#146 - Startup School Week 5 Recap - Kirsty Nathoo and Kevin Hale

About this episode

<p>We've cut down the fifth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First <a href="https://youtu.be/LBC16jhiwak">a lecture from Kirsty Nathoo</a>. Kirsty is a partner and CFO of YC. Her lecture focuses on the most common mistakes startups make with their finances and how they can avoid making them.<br><br>Then <a href="https://youtu.be/30a5yFBd7Fo">a lecture from Kevin Hale</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/ilikevests">Kevin</a> is also a partner at YC and he’ll talk about the importance of building a successful working relationship with your cofounders and processes you can use to do so.<br><br>Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.<br><br>Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a><br><br>***<br><br><b>Topics<br><br></b>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:38 - Kirsty Nathoo - Startup Finance Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them<br><br>2:08 - #1 - Not knowing what to look at: bank balance, money coming in, and money going out<br><br>2:56 - Burn<br><br>3:41 - Runway<br><br>4:59 - Growth rate <br><br>5:48 - Default alive - <a href="http://growth.tlb.org">http://growth.tlb.org</a> and <a href="http://paulgraham.com/aord.html">http://paulgraham.com/aord.html</a><br><br>8:09 - #2 - Not looking often enough: every week<br><br>9:04 - #3 - Under-Representing Expenses <br><br>12:27 - #4 - Out-sourcing responsibility<br><br>15:11 - #5 - Scaling too quickly<br><br>20:08 - #6 - Letting runway get too low before fundraising - <a href="https://blog.ycombinator.com/advice-startups-running-out-of-money/">https://blog.ycombinator.com/advice-startups-running-out-of-money/</a> <br><br>23:21 - Kevin Hale - How to Work Together<br><br>24:49 - Everyone fights<br><br>25:43 - Four things to avoid: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling<br><br>27:40 - Make a plan before you fight: divide and conquer<br><br>31:11 - Know thyself - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s9ACDMcpjA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s9ACDMcpjA</a><br><br>34:12 - Document a process<br><br>36:20 - Use nonviolent communication<br><br>37:19 - Observation vs evaluation<br><br>39:16 - Emotions vs thoughts - <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/nonviolent/evaluative-words-list-nonviolent-communication">https://www.slideshare.net/nonviolent/evaluative-words-list-nonviolent-communication</a><br><br>41:50 - Universal needs<br><br>43:38 - Requests vs demands<br><br>45:46 - How to Deliver Constructive Feedback in Difficult Situations - <a href="https://medium.com/s/please-advise/the-essential-guide-to-difficult-conversations-41f736e63ccf">https://medium.com/s/please-advise/the-essential-guide-to-difficult-conversations-41f736e63ccf</a><br><br>46:01 - Pay down your emotional debt<br><br>47:18 - Practice having level 3 conversations<b><br></b></p>