Y CombinatorJan 24, 2023
Office Hours: Group Partners Share Their Investor Horror Stories
For this latest episode of Office Hours, the Group Partners are sharing stories from their worst investor meetings. We’ll outline some of the weird plays we’ve seen investors try to pull — but we’ll also confess times that we, as founders, bungled meetings we could’ve nailed. We’ll discuss what differentiates a truly great investor, and shed a bit of light on something we rarely talk about publicly: the YC Investor Database. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/OfficeHours-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/OfficeHours-jobs
Does Your Startup Need To Be In San Francisco?
Should you and your startup live in San Francisco? Y Combinator Partners, Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell, debate their different opinions on whether startups are more likely to succeed in the Golden City or elsewhere. Where do they find common ground? Watch to find out. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Office Hours: Group Partners Reveal Their Favorite Pivot Stories
You might think that pivoting is something done only by the startups that don’t make it. In reality, a huge number of the best startups pivoted. In this first episode of our new series, Office Hours, Y Combinator Group Partners share their favorite stories of entrepreneurs who pivoted and went on to build game-changing companies. The group of startup experts also share their own pivot stories and help answer the questions: How do you know if it’s time for your startup to pivot—and how will you know if that next idea is the one? Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/OfficeHours-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/OfficeHours-jobs
Will OpenAI Kill All Startups?
How will the rise of AI impact startups and entrepreneurs? Join Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell for a discussion on the opportunities and challenges AI brings for founders. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Silicon Valley's Cargo Culting Problem
When it comes to building a startup you’re never doing it entirely from scratch. Inspiration and ideas can come from a variety of places, including other successful startups. But there’s a thin line between borrowing smart ideas and copying them blindly - otherwise known as Cargo Culting.
In this episode Dalton and Michael break down the problem with Cargo Culting and offer advice on the right way to draw inspiration from other successful companies.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Setting KPIs and Goals with Divya Bhat | Startup School
YC Visiting Group Partner Divya Bhat talks about how to set your KPIs (key metrics) and how to prioritize your time. This talk helps founders launch faster and set goals in order to make real progress. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
How To Go From Startup Dream To Reality
It can be very easy for founders to fall into a trap of denial in the early stages of a startup’s life. But in order for your company to really take off, it’s critical to be honest with yourself and to build a community of friends and collaborators who are willing to challenge groupthink. In the first episode of our new series “The Main Function,” YC President and CEO Garry Tan explains how founders must face hard truths in order to take their company from dream to reality.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/MainFunction-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/MainFunction-jobs
The Immigrant Journey Behind A Silicon Valley Success Story
Today Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan sits down with one of the best founders of a generation, Tracy Young. She cofounded Plangrid which sold to Autodesk for $875M, and is back with her new startup called Tigereye. But since it’s AAPI heritage month, we’re talking about a different kind of origin story.
Tracy's Predictable Growth newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7018963257554046976/
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/MainFunction-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/MainFunction-jobs
Tips For Technical Startup Founders | Startup School
YC Group Partner Diana Hu was the CTO of her YC startup Escher Reality, which was acquired by Niantic (makers of Pokemon Go). She shares her advice for being a technical founder at the earliest stages - including topics like how to ship an MVP fast, how to deal with technology choices and technical debt, and how and when to hire an engineering team.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
Secrets You Can Learn From Your Customers
Successful startups don’t just build technology – they solve human problems. The key is listening to the people who really matter: your customers.
In this episode, Michael and Dalton discuss how spending real time with your users can unlock insights and growth. Hear the stories of how Airbnb and Brex built billion-dollar companies by forging genuine connections with their customers and learn why having too much money and too many people can actually slow down learning.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
The Student's Guide To Becoming A Successful Startup Founder
If you're a high school or college student with big dreams of starting your own company, this video is for you. Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel, two startup founders who started in the early 20s and are now top investors, sit down to share the hard-won advice they wish they had known back in high school. Whether you're already running your own startup or just have an idea you can't stop thinking about, Dalton and Michael cover the skills you need to learn now and how to set yourself up for success after graduating school.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Inside The Most Powerful Startup Community In The World
Y Combinator is well-known for producing companies like Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase and more. But what's the real story behind the success of YC and the companies they fund? This is everything you need to know about the program.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/MainFunction-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/MainFunction-jobs
How Startup Fundraising Works with Brad Flora | Startup School
YC Group Partner Brad Flora has seen startup fundraising from every angle: as a founder, as one of the most prolific angel investors in Silicon Valley, and now as a YC Group Partner. Brad has coached hundreds of companies on fundraising. In this talk, he shares stories and advice on how modern startup fundraising works.
Paul Graham Fundraising Essays:
http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html
http://www.paulgraham.com/startupfunding.html
http://www.paulgraham.com/convince.html
http://www.paulgraham.com/herd.html
Geoff Ralston's Fundraising Guides:
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4A-a-guide-to-seed-fundraising
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcevHkNGrWQ
YC Fundraising Resources:
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/2u-how-to-build-your-seed-round-pitch-deck
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6q-how-to-pitch-your-startup
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/71-how-to-get-meetings-with-investors-and-raise-money
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4O-raising-money-online-advice-for-startups
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/3u-different-types-of-investors-and-their-incentives
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
How to Build An MVP with Michael Seibel | Startup School
YC Group Partner, Michael Seibel, explains how to build a minimum viable product (MVP) for your startup idea. Using examples from real YC companies, Michael walks through how to determine your MVP feature set, build prototypes and demos for user testing, and present your MVP to early customers or investors.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
How To Earn Customers For Life
In this first in-person episode, Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell reveal how startups can gain a competitive advantage by doing something deceptively simple. They share compelling stories of companies that built loyal relationships and achieved success by making personal connections with users. In contrast, they discuss the traps early-stage founders make by trying to emulate big tech. If you want to build a business that customers love and that thrives in the long run, this advice on why caring deeply about your customers is key.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
The REAL Potential of Generative AI
What is a large language model? How can it be used to enhance your business? In this conversation, Ali Rowghani, Managing Director of YC Continuity, talks with Raza Habib, CEO of Humanloop, about the cutting-edge AI powering innovations today—and what the future may hold. They discuss how large language models like Open AI's GPT-3 work, why fine-tuning is important for customizing models to specific use cases, and the challenges involved with building apps using these models. If you're curious about the ethical implications of AI, Raza shares his predictions about the impact of this quickly developing technology on the industry and the world at large.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
The Hard Conversations Founders Don't Want to Have
Y Combinator group partners Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell discuss the importance of having honest and difficult conversations with startup founders. While having hard conversations can be uncomfortable, Michael and Dalton argue that this transparency is essential for founders to grow and ultimately, these experiences help founders have their own hard conversations that they've been avoiding with the people around them.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
The Best Way To Launch Your Startup with Kat Mañalac | Startup School
YC's Kat Mañalac wants to change the way you think about launching. In her talk, she shares the multitude of ways to launch and get attention for your product, with tangible strategies and examples from companies like Airbnb.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Advantages Of A First-Time Founder
Step inside the Group Partner Lounge to hear Y Combinator Group Partners Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel and Brad Flora discuss the advantages of being a first-time founder and the instances when it pays to have experience founding a startup in the past.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a Startup: https://www.workatastartup.com/
The Cult of Conformity in Silicon Valley
What happens when the unconventional becomes conventional? Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell discuss how the startup world has changed from being dominated by outsiders and nonconformists to now attracting more mainstream conformists looking for status and money. They share stories of what the tech scene was like when they were in school - and how radically different it is today, while offering their advice around navigating a world that doesn't always reward nonconformists embarking on risky entrepreneurial journeys. Don't just think different, act different.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Don't Make These Hiring Mistakes
Step inside the Group Partner Lounge to hear Y Combinator Group Partners Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel and Brad Flora discuss the many different mistakes founders make when they approach hiring for their startup and how to grow your team the correct way.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Keys To Successful Co-Founder Relationships with Cat Li & Divya Bhat | Startup School
How do you find a co-founder and build a great partnership? YC's Catheryn Li (who also built our Co-Founder Matching tool) and Visiting Partner Divya Bhat cover the importance of having co-founders, how to get & vet one, and the ways to build a successful working relationship with them.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
Looking for a co-founder? Sign up for Co-Founder Matching: https://www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching
How To Compete With Amazon and Google
Step inside the Group Partner Lounge to hear Y Combinator Group Partners Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel and Brad Flora discuss the traps founders often fall into when looking at the competition. They identify the particular types of companies you should watch out for and many more you are wasting your time worrying about.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
The Secrets To Setting Smarter Goals
If you're looking to maximize your startup's potential, start by setting the right goals. Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell provide tips and strategies for setting goals that will help keep you and your new business focused on success—plus provide examples of bad goals to avoid.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Investors Said No, Now What?
Step inside the Group Partner Lounge to hear Y Combinator Group Partners Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel and Brad Flora discuss how you should handle rejection from investors and why you should "believe the no, not the why."
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
When to Launch Your Startup and When to Wait
Step inside the group partners' lounge to hear Y Combinator Partners Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel and Brad Flora discuss how startups should approach launching and the exceptions to the rules.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
How to Get Your First Customers with Gustaf Alströmer | Startup School
How do you get your first customers? YC Group Partner & former Head of Growth at Airbnb, Gustaf Alströmer, gives tactical advice to answer this question for all kinds of companies — whether you're B2B or B2C — and discusses why it's important for founders to do sales early on.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
Startup Business Models and Pricing with Aaron Epstein | Startup School
One of the most common topics that founders ask us about is pricing and monetization. In this talk, YC Group Partner Aaron Epstein outlines 9 different business models, and highlights lessons from top YC companies on how to best monetize and price your product.
Business Model Guide: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Gh-business-model-guide
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
How to Talk to Users with Gustaf Alströmer | Startup School
YC often says "talk to your users", but actually doing that is surprisingly tricky. YC Group Partner Gustaf Alströmer gives non-obvious advice on how to talk to both current and potential users, how to run a great user interview, and how to interpret the feedback in these conversations.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
How to Get and Evaluate Startup Ideas with Jared Friedman | Startup School
YC's Jared Friedman shares a framework for how to get and evaluate startup ideas. He delves into examples of YC companies and the inside stories of how they came up with the ideas that turned into billion-dollar companies. Even if you have an existing idea, this talk helps founders confirm that their idea is good and/or provides a framework for a future pivot.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
Should You Start a Startup? with Harj Taggar | Startup School
In this episode of Startup School, YC Group Partner Harj Taggar shares his advice on the types of people best suited to be startup founders and how to prepare to start a company in the future.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/SUS-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
Avoid These Tempting Startup Ideas
Thinking of a new startup idea? Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the types of ideas to stay away from—what we commonly refer to as "tarpit ideas."
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
The Truth About Y Combinator
With the YC S22 batch coming to a close, Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel reflect on the recent batch and their experience fundraising. The two group partners also clear up some misconceptions about Y Combinator based on feedback from founders.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
The Two Mindsets That Can Kill Your Startup
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the qualities that make a founder overly optimistic or far too pessimistic about their startup. Where is the right middle ground?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply
Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
What Basic Game Theory Teaches Us About Startups
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the problems with zero sum games within tech culture. Is your startup making a positive impact on the world or are your business practices a net negative in society?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Most Important Lifestyle Habits Of Successful Founders
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the best approaches to developing a healthy lifestyle that ultimately helps you run and grow a successful startup. Funders, take care of yourselves out there.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Elon Musk & The Midwit Meme
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on the midwit meme, how it applies to startups, and the best example: Elon Musk.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Things That Don't Scale, The Software Edition
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on software hacks that don't scale. Companies discussed include Google, Facebook, Twitch, and imeem. Watch the first video on doing things that don't scale here: https://youtu.be/4RMjQal_c4U
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
YC Founder Firesides: Mutiny on AI and the next era of company growth
Mutiny (YC S18) uses AI and data to convert website visitors into customers. Today, the fastest growing B2B companies such as Notion and Snowflake use Mutiny to identify ideal customers, determine sections of websites that will increase conversion, and produce copy that converts visitors into customers.
YC’s Anu Hariharan sat down with Mutiny co-founder and CEO Jaleh Rezaei to talk about their recent acquisition of Intellipse, an AI marketing platform, as well as how AI will impact the next era of growth.
Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/.
Why Investors (including YC) Can’t Fix Your Company
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on common pitfalls in the advice from different types of investors and why you, the founder, are ultimately responsible for the success of your company.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
What Does It REALLY Mean To Do Things That Don't Scale?
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about Paul Graham's essay "Do Things That Don't Scale" and what it really means for founders. Read the essay here: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
How To Change The World? Get The Small Things Right
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about the importance of understanding incentives and doing research when it comes to building a world-changing startup.
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?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Simple Products That Became Big Companies
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about OpenSea, Gusto, and the importance of building simple products that solve a real problem.
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?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Where Do Great Startup Ideas Come From?
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about where the ideas for Airbnb, Coinbase, and Stripe came from. Then they discuss what you can learn from these founders.
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?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Successful Founders Are OK With Rejection
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on the importance of talking to your users, why successful founders are ok with rejection from potential customers, and how protecting your ego by not talking to your users can kill your startup.
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?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Should You Follow Your Passion?
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about solutions in search of a problem, whether or not to follow your passion, how to figure out what to work on, and how to motivate yourself.
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?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Understanding Investor Terms & Incentives
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about investor terms and incentives.
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?
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
YC Founders Made These Fundraising Mistakes
Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell are back for episode 2 of Rookie Mistakes to discuss common mistakes founders make when fundraising, and how to avoid them.
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
#159 - YC Founder Firesides: Gusto on building for new verticals
Gusto (YC W12) provides growing businesses with everything to take care of their team. Today, more than 200,000 businesses use Gusto for payroll, employee benefits, talent management, and more. And with the recent addition of Gusto Embedded, developers now use Gusto’s APIs and pre-build UI flows to embed payroll, tax filing, and payments infrastructure into products.
YC’s Anu Hariharan sat down with Gusto co-founder and CPO Tomer London to talk about building for new customer segments and the future of embedded finance — sharing advice for startup founders and CEOs along the way.
Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
YC Founder Firesides: Gusto on building for new verticals
Gusto (YC W12) provides growing businesses with everything to take care of their team. Today, more than 200,000 businesses use Gusto for payroll, employee benefits, talent management, and more. And with the recent addition of Gusto Embedded, developers now use Gusto’s APIs and pre-build UI flows to embed payroll, tax filing, and payments infrastructure into products.
YC’s Anu Hariharan sat down with Gusto co-founder and CPO Tomer London to talk about building for new customer segments and the future of embedded finance — sharing advice for startup founders and CEOs along the way.
Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/