7x ARR (public medians ~5-6x, private lower). AI-native/high-growth: 10-30x+ (outliers 35-50x for foundation-like or hyper-growth). Premium for strong growth (>40%), defensibility (brand data, editability), and platform potential. Refined Trajectory (Aggressive but Plausible)Year 1 (2026 — Current Phase):
- ARR Target: $5-15M (PLG virality + early video/Shopify traction).
- Valuation: $100-400M post Seed/A (10-25x on high growth + YC halo + AI narrative).
- Users: 100K-500K MAU. Focus: Core design + video beta, brand kits, integrations.
- ARR: $40-80M (hyper-growth via video launch, marketplace, e-comm vertical).
- Valuation: $800M-$2B (15-25x). Unicorn likely here if execution is strong.
- Users: 2-5M MAU. Expand to animation, basic 3D, full campaigns.
- ARR: $150-300M (platform flywheel: marketplace commissions, enterprise, API, international).
- Valuation: $3-6B+ (15-25x). Canva-like scaling in creative AI.
- Users: 10-20M MAU. Deep video/avatars, agentic features.
- ARR: $400M-$1B+ (mix of subs + usage-based video/3D + enterprise + marketplace).
- Valuation: $8-20B+ (10-20x on maturing growth; higher if video/3D moats or IPO hype). $1B+ valuation easily achievable by Year 3-4, with $1B+ possible well before Year 5 at scale.
- Users: 30-100M+ MAU, significant enterprise penetration.
- Growth Rate: >40-50% sustained → premium (Canva/Runway-style).
- AI Differentiation: Editable layers + brand fidelity + multi-modal (image/video/3D) consistency beats generic generators.
- Revenue Mix: High-margin usage credits (video/3D) + marketplace (recurring + take-rate) boost margins and multiples.
- Defensibility: User brand data moat, network effects from templates/community, vertical integrations (Shopify, social).
- Slower adoption or competition (Canva AI, Adobe, pure video players) could compress to 8-12x.
- AI infra costs: Optimize aggressively for unit economics.
- Market sentiment: 2026 SaaS multiples are compressed; AI premium helps but requires proven traction.
- Execution: Need strong fundraising (multiple $100M+ rounds), talent, and speed in video/multi-modal.
This plan remains super-ambitious but is now calibrated to real 2025-2026 data. Prioritize: rapid video shipping, virality/PLG, enterprise motion, and capital efficiency. Execute relentlessly—creative AI is one of the hottest categories, and tday’s focus on “editable + brand-consistent + fast” is a strong wedge.
There is nothing more powerful than well-informed optimism. It has to be well-informed though. The "everything will be fine" type of optimism may also be somewhat useful, but it's not as useful as the "Hmm, what if we tried x?" kind.
— Paul Graham (@paulg) May 17, 2026
YC mid-batch reflection:
— Ines Boutemadja (@inesboutem) May 17, 2026
I subconsciously expected more hand-holding because the batch is only 3 months.
But YC really does not coddle founders.
You get all the resources, network, advice..
But it’s relentlessly resourceful founder mode all the way = you have to figure it out
Mid-batch YC Reflection
— Naman Bansal (@NamanBansal0611) May 17, 2026
It's easy to get lost in trying to move fast. While that is important, don't let it take away from what actually matters: quality.
Have 10 people who love you rather than 50 people who think you're meh.
nobody warns you that the hardest part of YC isn't building the product.
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 17, 2026
it's sitting in a room full of insanely smart people and wondering if you belong here.
then you realize everyone in the room is thinking the same thing. and somehow that makes it easier to keep going.
Every bully I grew up with peaked at 16.
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 16, 2026
They had the power in school. The fear. The attention. And then life started.
Turns out the skills you build by making people feel small don't transfer. Nobody promotes you for being cruel. Nobody invests in you because you're…
Hot take: we should replace all currency with AI tokens.
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 16, 2026
Rent is 50K tokens. Coffee is 12 tokens. Your paycheck? Sorry, you hit the rate limit. Try again in 60 seconds.
At least when the economy hallucinates it'll admit it was wrong.
— Arseniy Shishaev (YC P26) (@arseniycodes) May 15, 2026
I got rejected from all the universities I applied to because my GPA was that low. I mean really really low.
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 16, 2026
Fast forward to today. I'm in San Francisco surrounded by the best minds, solving real problems. Attending Y Combinator, Building my AI startup, and doing things students…
went from a tiny room in nepal to building a startup in san francisco in 3 months.
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 15, 2026
some days i still can't believe this is real. then i open my laptop and there are 47 things to fix and it feels very real very fast.
the dream and the grind are the same thing. you just don't…
the biggest myth about YC is that everyone has it figured out.
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 15, 2026
i've talked to so many founders in our batch. they're all confused. about pricing, positioning, what to build next.
but here's the thing, that's actually motivating. because if nobody has the answers, the only…
when you’re too locked in to actually go to a badminton court… pic.twitter.com/8sIygCZKLt
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 15, 2026
What happens when 3 ex YC CTOs start a company together?
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 15, 2026
The answer is @superset_sh
We’ve been {{Superset}} users since week 3 of YC, and getting to meet the founders in person feels amazing!💥💥💥@avimakesrobots @FlyaKiet @saddle_paddle pic.twitter.com/RKDpsVE6fC
Digital Marketing Minimum: Channels, Optimization, and Analytics https://t.co/SuVUCbebYB
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2026
Digital Marketing Minimum https://t.co/hki7izgnzZ
Marketing Principles Plus AI https://t.co/UKWWipfmwK
👇👇👇
30 Ways To Close Sales https://t.co/ixpxm1BXlM
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2026
Digital Sales Funnels https://t.co/pqQHzrd6QN
👆👆
Corporate Culture/ Operating System: Greatness https://t.co/NvuFk4pSEZ
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2026
Musk’s Management https://t.co/tD7n6ZojzF
30-30-30-10: A Better Equity Formula For Tech Startups https://t.co/lEZhcUmxu2
Six Weeks From Zero https://t.co/PEZEon1uMJ
👇👇
Marketing Escape Velocity: The Path To Unicorn Status And Beyond https://t.co/hUmu5bv6z0
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2026
Unicorn to Solara: A Journey of Imagination: From Billion-Dollar Startups to Trillion-Dollar Suns https://t.co/aW3k05R3bM 👇👇
LUMINA AI: The Trillion-Dollar Sun https://t.co/VdZVQutRVx
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2026
Himalayan Compute: Grand Solara Vision https://t.co/kV2JQg0fSo 👆👆
Manicule (@manicule) owns docs and developer content for @Greptile, @Skyvern, @Supermemory, and others. Half the cost of a DevRel, twice as fast, written for agents.
— Y Combinator (@ycombinator) May 14, 2026
Comment 'AUDIT' for a free audit of your docs.
Congrats on the launch, @NamanBansal0611 and @shreyansj!… pic.twitter.com/dTSUthg47y
“Read what you love until you love to read”@naval pic.twitter.com/IctW2c3Zyn
— matt palmer (@mattyp) May 14, 2026
Shabnam's CloudWorld Adventures: Shabnam And The Lost Rainbow (Age 7) (Book 1: Age 7) https://t.co/OsTd9NRsW3
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2026
locally reversing entropy ⏪ pic.twitter.com/Y7vtBOC2yP
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 13, 2026
to all founders struggling with focus. Highly recommend @EndelSound !
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 13, 2026
the grind is there, but I also made really good friends in this batch.@nicolomagnante @jenandtech_ pic.twitter.com/iU0t3I9AAR
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 13, 2026
Superlog (@superlogYC) is the observability tool you're not supposed to open: a wizard sets up your logs, traces, alerts, and dashboards daily, and an agent investigates incidents and posts one mergeable PR per issue into Slack.
— Y Combinator (@ycombinator) May 12, 2026
Sign up here: https://t.co/DbzkNj5vSp
Congrats on… pic.twitter.com/0Bijd4IHAO
met the Claude Code team.
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 13, 2026
Big Fan 🪭 @bcherny @_catwu @trq212 pic.twitter.com/dSO2UqXOhx
Oddpool (@oddpool_alerts) is the institutional data layer for prediction markets. It captures every trade and order book update across every platform and normalizes them under universal tickers.
— Y Combinator (@ycombinator) May 11, 2026
Congrats on the launch, @c0delemons & @RiteshMalpani!https://t.co/02YPDfK0hW pic.twitter.com/e2CiLF8Fwa
if ur cto isn’t coding until gravity takes over his head, ur not shipping hard enough pic.twitter.com/AALPDInObo
— Nicolò Magnante (YC P26) (@nicolomagnante) May 12, 2026
New podcast on sales - Sell the Truth.
— Naval (@naval) May 12, 2026
00:00 Be Credible
03:18 “Yes, And”
04:31 Selfish Honesty
05:37 Charisma Is Confidence + Love
07:56 Don’t Manage, Lead
11:16 Hunt Together
14:51 Feed Your (Good) Obsessions
18:57 Sell the Truth
21:07 Good Deal or No Deal
23:39 The… pic.twitter.com/qHUNKe5bmG
Mr. Krabs is hungry for some compute 👾🦞 pic.twitter.com/GqKlh4yowO
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 10, 2026
This is so cool!
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 10, 2026
Remember the time when the whiteboard animations were all over YT. https://t.co/CWuESePfRS is going to revolutionize this! https://t.co/wteo2Lir6l
128 gb RAM is crazy! I can run so many agents in parallel wow!
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 9, 2026
Always be supersetting (even if you’re supposed to be socializing) pic.twitter.com/w9w0ZT4BHs
— Kiet (@FlyaKiet) May 9, 2026
meet Mr. Krabs 🦀
— shyamsundar shrestha (@s43stha) May 9, 2026
my 24/7 openclaw setup
red, angry, never sleeps 🦞🦞🦞 pic.twitter.com/USp6otcjpe
Ardent (@ArdentAI) let's you clone any Postgres DB <6s at TB scale so coding agents can test their code and engineering teams can ship fast without fear of taking down production.
— Y Combinator (@ycombinator) May 8, 2026
It's already being used by dozens of teams like Supermemory and Surface Labs with 10TB+ of data… pic.twitter.com/YYqaWDQOGj
Clawvisor (@clawvisor) lets you give AI agents access to apps like Gmail and Slack without handing over your credentials or worrying they'll go rogue. You approve tasks once, Clawvisor enforce them.
— Y Combinator (@ycombinator) May 7, 2026
Congrats on the launch, @ericlevine!https://t.co/S51QlWauds pic.twitter.com/NZvntdA1Fm
Congrats to @mansourtarek_, @luanalopeslara, and the @Kalshi team on their $1B raise at a $22B valuation!
— Y Combinator (@ycombinator) May 7, 2026
Today, Kalshi represents over 90% of US prediction market volume and the majority of activity globally, with annualized trading volume hitting $178B— more than tripling over… pic.twitter.com/EG286sEAfX
Hello Kalshi. Hire me to create a Grand Solara Vision (TM) for your company. 100K. 8-12 weeks to delivery. 👇👇
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 18, 2026
Samples: Himalayan Compute: Grand Solara Vision https://t.co/tKSfK9PSTZ
LUMINA AI: The Trillion-Dollar Sun https://t.co/6HPDoygDRP
Marketing Escape Velocity: The Path To Unicorn Status And Beyond https://t.co/hUmu5bv6z0
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 18, 2026
Unicorn to Solara: A Journey of Imagination: From Billion-Dollar Startups to Trillion-Dollar Suns https://t.co/aW3k05R3bM
👇👇🌞🌞
Unicorn to Solara with Purpose: Marketing, Mergers, and Responsible Capitalism https://t.co/u0VZT5iefH 👆👆👆🌞🌞🌞🦄🦄🦄
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 18, 2026
🎨 Netizen: Tday and the Era of Generative Abundance https://t.co/CDuALhoNfW
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 18, 2026
