Y Combinator Startup Podcast

Co-Founder Mistakes That Kill Companies & How To Avoid Them

<p>In the first episode of Rookie Mistakes, Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss co-founder mistakes. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back?<br> <br> Apply to Y Combinator:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbEQ4MG0tZVo0eEcyRmt6MjFxcFBjeWhTcHRId3xBQ3Jtc0trVklnZkNmNFhPczBLOTdnYlN6UW9mNW1idDdJWjVSVlRhSGQ1QWhMY1lMbnRzTW1ZYXIwbkRRQlduZjRRbzB1a1h5eWdGb3EtbXl2Z2NzZ2VROHUwYU50MWJqS1VTWGtyU3N2c1ZpRmFKLW1ldG5fQQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ycombinator.com%2Fapply%2F&amp;v=AWa4qZvtMuY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a><strong> &nbsp;</strong><br> Work at a startup:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqa3Fab2J0MWxnVU05RUFaeVlPdDd2WG9GeEM4UXxBQ3Jtc0trOGhiS0ZIUTE4WTBuNzJGTXk5MzJuRXg2UmpjRzhndjAxQjlaSUktTGZ0VUlFUUtfem1vRmc4U3hPaE50VHVxUVg0YVB2ZXo2MXFkWDNCbFRFTUtYOXN3bkxjWmtHMnJGLUNRb3J5dU4wcVdXeVJ5VQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ycombinator.com%2Fjobs&amp;v=AWa4qZvtMuY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs</a></p>

Dealing With Setbacks And The Startup Gut Punch

<p>Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the best approaches to managing the many setbacks startup founders can face over the lifetime of starting and running a business. &nbsp;<br> <br> Apply to Y Combinator: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbEQ4MG0tZVo0eEcyRmt6MjFxcFBjeWhTcHRId3xBQ3Jtc0trVklnZkNmNFhPczBLOTdnYlN6UW9mNW1idDdJWjVSVlRhSGQ1QWhMY1lMbnRzTW1ZYXIwbkRRQlduZjRRbzB1a1h5eWdGb3EtbXl2Z2NzZ2VROHUwYU50MWJqS1VTWGtyU3N2c1ZpRmFKLW1ldG5fQQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ycombinator.com%2Fapply%2F&amp;v=AWa4qZvtMuY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a> &nbsp;<br> Work at a startup: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqa3Fab2J0MWxnVU05RUFaeVlPdDd2WG9GeEM4UXxBQ3Jtc0trOGhiS0ZIUTE4WTBuNzJGTXk5MzJuRXg2UmpjRzhndjAxQjlaSUktTGZ0VUlFUUtfem1vRmc4U3hPaE50VHVxUVg0YVB2ZXo2MXFkWDNCbFRFTUtYOXN3bkxjWmtHMnJGLUNRb3J5dU4wcVdXeVJ5VQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ycombinator.com%2Fjobs&amp;v=AWa4qZvtMuY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs</a></p>

Saving Your Startup During an Economic Downturn

<p>Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss Paul Graham's essay "Default Alive or Default Dead." They share strategies to cut your company's burn rate and keep your startup alive to see another day. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br> <br> Paul Graham's essay: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbGpNRGd5aXBTcDZvQlRJbXZPLUdjTGlvQlZOQXxBQ3Jtc0ttLWVuZ0Jzc2lMa2J4SnJHbFFEc0hQeWx0NUVHYzVrVGR6OFNLNXpkbEVaaVN6aVBpQTJMdFJrbFVHU2Nta05Bb1BDYUxGbU5yWWFkYmowOG5QS2RmWGVpdlJybjl1OVA0WXdsMDVyakdoUWRyeXI0Yw&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.paulgraham.com%2Faord.html&amp;v=0OVSTWozvfY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.paulgraham.com/aord.html</a> &nbsp;<br> Trevor Blackwell's startup growth calculator: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUFkSExPS0hRSXJpRXdPR1N3dGNuS2lHNHB0QXxBQ3Jtc0trMGRvdHYyd1VqMl9rTGNvX0psY2dGTjlBZlY2X0cxNzZFRnNlQVpFLW5UakJhQlF5VE1hRDc5ZWpIOG5fd1FFTkgxa0loZmZpZk83MlJZMEtBd3lRRlRtd2JkM0xtZU5jcnRHUm1NdWRwblItUTJ4Yw&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fgrowth.tlb.org%2F&amp;v=0OVSTWozvfY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://growth.tlb.org</a> &nbsp;<br> Apply to Y Combinator: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqa1NKRGFFMUNheHZMbzVRTUtaNnNKVF9CZjMtd3xBQ3Jtc0tuXzAzd3JicDMzX1JPdDlGUGFpMzl2cEtwWjZHVVVFaHc2ekpfNmZOdXpFVDA3X1ZtTjlyZ0VLNEEycVVUc01vYm8xLUktOGNKS0dFRjhvTUE5SDdkUXdYd0h5TVBNY2FyeHYwNUUwcUFIVVpiSE1ucw&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ycombinator.com%2Fapply%2F&amp;v=0OVSTWozvfY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a> &nbsp;<br> Work at a startup: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbEk2TEdfY1dqTVg4ZEJwSXJzLVNxWGRBVHlaQXxBQ3Jtc0ttTlhKZmFUUDFWRjhSeG5OWlIzbzJEYU9WSVZuVGdlNjRhckVJZFFuQUUzVWp6cWNPQkVlTDBCR1NlN05UelE2V281Vm1kZ0NQbUFabktGeWRIbUNZS3g4RmxMaHBMSHNfZU9FWmx6T3NYS0w4bVBvTQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ycombinator.com%2Fjobs&amp;v=0OVSTWozvfY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs</a></p>

Why You Should Leave Your FAANG Job

<p>Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the struggles of working at FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) and how to strategize leaving a big tech job to become a founder at a startup.</p> <p> Apply to Y Combinator: <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a><br> Work at a startup: <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs">https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs</a></p>

How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done

<p>Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel take a look at Paul Graham's essay "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" and share tips on how to be more effective and productive on the journey to creating a billion dollar business.</p> <p><br> Read PG's essay here: <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html">http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html</a><br> Apply to Y Combinator: <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a><br> Work at a startup: <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs">https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs</a></p>

#157 - Diego Saez Gil

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/dsaezgil">Diego Saez Gil </a>is the founder of <a href="http://www.pachama.com/">Pachama</a>. Pachama is building a marketplace where companies can support carbon offset projects.</p><p>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Craig Cannon</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/">Y Combinator</a> invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.</p><p>Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/&nbsp;</p><p>***</p><p><b>Topics</b></p><p>00:00 - Welcome Gustaf and Diego <br>01:19 - Diego's background<br>06:50 - What is Pachama?<br>09:25 - Using remote sensing to track carbon<br>11:37 - Connecting disparate groups<br>13:04 - How much carbon does a typical company offset?<br>15:28 - How big is the reforesting opportunity?<br>17:09 - What are the incentives to offset carbon?<br>18:40 - Why don't people trust carbon offsets?<br>20:33 - What are the different forest conservation methods?<br>25:20 - How does Pachama use technology?<br>29:00 - Growth challenges<br>30:20 - Who are the customers?<br>32:12 - The future of the carbon market<br>32:48 - Fundraising for a climate startup<br>37:50 - Advice for people that want to start working in the climate change space.<br>41:38 - Climate policy<br>43:23 - What are the most important things happening in the space?<br>45:10 - The benefits of agroforestry and permaculture<br></p>

#156 - Amber Atherton and Iba Masood

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/AmberAtherton">Amber Atherton</a> is the founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.zyper.com/">Zyper</a> (YC W18).<br><br><a href="https://twitter.com/ibamasood">Iba Masood</a> is the cofounder and CEO of <a href="https://tara.ai/">TARA</a> (YC W15).<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>***<br><br><b>Topics</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>1:16 - Seed fundraising for Zyper and Tara<br><br>3:26 - Tara's pivot<br><br>4:31 - Series A fundraising for Zyper and Tara<br><br>18:11 - Evaluating investors<br><br>23:46 - Meeting with associates and partners<br><br>30:35 - Raising a Series A as a female founder<br><br>39:31 - Fundraising psychology <br><br>41:46 - What not to do when fundraising <br><br>45:01 - Talking to portfolio companies about investors<br><br>46:21 - What it's like to run a Series A stage company <br><br>1:00:41 - The most important piece of advice for fundraising<br></p>

#155 - Laks Srini

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/laks_srini">Laks Srini</a> is the cofounder and CTO of <a href="https://zerodown.com/">ZeroDown</a>. Before that he was the cofounder and CTO of Zenefits.<br><br>You can find him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/laks_srini">@laks_srini</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigCannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:30 - What is ZeroDown?<br><br>1:50 - How did they test the idea?<br><br>3:50 - What did they learn from companies that failed in the space?<br><br>8:00 - Breaking down the product<br><br>11:25 - ZeroDown's customers<br><br>13:35 - Expanding to other markets<br><br>15:50 - What if a downturn happens?<br><br>17:10 - ZeroDown's hiring strategy<br><br>20:10 - What are their hardest technical challenges?<br><br>22:05 - ZeroDown's breadth and product strategy<br><br>26:40 - Customer interviews<br><br>28:35 - Should everyone own a house?<br><br>29:50 - Home ownership in the future<br><br>32:45 - Build something you really want to see in the world<br><br>34:40 - Working with his cofounders was the most important consideration <br></p>

#154 - Matt Cutts

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/mattcutts">Matt Cutts</a> is the Administrator of the <a href="https://www.usds.gov/">US Digital Service</a> and previously he was the head of the webspam team at Google.<br><br>You can find him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/mattcutts">@mattcutts</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:36 - Working at Google in 2000<br><br>2:48 - Did Google's success feel certain?<br><br>3:53 - Building self-service ads<br><br>7:23 - The evil unicorn problem<br><br>8:23 - Lawsuits around search<br><br>10:48 - Content moderation and spam<br><br>14:38 - Matt's progression over 17 years at Google<br><br>17:18 - Deepfakes<br><br>18:43 - Joining the USDS<br><br>21:03 - What the USDS does<br><br>23:43 - Working at the USDS<br><br>26:43 - Educating people in government about tech<br><br>28:58 - Creating a rapid feedback loop within government<br><br>31:48 - Michael Wang asks - How does USDS decide whether to outsource something to a private company, or build the software in house?<br><br>32:58 - Spencer Clark asks - It would seem that the government is so far behind the private industry’s technology. To what extent is this true and what can be done about it? How should we gauge the progress of institutions like the USDS?<br><br>36:03 - Stephan Sturges asks - With GANs getting more and more powerful is the USDS thinking about the future of data authenticity?<br><br>38:23 - John Doherty asks - How difficult was it to communicate Google’s algorithm changes and evolving SEO best practices without leaking new spam tactics?<br><br>40:18 - Vanman0254 asks - How can smart tech folks better contribute to regulatory and policy discussions in government? <br><br>42:38 - Ronak Shah asks - What's your best pitch to high-performing startups in the Bay Area to adopt more of human centered design (something that the government has been moving towards surprisingly well, but that some fast moving startups have neglected resulting in controversy)<br><br>49:58 - Adam Hoffman asks - What are legislators, the government, and the general populace most “getting wrong” in how they conceptualize the internet?<br><br>51:33 - Raphael Ferreira asks - Is it possible to live without google? How do you think google affected people in searching for answers and content, now that’s we find everything in just one click?<br><br>55:23 - Tim Woods asks - Which job was more fun and why?<br><br>57:13 - Working in government vs private industry<br><br>1:00:48 - Snehan Kekre asks - What is Matt's view of the ongoing debate about backdooring encryption for so called lawful interception? <br></p>

#153 - Cory Doctorow and Joe Betts-LaCroix

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/doctorow">Cory Doctorow</a> is a blogger, journalist, and science fiction author. He’s also the co-editor of <a href="https://boingboing.net/">Boing Boing</a>.<br><br><a href="https://twitter.com/bettslacroix">Joe Betts-Lacroix</a> is the CTO of <a href="https://www.vium.com/">VIUM</a> and an Expert at YC.<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/&nbsp;">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/&nbsp;</a><br><br>***<br><br><b>Topics</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:32 - Adversarial interoperability <br><br>7:55 - So what should founders do?<br><br>13:55 - Copyright<br><br>19:55 - Remixing <br><br>27:00 - AT&amp;T<br><br>29:50 - Firms and state-like duties<br><br>31:25 - Medium-term suggestions for founders<br><br>39:25 - Conspiracy theories<br><br>51:50 - Science fiction and predictions <br><br>56:55 - Peak indifference model<br></p>

#151 - Startup School Week 10 Recap - Ali Rowghani on How to Lead and Kevin Hale and Adora Cheung on Startup School 2019 by the Numbers

<p>We've cut down the tenth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First, a lecture from&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/rowghani">Ali Rowghani</a>. Ali is a partner at YC. His lecture covers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HDO1p3VdYg">how to lead</a>.<br><br>Then a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/ilikevests?lang=en">Kevin Hale</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/nolimits">Adora Cheung</a>. Kevin and Adora are both partners at YC. Their lecture breaks down this year’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atgskSiD-8M&amp;feature=youtu.be">Startup School by the numbers</a> and they share tips on what helped companies most.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:36 - Ali Rowghani - How to Lead<br><br>1:36 - Ali's background<br><br>2:56 - There's no single archetype for a great leader so be yourself<br><br>5:16 - Great leaders think and communicate clearly<br><br>9:56 - Great leaders have good judgement about people<br><br>12:56 - Great leaders have strong personal integrity and commitment<br><br>13:46 - The transparency test<br><br>14:41 - The best way to measure great leaders is in terms of the amount of trust they engender in the people that work with them<br><br>15:21 - The science of trust<br><br>16:08 - The art of trust<br><br>16:36 - Optimize for trust<br><br>17:40 - Kevin Hale and Adora Cheung - Startup School 2019 by the Numbers<br><br>19:24 - Startup School grew during the course<br><br>20:24 - Did SUS make a difference?<br><br>21:14 - 106 SUS companies were accepted into YC<br><br>23:17 - How can you replicate their success?<br><br>23:44 - Be clear and concise<br><br>26:59 - Edit your company description<br><br>28:04 - Weekly updates submitted<br><br>28:39 - Top 7 biggest obstacles for SUS companies<br><br>29:04 - Top 7 KPI movers<br><br>29:59 - Top 7 user insights<br><br>31:04 - Average startup weeks to launch<br><br>31:54 - Average hard tech or biotech startup weeks to launch<br><br>32:54 - % of weekly updates from launched startups<br><br>33:34 - Group sessions<br><br>33:59 - Companies got better at explaining their ideas, selling themselves, and getting others excited<br><br>35:09 - Founders like qualitative feedback<br><br>36:09 - No shows<br><br>37:19 - Morale<br><br>37:49 - Technical, launched, full-time, revenue generating, non-flaky, non-solo founder startups that talk to users are happier<br><br>41:14 - Summary<br></p>

#150 - Startup School Week 9 Recap - Carolynn Levy on Modern Startup Financing and Jared Friedman’s Advice for Hard-tech and Biotech Founders

<p>We've cut down the ninth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First, a lecture from Carolynn Levy. Carolynn is a partner at YC. Her lecture covers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qWZALyGSmg">modern startup financing</a>.<br><br>Then a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/snowmaker">Jared Friedman</a>. Jared is also a partner at YC. His lecture focuses on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DlZWfI6rk">advice for hard-tech and biotech founders</a>.<br><br>***<br><br><b>Topics<br></b><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:33 - Carolynn Levy - Modern Startup Financing<br><br>1:33 - The basics: form a corporation, need money to grow?, sell a part of the company<br><br>2:58 - Fundraising terms<br><br>3:58 - What has changed: structure, access, focus<br><br>5:10 - What hasn't changed: preferred stock financing, valuation and dilution, communication<br><br>6:42 - Old way of raising early money: Series A preferred stock financing<br><br>8:33 - What was broken?<br><br>9:33 - The transition: bridge loan financings<br><br>10:46 - Realization: convertible promissory notes are a better way to fund early stage startups<br><br>12:01 - Modernization of the convertible - SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)<br><br>14:03 - When do priced rounds happen?<br><br>15:12 - Is modern early stage financing perfected?<br><br>18:01 - Takeaways<br><br>19:30 - Jared Friedman - Advice for Hard-tech and Biotech Founders<br><br>20:25 - What is a hard-tech company?<br><br>21:35 - Why start a hard-tech company?<br><br>25:06 - YC is the largest bio and hard-tech seed investor in the world<br><br>25:49 - How much of YC's advice applies to hard-tech founders?<br><br>26:33 - How do you make progress when you have a "heavy MVP"?<br><br>31:49 - How do you prove people will want your product, if you haven't built it yet?<br><br>32:57 - Letter of Intent<br><br>34:10 - Fundraising for hard-tech and biotech companies<br><br>36:15 - Final thought<br></p>

#149 - Startup School Week 8 Recap - Adora Cheung on Prioritizing Your Time and Kevin Hale on Evaluating Startup Ideas

<p>We've cut down the eighth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/nolimits">Adora Cheung</a>. Adora’s a partner at YC. Her lecture covers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcCmMOWuAF4">how to prioritize your time</a>.<br><br>Then a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/ilikevests">Kevin Hale</a>. Kevin is also a partner at YC. His lecture is the second part of his talk on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17XZGUX_9iM">how to evaluate startup ideas</a>.<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/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a></p><p><br>***<br><br><b>Topics</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:32 - Adora Cheung - How to Prioritize Your Time<br><br>2:12 - Real vs fake progress<br><br>4:10 - How to determine if you're prioritizing the right tasks<br><br>4:42 - Keep a spreadsheet of ideas related to moving your primary KPI<br><br>7:32 - Grade the new and old ideas once a week based on potential impact<br><br>9:52 - Consider the complexity of each task<br><br>11:32 - Don't try to do everything at once<br><br>11:52 - How do I know I'm prioritizing my time well?<br><br>13:42 - What if I can't complete my tasks in time?<br><br>14:02 - <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html">Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule&nbsp;</a><br><br>15:32 - Moving fast<br><br>16:47 - Kevin Hale - How to Evaluate Startup Ideas Pt. 2<br><br>18:52 - <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/howtoapply/">How to apply to Y Combinator</a><br><br>20:17 - As a YC partner, you don't need to sell me<br><br>21:12 - Can I understand the idea? Am I excited by it? Do I like the team and want to work with them?<br><br>21:47 - How do I describe my company in a very efficient manner?<br><br>22:52 - Making your idea legible<br><br>25:12 - Things to avoid when describing your company<br><br>27:34 - Be conversational<br><br>28:02 - Avoid jargon, no preamble, and be reproducible<br><br>28:47 - Nouns: what are you making, what is the problem, and who is the customer<br><br>32:47 - Using the X for Y formula of explaining your startup<br><br>36:57 - Be concise without leaving out the key nouns<br><br>40:47 - How to adjust a description<br></p>

#148 - Startup School Week 7 Recap - Kevin Hale on Conversion Rates and Pricing

<p>We've cut down the seventh week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br><a href="https://twitter.com/ilikevests">Kevin Hale</a> gave both lectures this week. Kevin’s a partner at YC and cofounded Wufoo. His first lecture is on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGqX9fpweyc">how to improve conversion rates</a> and his second lecture is on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwXlo9gy_k4">pricing for startups</a>.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro <br><br>00:27 - Kevin Hale - How to Improve Conversion Rates<br><br>1:02 - Why we care about conversion rates<br><br>2:02 - Shareware conversion rate is .5%<br><br>2:22 - Casual download games is 2%<br><br>2:32 - Freemium SaaS range from 1.5 to 5%<br><br>3:57 - Knowledge spectrum<br><br>5:52 - The one button interface<br><br>6:37 - What is the call to action? And the magic moment.<br><br>8:02 - What is it?<br><br>8:38 - Is it right for me?<br><br>9:02 - Is it legit?<br><br>9:22 - Who else is using it?<br><br>9:52 - How much? What's the catch?<br><br>10:39 - Where can I get help?<br><br>11:30 - Kevin Hale - Startup Pricing 101<br><br>13:15 - Monetization gives you the biggest bang for your buck<br><br>14:35 - Price thermometer<br><br>16:35 - Mistake 1 - Prices are too low<br><br>16:55 - Mistake 2 - Underestimate costs <br><br>17:08 - Mistake 3 - Don't understand your value<br><br>17:27 - Mistake 4 - Focus on wrong customers<br><br>18:05 - Sales and profit over a product's life<br><br>19:20 - Why is pricing innovation hard?<br><br>21:27 - How to optimize prices <br><br>22:32 - $1B formula<br><br>24:05 - Price and complexity<br><br>26:55 - 10 - 5 - 20 rule<br><br>28:20 - Summary<br></p>

#147 - Startup School Week 6 Recap - Tim Brady on Culture and Dalton Caldwell on Pivoting

<p>We've cut down the sixth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First <a href="https://youtu.be/qnNHW6TYv5I">a lecture from Tim Brady</a>. Tim’s a partner at YC. His lecture covers the importance of building a good culture early and shares six things that you can do now to help create a solid foundation for your startup.<br><br>Then <a href="https://youtu.be/8pNxKX1SUGE">a lecture from Dalton Caldwell</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/daltonc">Dalton</a> is a partner at YC and he’s also the head of admissions. His lecture covers pivoting and his advice on how founders should think about it.<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></b><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:38 - Tim Brady on Building Culture<br><br>1:13 - Culture is behavior and the right behaviors support a good business <br><br>4:38 - Six things new startups can do now<br><br>5:00 - 1. Be proud of the problem you are solving<br><br>7:31 - 2. Create a long term vision that others will follow<br><br>9:36 - 3. List your values then model the behavior<br><br>12:34 - 4. Align your culture with your customer<br><br>14:49 - 5. Discuss the importance of diversity to your company<br><br>16:43 - 6. Put a hiring process into practice. Plan to evolve it.<br><br>18:24 - Dalton Caldwell on Pivoting<br><br>18:53 - The term "pivot"<br><br>20:20 - Why pivot?<br><br>21:33 - Good reasons to pivot<br><br>22:35 - Good reasons not to pivot<br><br>23:13 - Why people take too long to pivot<br><br>26:01 - Anecdotes<br><br>27:22 - Product market fit<br><br>28:34 - How to find a better idea<br><br>30:40 - It's ok to not work on an idea that requires venture capital<br><br>31:34 - Venture vs. non-venture scale ideas <br><br>32:52 - When is the best time to pivot<br><br>33:48 - More pivoting thoughts <br><br>35:07 - Idea quality scores<br><br>37:11 - Brex<br><br>39:51 - Retool <br><br>41:37 - Magic<br><br>43:22 - Segment<br><br>45:16 - Dalton's summary</p>

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

<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>

#145 - Startup School Week 4 Recap - Kat Mañalac and Gustaf Alströmer

<p>We've cut down the fourth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xU050kMbHM">a lecture from Kat Manalac</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/katmanalac">Kat</a> is a partner at YC. Her lecture focuses on how startups should think about launching and why you should do it repeatedly.<br><br>Then a lecture from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lY9CYIY4pQ">Gustaf Alströmer</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/gustaf">Gustaf</a> is also a partner at YC and in his lecture he covers how to measure product market fit and growth channels.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:35 - Kat Mañalac - How to Launch (Again and Again)<br><br>1:51 - Ways to launch<br><br>2:14 - Why launch continuously?<br><br>3:15 - Silent launch<br><br>4:25 - Friends &amp; Family<br><br>5:40 - Strangers<br><br>7:03 - Online communities<br><br>12:08 - Request access<br><br>13:29 - Social media<br><br>15:13 - Pre-order<br><br>16:13 - New Product or Feature<br><br>17:42 - Build your own community<br><br>19:20 - Launching isn't one moment in time<br><br>19:48 - Gustaf Alströmer - Growth for Startups<br><br>21:06 - Most startups have nothing<br><br>22:13 - Do things that don't scale<br><br>27:13 - Startups take off because founders make them take off<br><br>28:23 - Measuring product market fit<br><br>31:20 - Retention<br><br>34:33 - Worse ways to measure product market fit<br><br>35:23 - Bad metrics to measure as product market fit<br><br>36:18 - Growth channels and tactics<br><br>38:17 - Conversion rate optimization<br><br>41:26 - Growth channels to explore<br><br>45:33 - Referrals and vitality<br><br>48:05 - Paid growth<br><br>50:09 - Search Engine Optimization<br><br>53:00 - Making decisions using A/B testing<br><br>55:02 - Summary</p>

#144 - Startup School Week 3 Recap - Anu Hariharan and Adora Cheung

<p>We've cut down the third week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First, a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/anuhariharan">Anu Hariharan</a>. Anu is a partner at YC. <a href="https://youtu.be/PTg3RZPXgLg">Her lecture</a> covers nine common startup business models and the metrics investors want to see for each.<br><br>Then, a Q&amp;A with Anu and <a href="https://twitter.com/nolimits">Adora Cheung</a>. Adora is also at partner at YC. <a href="https://youtu.be/zcG-kXH4mPk">During their Q&amp;A</a> they’ll answer questions from Startup School Founders on how investors evaluate startups.<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><a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/"></a><br>***<br><br><b>Topics<br></b><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:39 - Anu Hariharan on Nine Business Models and the Metrics Investors Want<br><br>1:44 - Enterprise<br><br>4:09 - SAAS<br><br>8:55 - Subscription<br><br>11:33 - Transactional<br><br>14:44 - Marketplace<br><br>19:04 - E-commerce<br><br>21:14 - Advertising<br><br>23:12 - Hardware<br><br>23:44 - Common mistakes<br><br>25:35 - Anu Hariharan and Adora Cheung on How Investors Measure Startups Q&amp;A<br><br>26:07 - Team, product market fit, and market opportunity<br><br>27:10 - What if the founder doesn't have experience in the are in which they're building a product?<br><br>28:19 - How do investors know you're moving fast?<br><br>29:40 - Local vs remote<br><br>30:40 - Evaluating solo founders<br><br>31:45 - Clarity of thought<br><br>33:35 - International founders<br><br>35:17 - Solo founders<br><br>36:21 - Should I fundraise?<br><br>38:33 - How does an investor evaluate a company with a heavy MVP?<br><br>39:36 - How do you avoid investors who say "it's too early for us"?<br><br>40:06 - Is it sensible to engage with investors before product market fit?<br><br>40:26 - How do you find the perfect investor?<br><br>41:21 - What are the best approaches for minority female founders to gain visibility within VC?<br><br>42:36 - How do investors come up with valuations?<br></p>

#143 - Startup School Week 2 Recap: Michael Seibel, Adora Cheung, and Ilya Volodarsky

<p>We've cut down the second week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.<br><br>First, a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/mwseibel">Michael Seibel</a>. Michael is CEO and a partner at YC. His lecture is about <a href="https://youtu.be/1hHMwLxN6EM">How to Plan an MVP</a>.<br><br>Then, a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/nolimits">Adora Cheung</a>. Adora is a YC partner and a cofounder of Homejoy. Her lecture is about <a href="https://youtu.be/lL6GdUHIBsM">How to Set KPIs and Goals</a>.<br><br>Last, a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/ivolo">Ilya Volodarsky</a>. Ilya is a cofounder of Segment. His lecture is about <a href="https://youtu.be/LLerCc7MOQo">Analytics for Startups</a>.<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>Topics<br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:43 - Michael Seibel - How to Plan an MVP<br><br>1:25 - The goal of a pre-launch startup<br><br>3:10 - Iterating vs pivoting<br><br>3:59 - Lean MVP<br><br>5:06 - Heavy MVP<br><br>6:19 - Launching<br><br>7:35 - Learning is easier with an MVP<br><br>8:07 - How to build an MVP quickly<br><br>10:17 - Adora Cheung - How to Set KPIs and Goals<br><br>11:51 - What are the right KPIs to set?<br><br>15:50 - Revenue or active users<br><br>16:28 - Why choose active users?<br><br>18:55 - Biotech or hardtech KPIs<br><br>20:25 - Secondary metric<br><br>21:25 - What if you haven't launched?<br><br>22:20 - Setting goals<br><br>23:47 - How fast should you grow?<br><br>25:13 - Defining your own goals<br><br>28:40 - Tracking progress<br><br>30:27 - Ilya Volodarsky - Analytics for Startups<br><br>30:46 - Why analytics?<br><br>31:36 - Funnel<br><br>32:51 - Collecting data, analytics, and data flow<br><br>34:16 - Metric - Signups per week<br><br>35:28 - Metric - Retention cohorts<br><br>36:30 - Which metric to pick?<br><br>36:57 - Have I reached product market fit?<br><br>37:27 - Metric - Revenue<br><br>37:51 - Dashboards<br><br>38:35 - Advisor updates<br><br>39:01 - The startup stack<br><br>42:13 - Recommendations for the MVP process<br></p>

#142 - Startup School Week 1 Recap: Kevin Hale and Eric Migicovsky

<p>We've cut down the first week of <a href="https://www.startupschool.org/">Startup School</a> lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast. <br><br>First, a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/ilikevests">Kevin Hale</a>. Kevin is a YC partner and a cofounder of Wufoo. His lecture is about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOtCl5PU8F0">How to Evaluate Startup Ideas</a>.<br><br>Then, a lecture from <a href="https://twitter.com/ericmigi">Eric Migicovsky</a>. Eric is a YC partner and the founder of Pebble. His lecture is about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT4Ig2uqjTc">How to Talk to Users</a>.<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>00:43 - Kevin Hale on How to Evaluate Startup Ideas<br><br>2:04 - How can I predict if an investor will like my idea?<br><br>2:50 - A startup idea is a hypothesis<br><br>5:44 - Problem<br><br>6:59 - Solution<br><br>8:16 - Insight<br><br>8:57 - Unfair advantages<br><br>13:45 - Two beliefs about startups<br><br>15:19 - Eric Migicovsky on How to Talk to Users<br><br>17:36 - Three common errors people make when talking to users<br><br>20:20 - Five questions to ask in a user interview<br><br>20:28 - What's the hardest part about doing the thing you're trying to solve?<br><br>21:02 - Tell me about the last time that you encountered this problem<br><br>21:22 - Why was this hard?<br><br>23:08 - What, if anything, have you done to try to solve this problem?<br><br>24:10 - What don't you love about the solutions you've already tried?<br><br>25:21 - Three stages in which talking to users is extremely beneficial<br><br>26:07 - Idea stage<br><br>30:40 - Prototype stage<br><br>33:41 - Iterating towards product market fit</p>

#141 - Diana Hu

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/sdianahu">Diana Hu</a> cofounded Escher Reality, which went through the Summer 2017 batch of YC. They were acquired by Niantic and she is now the head of their AR platform.<br><br>She's on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/sdianahu">@sdianahu</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:40 - Getting into AR<br><br>2:55 - Her first exposure to AR<br><br>4:40 - AR's future role in media<br><br>7:45 - Deciding where to go with the product <br><br>9:55 - Innovations that enabled AR<br><br>14:25 - Building a product in a new market<br><br>17:25 - Raising money for a new market<br><br>21:40 - Advice for founders after an acquisition <br><br>26:40 - Immigrating to the US<br><br>31:10 - Advice for Immigrant founders<br><br>33:49 - Advice for founders in/after YC<br></p>

#140 - Aaron Harris on Fundraising and Meeting with Investors

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/harris">Aaron Harris</a> is a Partner at YC and before that he cofounded Tutorspree.<br><br>He’s on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/harris">@harris</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href=" https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:42 - Seed fundraising process<br><br>3:32 - Emailing investors<br><br>9:32 - Parallelized fundraising process<br><br>12:17 - Meeting with investors<br><br>14:17 - Overcapitalization<br><br>17:07 - Communicating your plan to investors<br><br>19:02 - Evaluating investors <br><br>22:57 - Fundraising process for a Series A company<br><br>27:02 - Meeting Series A investors<br><br>28:57 - Post-Demo Day psychology<br></p>

#139 - Jay Reno

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/jayjreno">Jay Reno</a> is the CEO and founder of <a href="https://www.livefeather.com/">Feather</a>. Feather is a furniture subscription service. They were in the Summer 2017 batch of YC.<br><br>You can check out their furniture at <a href="https://www.livefeather.com/">LiveFeather.com</a> and if you live in LA, SF, or New York you can try out the service.<br><br>Jay is on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jayjreno">@jayjreno</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigCannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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><a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/"></a><br><br>***<br><br><b>Topics<br></b><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:49 - Opting out of owning furniture<br><br>6:29 - Feather's prototype<br><br>9:19 - How much did he make from his MVP?<br><br>9:59 - How many products did they have?<br><br>12:14 - Legacy competitors <br><br>14:04 - Changing branding from RentFeather.com to LiveFeather.com<br><br>15:59 - Customer interviews and learnings<br><br>18:29 - Scaling a company with physical products<br><br>21:29 - Why expand to other markets vs focus on one?<br><br>23:59 - Who to hire and when in a logistics-heavy business<br><br>26:09 - Unexpected learnings from scaling Feather<br><br>27:54 - Feeling his role change over time<br><br>29:44 - Counterintuitive advice<br><br>35:19 - Advice for YC founders after Demo Day<br></p>

#138 - Russ Roberts

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/EconTalker">Russ Roberts</a> is the host of the podcast <a href="http://www.econtalk.org/">EconTalk</a> (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/econtalk/id135066958">iTunes</a>, <a href="http://files.libertyfund.org/econtalk/EconTalk.xml">RSS</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKAu-mTq7iZtKHK6QiBqKPA">YouTube</a>), a research fellow at <a href="https://www.hoover.org/">Stanford’s Hoover Institution</a>, and the author of several books, including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Smith-Change-Your-Life/dp/1591847958">How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life</a>.<br><br>You can find Russ on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/EconTalker">@econtalker</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigCannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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></b><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:29 - What are his thoughts on “meaning, spirituality, or sense of belonging” in regards to creating your own company?<br><br>3:34 - Capitalism bearing the burden of human nature<br><br>4:04 - Why Russ started EconTalk<br><br>7:44 - Key economic concepts for founders after 700 EconTalk episodes<br><br>13:49 - Helpful methods for teaching economic concepts<br><br>18:09 - "Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely" - Adam Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments<br><br>19:39 - Why Russ wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Smith-Change-Your-Life/dp/1591847958">How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life</a><br><br>24:14 - How EconTalk has changed since the beginning <br><br>26:14 - Steve Adema asks - Russ Roberts has emphasized the limits of "only looking where the light is" when it comes to studying well-being. How <br>can economists incorporate the aspects of well-being that aren't easily quantified?<br><br>34:34 - Warren Buffett's gift to his son<br><br>36:09 - Founders and unintended consequences <br><br>39:44 - The emotional aspect of giving your company away<br><br>44:19 - Anthony Y. asks - Has a guest on his show ever made him change his mind on a topic?<br><br>50:54 - Has Nassim Taleb convinced him to deadlift?<br><br>52:59 - Russ often quotes David Foster Wallace's speech, “This is Water”. Specifically, he quotes the phrase, “everyone worships.” What does Russ worship?<br></p>

#137 - Startup School Podcast Preview with Kevin Hale

<p>Today’s episode is a preview of the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-school-by-y-combinator/id1436083034">Startup School podcast</a>.&nbsp;<br><br>We’re putting all the Startup School lectures on their own podcast feed. You can subscribe here:&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-school-by-y-combinator/id1436083034">iTunes</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><a href="http://backtracks.fm/ycombinator/startup-school/feed">RSS</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>This is the first lecture from Startup School 2019. It’s <a href="https://twitter.com/ilikevests">Kevin Hale</a> on How to Evaluate Startup Ideas.<br><br>It’s also not too late to sign up for <a href="https://www.startupschool.org/">Startup School</a>. <br><br>The course just started and the deadline to sign up is August 4th. Select companies who complete the course will also receive 15,000 dollars in equity-free funding.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:42 - Why we're starting with evaluating ideas<br><br>2:07 - YC doesn't just fund companies with traction<br><br>3:31 - How can I predict if an investor will like my idea?<br><br>5:57 - A startup idea is a hypothesis<br><br>7:37 - The problem<br><br>11:37 - The solution<br><br>13:07 - The insight<br><br>14:42 - Founder's unfair advantage<br><br>15:42 - Market growing 20% a year<br><br>16:22 - Product 10x better<br><br>17:12- Acquisition model<br><br>18:37 - Monopoly<br><br>19:32 - Threshold belief<br><br>19:52- Miracle belief<br><br>20:42 - Example: YC<br><br>24:02 - Example: Wufoo<br></p>

#136 - Anu Hariharan on Managing a Board

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/anuhariharan">Anu Hariharan</a> is a partner at YC. Today’s episode is about her recent post, <a href="https://blog.ycombinator.com/how-to-manage-a-board/">How To Manage a Board</a>.<br><br>You can find her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/anuhariharan">@anuhariharan</a>.<br><br>If you’re interested in doing Startup School this year, signups are open at <a href="https://www.startupschool.org/">StartupSchool.org</a>. The course just started and the deadline to sign up is August 4th.&nbsp;Select companies who complete the course will also receive 15,000 dollars in equity-free funding.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigCannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:57 - Why Anu wrote How to Manage a Board<br><br>2:27 - Board composition<br><br>4:27 - Adding independent board members <br><br>6:27 - The responsibilities of a board member<br><br>9:12 - Productive board meetings<br><br>12:52 - Sharing materials before the meeting<br><br>13:42 - Bringing executives into the meeting<br><br>16:57 - Dealing with board conflict<br><br>18:22 - Following up after a board meeting<br><br>21:12 - Dealing with difficult board members<br><br>23:57 - Reality distortion<br><br>24:52 - Agustin Feuerhake asks - What does it take to be a great board member?<br><br>27:22 - Dave Bailey asks - To what extent should the board culture reflect the company culture? <br><br>29:42 - Connor Abene asks - How do you think about adding board members who haven't worked in your industry but you think are good?<br><br>33:22 - Rhina asks - Could you address managing a board during product market fit time/ pivot times?<br></p>

#135 - Camille Fournier

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/skamille">Camille Fournier</a> is a Managing Director at <a href="https://www.twosigma.com/">Two Sigma</a> and the former CTO of Rent The Runway. She’s also the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth-ebook/dp/B06XP3GJ7F">The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change</a>.<br><br>You can find her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/skamille">@skamille</a>.<br><br>If you’re interested in doing Startup School this year, signups are open at <a href="https://www.startupschool.org/">StartupSchool.org</a>. The course begins on July 22nd and goes for 10 weeks. Select companies who complete the course will also receive 15,000 dollars in equity-free funding.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigCannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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><a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/"></a><br>***<br><br><b>Topics</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:47 - Why do many individual contributors (ICs) never experience a good manager?<br><br>3:27 - How did the ideology of management being bad become pervasive in startups?<br><br>5:27 - What should a new manager do in their first 90 days?<br><br>8:57 - Getting better at 1:1s<br><br>11:17 - More tips for the first 90 days<br><br>13:17 - Remote management<br><br>15:12 - Mistakes rookie managers make<br><br>19:27 - Letting people go<br><br>23:37 - Being a manager and still wanting to write code<br><br>27:57 - Feeling overwhelmed as a manager<br><br>31:27 - Getting a team to gel<br><br>38:42 - Giving people kudos<br><br>39:57 - Non-engineers running engineering teams<br><br>42:07 - Staying legit technically as a manager<br><br>43:27 - Management vs leadership<br></p>

#134 - Sarah Nahm and Holly Liu

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/srhnhm">Sarah Nahm</a> is the CEO and cofounder of <a href="http://lever.co/">Lever</a>. Lever builds modern recruiting software for teams to source, interview, and hire top talent. They were in the Summer 2012 batch of YC. You can try Lever out at <a href="http://lever.co/">Lever.co</a>.<br><br><a href="https://twitter.com/hollyhliu">Holly Liu</a> is a Visiting Partner at YC. Before that she cofounded the gaming company Kabam.<br><br>You can find Sarah on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/srhnhm">@srhnhm</a> and Holly is <a href="https://twitter.com/hollyhliu">@hollyhli</a>u.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:41 - Did Sarah grow up thinking she'd be a founder?<br><br>8:01 - Why did she decide to leave Google and start Lever?<br><br>13:56 - Thinking about product in the early days of Lever<br><br>15:51 - Fundraising and figuring out the team<br><br>24:06 - How do you figure out someone's career motivations?<br><br>27:26 - Getting concrete when interviewing<br><br>29:31 - Hiring remote employees<br><br>32:11 - Writing job descriptions around impact<br><br>37:41 - Eva Zhang asks - What's the biggest roadblock you faced in trying to make hiring more inclusive to diverse candidates?<br><br>42:06 - What does thinking about inclusion mean at a small company?<br><br>47:21 - Not buying into technical and nontechnical people<br><br>50:26 - Setting up a culture that allows for conversations about diversity and inclusion</p>

#133 - Updates for Startup School 2019 and Office Hours with Kevin Hale

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ilikevests">Kevin Hale</a> is a Partner at YC. Before working at YC he cofounded Wufoo.<br><br>Kevin’s on the podcast today to do some Office Hours and talk about this year’s edition of <a href="https://StartupSchool.org.">Startup School</a>.<br><br>If you’d like to sign up or learn more, check out <a href="https://StartupSchool.org">https://StartupSchool.org</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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><a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/"></a><br><br>***<br><br><b>Topics</b><br><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:51 - Stats from Startup School 2018<br><br>2:11 - Updates for Startup School 2019<br><br>8:41 - Sign up at StartupSchool.org<br><br>9:16 - Sean Maina asks - In the early days of Wufoo, how did you give a great customer experience?<br><br>11:56 - Design affordances<br><br>14:11 - Sunil Tej asks - How was Wufoo 10x better than the market when they just got started?<br><br>18:11 - Building an audience before a product<br><br>20:41 - Wufoo's growth<br><br>23:56 - Coming up with the idea for Wufoo<br><br>27:56 - Companies pivoting during YC<br><br>29:26 - Building a product in an unsexy space<br><br>32:56 - Sivaraj Ghanesh asks - How do you know if you've achieved product market fit? Or if your product just isn't noticed yet? <br><br>43:56 - Sivaraj Ghanesh asks - How do you gauge the size of a market? <br><br>46:26 - Tips for Startup School success<br><br>50:41 - Advice on vetting cofounders<br><br>54:11 - Sign up at StartupSchool.org<br></p>

#132 - Dan Hockenmaier and Gustaf Alströmer

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/danhockenmaier">Dan Hockenmaier</a> is the founder of the growth strategy firm <a href="https://www.basisone.com/">Basis One</a>. Prior to Basis One he was the Director of Growth Marketing at Thumbtack. You can learn more at <a href="https://www.basisone.com/">BasisOne.com</a>.<br><br><a href="https://twitter.com/gustaf">Gustaf Alströmer</a> is a Partner at YC. Prior to YC he was the Product Lead for Growth at Airbnb.<br><br>You can find Dan on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/danhockenmaier?lang=en" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">@danhockenmaier</a> and Gustaf is <a href="https://twitter.com/gustaf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">@gustaf</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<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><a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/"></a><br>***<br><br><b>Topics<br></b><br>00:00 - Intro<br><br>00:50 - Dan's most unpopular advice<br><br>1:45 - What growth strategies do people jump on too soon?<br><br>2:20 - Questions Dan asks a company he's advising<br><br>3:50 - Traits Dan looks for in early growth hires<br><br>6:30 - How product and growth are tied together<br><br>11:30 - Good/bad learnings from Facebook's growth team<br><br>14:00 - A/B testing<br><br>17:00 - Retention and other metrics<br><br>20:45 - The importance of experimentation<br><br>23:45 - Getting ideas for A/B tests then choosing which to do<br><br>25:00 - Advice for employees who want to get a growth program going<br><br>29:00 - B2B vs consumer growth tactics<br><br>34:00 - Pricing experiments<br><br>35:30 - Paid marketing<br><br>39:30 - Launching in new markets<br><br>40:15 - Hiring for marketing<br><br>43:45 - Metrics for marketing hires<br><br>45:45 - Toni asks - Why did Airbnb grow so fast?<br><br>48:45 - Step function growth changes for companies that already had scale<br><br>49:55 - Michael Savage asks - It would be great to discuss growth into new regions for example Africa and UAE. What would their approach be, how does it differ from region to region, culture to culture? <br><br>52:30 - Justin LaRosa asks - What are some of the most common drivers of viral growth?<br><br>55:20 - Hiring a growth agency vs building your own team<br><br>58:20 - How do you think about growth in the context of improving humanity?<br></p>