In the first episode of the Lightcone Podcast, YC Group Partners dig into everything they have learned working with the top founders building AI startups today. They share the ideas that are working particularly well, mistakes to avoid, and take a look at the competitive landscape among the current AI giants.
Based on the thousands of companies YC has funded over the years, the biggest common element between all successful startups is having technical talent on the founding team. But what do you do if you don't know how to code? You may think you can get by using no-code tools, part-time consultants, or dev shops to bring your startup idea to life. But that thinking is wrong. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, we’ll discuss exactly why that is and why recruiting a technical co-founder is th...
In this episode of Startup School, YC Group Partner Tom Blomfield discusses one of the most important elements of running any startup: metrics! Tom shares what key metrics to track and how to use them to make the best decisions for your company. Apply to Y Combinator : https://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a startup : https://yc.link/SUS-jobs
Social media often promotes a doom and gloom outlook about our future society. But is that worldview accurate? In this episode, Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the best ways for founders and aspiring founders to think about weighing optimism and pessimism in their day to day lives. Apply to Y Combinator : https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup : https://yc.link/DandM-jobs
Casetext started out in 2013 as a crowdsourced law library — a sort of “Wikipedia meets Reddit” for the law. Ten years later, Casetext is one of the biggest wins to date in AI, capable of turning weeks of arduous legal work into hours or minutes. Just months ago it was acquired for $650 million dollars. What happened between those two points? For this episode of Main Function, YC President Garry Tan sits down with Casetext co-founder Jake Heller to learn the real story of their 10-year “overnigh...
The stories are true: technical founders (and early technical employees!) often end up with the short end of the stick when starting a company. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, we’ll discuss the questions and best practices that an aspiring technical founder should think about — whom to start a company with, and how to think about things like equity split and division of responsibilities. Know what you are worth and act accordingly! Apply to Y Combinator : https://yc.link/DandM-apply Wor...
If you’re an employee of a late stage company right now, how would you know when it’s time to move on vs. time to double down? The fact is there isn't an easy answer — it can really vary from person to person and situation to situation. In this video, YC Group Partners, Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell share some suggestions on what sort of things an employee of a late stage startup should be looking for — the good signs and the bad — to best make this decision. Apply to Y Combinator : htt...
There's only so many hours in a day and running a startup will require most of them. So how do you use that time wisely and be more productive? In this episode of Office Hours, the Group Partners at Y Combinator share their favorite strategies to be more effective and reduce distractions at work. They'll discuss the benefits of maker/manager schedules in addition to the fake work and productivity fads that can do more harm than good. If you're going to build a big business, you'l...
In our new documentary series Backstory, we’re profiling the extraordinary Group Partners at the heart of YC. We’re kicking it off with Surbhi Sarna, YC’s first healthcare and biotech-focused Group Partner. In 2018 Surbhi Sarna sold her company nVision for $275 million to one of the world’s leading healthcare companies. But to understand how Surbhi got where she is today, you have to go back to her sophomore year in high school, when a cancer scare upended her life and set her on an entirely new...
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 sta...
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...
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 k...
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...
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-...
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
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...
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/Mai...
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...
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 : ht...
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 yourse...
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
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.paulgr...
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...
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 cari...
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 ...
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 Startu...
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/
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/...
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 ris...
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...
