Tag: ycombinator

A Focused Culture

One thing I’ve noticed going through Y Combinator was how consistent were the messages repeated by the partners, the staffs, and the alumni network. As a startup founder, you should do two things: “write code and talk to users.” The more recent version is: “build product, talk to customers, and exercise” – which I think is a natural evolution, since YC funds a lot of non-software-only companies these days and the partners are getting a bit older. 😉

The entire message is around “Growth” and the way to get there is by writing code and talking to users. And stop doing anything else. Sounds simple, right?

Continue reading “A Focused Culture”

Lecture 20 – Later-stage Advice (Sam Altman)

Sam caps off the How to Start a Startup series with things you should ignore when you start, but become important a year in. Thanks for watching How to Start a Startup. Hope you learned a ton!

Lecture 19 – Sales and Marketing; How to Talk to Investors (Tyler Bosmeny; YC Partners)

Tyler Bosmeny, founder and CEO of Clever, starts off today’s lecture with an overview of the Sales Funnel, and how to get to your first $1 Million.

Michael Seibel, founder of Justin.tv and Socialcam and Partner at Y Combinator, then goes over how to talk to investors – the pitch.

Dalton Caldwell, founder of imeem and App.net and Partner at Y Combiantor, and Qasar Younis, founder of Talkbin and Partner at Y Combinator, then perform an investor meeting roleplay to give you a taste of how it actually might look behind the scenes.

Three segments in today’s lecture – Lecture 19 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 18 – Legal and Accounting Basics for Startups (Kirsty Nathoo, Carolynn Levy)

There’s a lot that goes behind the scenes in running a startup. Getting the legal, finance (equity allocation, vesting), accounting, and other overhead right will save you a lot of pain in the long run. Kirsty Nathoo, CFO at Y Combinator, and Carolynn Levy, General Counsel at Y Combinator, cover these very important topics, in Lecture 18 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 17 – How to Design Hardware Products (Hosain Rahman)

In Lecture 17 of How to Start a Startup, Hosain Rahman, CEO and Founder of Jawbone, covers the design process for building hardware products users love.

Lecture 16 – How to Run a User Interview (Emmett Shear)

What can you learn by talking to users that you can’t learn by looking at data? What questions should you ask? How can user interviews define or redefine your product goals? Emmett Shear, Founder and CEO of Justin.tv and Twitch, gives us his take – How to Run a User Interview – in Lecture 16 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 15 – How to Manage (Ben Horowitz)

Ben Horowitz, founder of Andreessen Horowitz, drills into the one management concept that CEOs mess up most – understanding how your decisions impact others, the company, and its culture, in Lecture 15 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 14 – How to Operate (Keith Rabois)

What should the CEO be doing on a day to day basis? How do you make sure the company is moving in the right direction? Keith Rabois, Partner at Khosla Ventures and former COO of Square, tackles the nitty gritty – How to Operate – in Lecture 14 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 13 – How to be a Great Founder (Reid Hoffman)

So you’ve learned how to get started, how to raise money, how to build products, and how to grow. Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and Partner at Greylock Ventures, addresses many of the questions and confusions that might be cropping up – How to be a Great Founder.

Lecture 12 – Building for the Enterprise (Aaron Levie)

Aaron Levie – enterprise master, Twitter comedic genius. Today he’ll convince you to Build for the Enterprise in Lecture 12 of How to Start a Startup.

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