I didn't tell my Y Combinator batchmates I had a kid. I worried they'd think I wasn't hardcore enough.

Nicholas Charriere said the parents in his YC batch kept their kids "hush-hush." Nicholas Charriere Nicholas Charriere had a kid before entering Y Combinator.

He kept his kid mostly a secret.

"I don't want people thinking I'm not as hardcore," he said.

Charriere said that talking about having a kid was "not the vibe." This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nicholas Charriere, the 36-year-old cofounder of Mocha, an AI app builder.

He lives in the Bay Area.

It's been edited for length and clarity.

I grew up in France.

I studied math and physics.

Then I discovered Hacker News , and I started learning all about entrepreneurship.

I decided: I want to be in technology, and I want to be a founder.

I moved to San Francisco after my studies with that goal.

It took six years to sort out visa issues.

After that, I didn't really have a cofounder, and I got a great offer from Cruise , so I took that.

I spent four years there.