Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC. Before working at YC he cofounded Wufoo. Kevin’s on the podcast today to do some Office Hours and talk about this year’s edition of Startup School . If you’d like to sign up or learn more, check out https://StartupSchool.org . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ ***...
Jul 03, 2019•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Hockenmaier is the founder of the growth strategy firm Basis One . Prior to Basis One he was the Director of Growth Marketing at Thumbtack. You can learn more at BasisOne.com . Gustaf Alströmer is a Partner at YC. Prior to YC he was the Product Lead for Growth at Airbnb. You can find Dan on Twitter @danhockenmaier and Gustaf is @gustaf . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. ...
Jun 26, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jeremy Rossmann is the cofounder of Make School . Make School is a college for computer science headquartered in San Francisco. Make School students don't pay until they have a job after graduation. They were part of YC’s Winter 2012 batch. You can find MakeScool on Twitter @MakeSchool . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https:/...
Jun 19, 2019•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tracy Young is a cofounder and the CEO of PlanGrid . PlanGrid makes mobile construction productivity software. They were acquired by Autodesk in 2018 and were part of YC’s Winter 2012 batch. Kat Manalac is a Partner at YC. You can find Tracy on Twitter @Tracy_Young and Kat is @KatManalac . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https...
Jun 12, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Simone Giertz describes herself as a maker/robotics enthusiast/non-engineer. She’s also known as the Queen of Shitty Robots. She runs a YouTube channel about those robots and is a cohost on Tested with Adam Savage from MythBusters. You can find her on YouTube and on Twitter @SimoneGiertz . She also has a Patreon . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and appl...
Jun 05, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Babineau is cofounder and CEO of Second Measure . Second Measure analyzes billions of credit card transactions to answer real-time questions on consumer behavior. They were in the Summer 2015 batch of YC and you can check them out at SecondMeasure.com . Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC. Before working at YC he cofounded Wufoo. You can find Michael on Twitter @mikebabineau and Kevin is @ilikevests . The YC Podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150...
May 29, 2019•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vidit Aatrey is cofounder and CEO of Meesho . Meesho is a platform in India that allows people to resell products using their social networks. They were in the Summer 2016 batch of YC and you can check them out at Meesho.com . Adora Cheung is a Partner at YC. Before working at YC she cofounded Homejoy. You can find Vidit on Twitter @viditaatrey and Adora is @nolimits . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more abou...
May 22, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Chris Best is the cofounder and CEO of Substack . Substack makes it simple for a writer to start a paid newsletter. They were in the Winter 2018 batch of YC. You can check them out at Substack.com . Jonathan Gill is the cofounder and CEO of Backtracks . Backtracks is a podcast analytics and hosting platform. You can check them out at Backtracks.fm. Chris is on Twitter @cjgbest and Jonathan is @jgill333 . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($15...
May 15, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brian Halligan is the CEO and cofounder of HubSpot . HubSpot builds software for marketing, sales, and customer service. You can try it out at HubSpot.com . Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC and cofounder of Wufoo. Brian is on Twitter @bhalligan and Kevin is @ilikevests . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.yc...
May 08, 2019•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jarvis Johnson was previously a software engineer at Patreon, Yelp, and Google. He’s now a YouTuber. You can find him on YouTube at Jarvis Johnson and on Twitter @jarvis . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 00:20 - Jarvis' intro 00:50 - Where his videos first got tractio...
May 01, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Harry Zhang is the cofounder of Lob . Lob makes it possible for enterprises to programmatically send physical mail. They were in the Summer 2013 batch of YC. Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC. Harry is on Twitter @harryzhang and Kevin is @ilikevests . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 00:31 - Harry's intro 00:41 - What did Lob have when they applied to YC? 2:01 - Documentation as an API company 3:16 - Where did the insight to create Lob come from? 4:26 - Lob's first...
Apr 24, 2019•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Max Rhodes is the cofounder and CEO of Faire . Faire helps retailers find and buy unique wholesale merchandise for their stores. They were in the Winter 2017 batch of YC. Anu Hariharan is a Partner at YC. Max is on Twitter @MaxRhodesOK and Anu is @AnuHariharan . *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - Max's intro 01:06 - Leaving Square and coming up with the idea for Faire 7:37 - Changes to SMBs in the past five years 9:37 - What is Faire? 11:57 - Max’s vision for Faire 15:12 - Finding product/market f...
Apr 17, 2019•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Austen Allred is the CEO and cofounder of Lambda School . Lambda School provides a CS education that's free until you get a job. They were in the Summer 2017 batch of YC. You can learn more about Lambda School at lambdaschool.com . Austen is on Twitter at @austen . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 1:01 - Encouraging people to do something that they're scared to do 5:16 - Where did the insight for Lambda School come from? 6:26 - College vs developer schools 10:2...
Apr 03, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Amy Buechler is an executive coach for startup founders. Michael Seibel is a partner and the CEO of YC. In this episode we talk about coaching and use examples from Michael’s time working on Justin.tv and Socialcam. You can find Amy at her site foundercoach.io and on Twitter at @amybue . Michael is on Twitter at @mwseibel . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 00:41 - What is coaching? 01:11 - How is coaching different from therapy? 2:31 - What are the most common ...
Mar 27, 2019•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marques Brownlee is a YouTuber. He has over 8 million subscribers to his channel MKBHD where he reviews electronics, drives electric vehicles, and interviews people such as Kobe Bryant and Bill Gates. You can find Marques on YouTube and on Twitter at @MKBHD . The YC Podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 00:26 - What does Marques attribute his channel's success to? 2:41 - The early days 5:11 - How does he go about evaluating a product? 7:31 - Features that Marques thought w...
Mar 21, 2019•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Craig Cannon is the Director of Marketing at Y Combinator. He usually hosts the YC podcast but is the guest on this episode about podcasting. Adora Cheung is a Partner at YC. You can find Adora on Twitter at @nolimits and Craig at @craigcannon . *** Topics 00:21 - Adora's intro 1:26 - Craig's intro 4:06 - Starting the YC podcast 5:21 - Podcast metrics 6:21 - Tips on creating a podcast 8:31 - Picking episode topics 9:21 - Order of operations for finding guests 10:51 - Preparing for interviews 14:...
Mar 13, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Domonique Fines is the Director of Events at YC. Cadran Cowansage is the cofounder and CEO of Elpha . Elpha is a private online community for women in tech. Join Elpha to read Dom's AMA . You can find Dom on Twitter at @domoniquefines and Cadran at @cadran_c . *** Topics 00:30 - Dom’s intro 00:50 - How Dom started in events and her background 2:25 - Deciding to not go to law school 3:55 - Choosing to work on tech events 6:00 - Outreach to underrepresented founders 9:15 - Common misconceptions ab...
Mar 11, 2019•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Knoop is cofounder and Chief Product Officer at Zapier , which was in the YC Summer 2012 batch. Zapier moves information between your web apps automatically. Kevin Hale is a Visiting Partner at YC. Before YC Kevin was the cofounder of Wufoo, which was funded by YC in 2006 and acquired by SurveyMonkey in 2011. You can find Mike on Twitter at @mikeknoop and Kevin at @ilikevests . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:43 - Kevin's intro 01:03 - Mike's intro 2:03 - How Mike a...
Mar 06, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Karn Saroya is the CEO and cofounder of Cover , which was in the YC Winter 2016 batch. Cover is a nationally licensed insurance brokerage. You can use their app to take a picture of property you want to insure and they’ll connect you with their insurance partners so that you can get the best price and coverage. You can find Karn on Twitter at @karnsaroya . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:36 - Karn’s intro 01:01 - Using computer vision to identify and catalogue property 2...
Feb 27, 2019•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Caterina Fake hosts the podcast Should This Exist? which is about how technology is impacting our humanity. It launches today on iTunes . She also cofounded Flickr, Hunch, and Findery and is an investor at Yes VC . Kat Manalac is a partner at YC. You can find Caterina on Twitter at @Caterina and Kat at @KatManalac . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:32 - Caterina's new podcast, Should This Exist? 2:32 - Is there a process for considering if something should exist? 4:...
Feb 21, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ryan Hoover is the founder of Product Hunt which was in the Summer 2014 YC batch and was acquired by AngelList . He also invests in startups through his Weekend Fund . Dalton Caldwell is a Partner at YC where he runs admissions. Ryan is on Twitter at @rrhoover and Dalton is at @daltonc . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:27 - Ryan's intro 00:52 - Dalton's intro 1:27 - Forming Product Hunt and applying to YC 5:17 - Product Hunt's growth rate when they applied to YC 6:...
Feb 15, 2019•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jake Klamka founded Insight . Insight provides intensive 7 week professional training fellowships in fields such as data science and data engineering. Insight was in the YC Winter 2011 batch. Kevin Hale is a Visiting Partner at YC. Before YC Kevin was the cofounder of Wufoo, which was funded by YC in 2006 and acquired by SurveyMonkey in 2011. You can find Jake on Twitter at @jakeklamka and Kevin at @ilikevests . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:37 - Kevin's intro 01:07 - ...
Feb 06, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Avni Patel Thompson founded Poppy, which helped parents book the best caregivers. They went through the YC Winter 2016 batch and recently shut down. Avni asked to come on the podcast to talk about what the process of shutting down was like. Kat Manalac is a partner at YC. You can find Avni on Twitter at @APatelThompson and Kat at @KatManalac . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon - @CraigCannon . *** Topics 00:35 - Kat’s intro 01:15 - Avni’s intro 2:15 - When did it become clear that sc...
Jan 30, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Samantha Bradshaw is a researcher at the Computational Propaganda Project and a doctoral candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute . She’s been tracking the phenomenon of political manipulation through social media. You can find Samantha on Twitter at @sbradshaww . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics :53 - What is a bot? 2:53 - When computational propaganda began 3:53 - Changes in bot tactics since 2016 5:53 - Using bots for content creation 7:28 - WhatsApp and the upcoming In...
Jan 23, 2019•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cindy Mi is the founder and CEO of VIPKID . VIPKID is a 1-on-1 teaching platform where children in China learn english from North American teachers. Qi Lu is the CEO of YC China and Head of YC Research. *** Topics 00:23 - Qi's intro 00:38 - Cindy's intro 1:38 - Moving to a new province as a teenager 4:38 - Being an educator and an entrepreneur 8:23 - Starting VIPKid in a hyper-competitive market 14:53 - Metrics for measuring product market fit 21:43 - How did she find the business model? 26:53 -...
Jan 16, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vinod Khosla is the founder of Khosla Ventures , a firm focused on assisting entrepreneurs to build impactful new energy and technology companies. Previously he was the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems, where he pioneered open systems and commercial RISC processors. How to Build the Future is hosted by Sam Altman . *** Topics 00:30 - Vinod’s intro 01:20 - A zero-million-dollar company vs a zero-billion-dollar company 4:20 - What percentage of investors in Silicon Valley are good long-term compan...
Jan 09, 2019•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Frank Lantz is a game designer and Director of the NYU Game Center . He cofounded Area/Code Games and most recently released a game called Universal Paperclips in which you’re an AI that makes paperclips. Frank’s on Twitter @flantz and his site is franklantz.net . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 00:27 - "Games are the aesthetic form of thinking and doing" 6:57 - VR skepticism 9:42 - Universal Paperclips 14:27 - Explaining games to non-gamers 20:12 - Competitive gaming...
Dec 20, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Reham Fagiri and Kalam Dennis are the founders of AptDeco , where you can buy and sell used furniture. They were in the YC Winter 2014 batch and you can find them at AptDeco.com . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 0:21 - What is AptDeco? 1:06 - Why did Reham and Kalam start it? 2:51 - Were they considering other ideas? 5:06 - How did they prepare to start AptDeco after business school/the corporate world? 6:21 - Getting over the fear of starting 9:21 - Communicating that they...
Dec 14, 2018•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leonard Susskind is a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University and he’s regarded as one of the fathers of string theory. He’s written several books including: The Black Hole War , The Cosmic Landscape , and the Theoretical Minimum series . He also has over 100 lectures on YouTube . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 0:26 - Being perceived as an outsider physicist 4:26 - The perils of becoming too mainstream 6:11 - Where his ideas c...
Dec 06, 2018•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Seibel is a partner and the CEO of YC. He cofounded Justin.tv, which was in the winter 2007 batch and Socialcam, which was in the winter 2012 batch. In this episode Michael comments on five of his essays. The essays are: Why Should I Start a Startup? , One Order of Operations for Starting a Startup , The Real Product Market Fit , Users You Don’t Want , and Why Does Your Company Deserve More Money? Michael’s on Twitter @mwseibel . The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon . *** Topics 0:00...
Nov 28, 2018•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
