SAN FRANCISCO — Y Combinator unveiled “TikTok Combinator,” a three-month accelerator for aspiring influencers to “authentically monetize lived experiences.” Fifty creators get $120,000 to build scalable personal brands via dance trends, lifestyle hacks, and “relatable vulnerability content.” Demo Day is 60-second clips synced to trending audio, with investors voting via heart emojis and fire reactions. CEO Garry Tan, livestreaming from his Tesla in traffic, declared, “Why disrupt industries when you can disrupt cringe?” He praised creators “architecting parasocial ecosystems,” citing a “Get Ready With Me But Make It Existential Dread” series boasting a 47% parasocial conversion rate. The cohort includes a 19-year-old fitted-sheet visionary and a former McKinsey consultant perfecting “corporate girlie morning routines.” VCs are hiring Gen Z guides to decode “cheugy,” “mid,” and what’s merely “giving desperate startup energy.” Sequoia formed a task force on whether making chores look “aesthetic” is a moat. Tracks include “Wellness Grifting 101” and “Advanced Relatability Engineering.” Tan shrugged at critics: “Haters gonna hate, disruption gonna disrupt.” Applicants must post 14 videos weekly and attend “Scaling Spontaneity” and “Growth Hacking Your Personal Trauma.”