Y Combinator
200 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 159 ratingsWe talk with people who are shaping the future. A show about technology in business, research, and art.
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Episodes
How To Earn Customers For Life
March 14, 2023 13:00 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MBIn 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 ...
The REAL Potential of Generative AI
March 06, 2023 14:00 - 20 minutes - 18.3 MBWhat 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 curi...
The Hard Conversations Founders Don't Want to Have
March 01, 2023 14:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBY 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
The Best Way To Launch Your Startup with Kat Mañalac | Startup School
February 24, 2023 17:44 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBYC'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
February 17, 2023 17:14 - 21 minutes - 20 MBStep 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/
The Cult of Conformity in Silicon Valley
February 10, 2023 16:40 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBWhat 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...
Don't Make These Hiring Mistakes
January 26, 2023 15:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBStep 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Keys To Successful Co-Founder Relationships with Cat Li & Divya Bhat | Startup School
January 24, 2023 15:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBHow 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply Looking for a co-founder? Sign up for Co-Founder Matching: https://www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching
How To Compete With Amazon and Google
January 18, 2023 15:00 - 16 minutes - 14.7 MBStep 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
January 16, 2023 15:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBIf 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Investors Said No, Now What?
January 12, 2023 15:00 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBStep 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
January 11, 2023 18:06 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBStep 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
January 03, 2023 17:07 - 22 minutes - 21 MBHow 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Startup Business Models and Pricing with Aaron Epstein | Startup School
December 27, 2022 19:21 - 32 minutes - 30 MBOne 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
How to Talk to Users with Gustaf Alströmer | Startup School
December 20, 2022 17:38 - 17 minutes - 16 MBYC 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
How to Get and Evaluate Startup Ideas with Jared Friedman | Startup School
December 15, 2022 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MBYC'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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Should You Start a Startup? with Harj Taggar | Startup School
December 13, 2022 16:30 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBIn 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Avoid These Tempting Startup Ideas
December 01, 2022 15:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBThinking 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
The Truth About Y Combinator
November 29, 2022 17:00 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBWith 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
The Two Mindsets That Can Kill Your Startup
November 24, 2022 15:00 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBDalton 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://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
What Basic Game Theory Teaches Us About Startups
November 17, 2022 15:00 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBDalton 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
November 10, 2022 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MBDalton 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
November 03, 2022 16:54 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBDalton 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
October 27, 2022 14:00 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBDalton 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
October 24, 2022 15:54 - 57 minutes - 79.6 MBMutiny (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...
#160 - YC Founder Firesides: Mutiny on AI and the next era of company growth
October 24, 2022 15:42 - 57 minutes - 79.6 MBMutiny (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...
Why Investors (including YC) Can’t Fix Your Company
October 20, 2022 07:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBDalton 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?
October 13, 2022 14:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBDalton 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
October 06, 2022 14:00 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBDalton 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
September 29, 2022 16:37 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBDalton 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?
September 12, 2022 14:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBDalton 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
September 05, 2022 16:13 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBDalton 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?
August 29, 2022 15:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBDalton 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
August 25, 2022 16:09 - 9 minutes - 8.82 MBDalton 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
August 18, 2022 14:00 - 7 minutes - 6.92 MBMichael 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
August 15, 2022 18:22 - 1 hour - 162 MBGusto (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 an...
YC Founder Firesides: Gusto on building for new verticals
August 15, 2022 18:22 - 1 hour - 162 MBGusto (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 an...
Co-Founder Mistakes That Kill Companies & How To Avoid Them
August 09, 2022 17:19 - 8 minutes - 8.01 MBIn 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? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
Dealing With Setbacks And The Startup Gut Punch
July 27, 2022 14:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MBDalton 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. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
Saving Your Startup During an Economic Downturn
July 21, 2022 17:23 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBDalton 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. Paul Graham's essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/aord.html Trevor Blackwell's startup growth calculator: http://growth.tlb.org Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
#158 - Same, Same but Different with Vanta and Zapier
July 07, 2022 15:30 - 59 minutes - 81.7 MBChristina Cacioppo is the founder of Vanta and Wade Foster is the founder of Zapier. Vanta automates security and compliance for startups, while Zapier automates work by connecting with over 5,000 apps. Same, Same but Different brings together two YC founders who will discuss a similar decision they made on their journey to building a growth-stage company. But like every journey, the path getting there and the results are unique to that startup. Christina and Wade flipped the equation of a...
Why You Should Leave Your FAANG Job
June 22, 2022 21:08 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBDalton 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. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done
June 22, 2022 20:52 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBDalton 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. Read PG's essay here: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
#157 - Diego Saez Gil
January 28, 2020 10:15 - 46 minutes - 43.6 MBDiego Saez Gil is the founder of Pachama. Pachama is building a marketplace where companies can support carbon offset projects. 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 - Welcome Gustaf and Diego 01:19 - Diego's background 06:50 - What is Pachama? 09:25 - Using remote sensi...
#156 - Amber Atherton and Iba Masood
December 18, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBAmber Atherton is the founder and CEO of Zyper (YC W18). Iba Masood is the cofounder and CEO of TARA (YC W15). 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 1:16 - Seed fundraising for Zyper and Tara 3:26 - Tara's pivot 4:31 - Series A fundraising for Zyper and Tara ...
#155 - Laks Srini
December 11, 2019 10:00 - 36 minutes - 34.4 MBLaks Srini is the cofounder and CTO of ZeroDown. Before that he was the cofounder and CTO of Zenefits. You can find him on Twitter at @laks_srini. 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 00:30 - What is ZeroDown? 1:50 - How did they test the idea? 3:50 - What di...
#154 - Matt Cutts
December 04, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 61.2 MBMatt Cutts is the Administrator of the US Digital Service and previously he was the head of the webspam team at Google. You can find him on Twitter at @mattcutts. 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 00:36 - Working at Google in 2000 2:48 - Did Google's succes...
#153 - Cory Doctorow and Joe Betts-LaCroix
November 27, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBCory Doctorow is a blogger, journalist, and science fiction author. He’s also the co-editor of Boing Boing. Joe Betts-Lacroix is the CTO of VIUM and an Expert at YC. 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 00:32 - Adversarial interoperability 7:55 - So what should founders do? 13:55 - Copyright 19:55 -...
#152 - Startup School Week 11 Recap - Geoff Ralston's Parting Advice
November 13, 2019 10:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MBIn this week’s lecture YC President Geoff Ralston shares parting advice for all the founders that participated in Startup School. If you want to sign up for next year’s edition of Startup School, you can put your name on the waitlist at StartupSchool.org. 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 00:31 - Geof...
#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
November 06, 2019 10:00 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBWe've cut down the tenth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast. First, a lecture from Ali Rowghani. Ali is a partner at YC. His lecture covers how to lead. Then a lecture from Kevin Hale and Adora Cheung. Kevin and Adora are both partners at YC. Their lecture breaks down this year’s Startup School by the numbers and they share tips on what helped companies most. Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 20...