Having done YCombinator after over ten years of startup experience, it was like going back to school to learn about something I love and plan to continue doing as long as I live. Here is what I agree and disagree with. YC is great at creating a sense of urgency. I am a big believer that growth happens when you are outside of your comfort zone, not when you are comfortable. YC does a great job of creating that urgency. In fact, even after the batch, a few of us in the batch have continued the biweekly office hours tradition where we get together every couple of weeks and review our progress and goals. In reality, it turns into a biweekly "founder therapy" session. The other thing that YC is great about is the emphasis on being lean and scrappy. At the end of the day you want to build a company where $1 becomes $10, not the other way around. So you have to pay attention to cost, doing more with less. YC emphasizes scrappiness as a fundamental principle, and how it applies not just in the early stages but even as companies scale. You're not going to turn $1 into $10 if you don't care about ROI, and you won't get ROI if you only focus on output, not input. Having experience with both bootstrapping and venture, profitable and unprofitable, I wholeheartedly agree with this. YC also emphasizes raising as little possible, not as much as possible. As a YC company we get a lot of investor inbounds. This year alone I've easily received 200+ investors inbound all the way from $XXB funds to micro VCs and angels. At this point they start to feel like AI SDRs reaching out so I ignore most of them. I bet a lot of them made funny faces when we asked them what's the smallest check they're willing to write. The reason is, if you want to go work for a VC firm, go get a job at a VC firm, and enjoy the ski trips and summer vacations in France. The last thing you want to do is spend ten years of your life building something and end up working for a board / investors. The best way to avoid that is to not need them in the first place. Another thing I love about YC is the focus on technical founders. It's amazing what a couple of people can build in such a short period of time. The amount of constant experimentation and innovation that happens every week in YC makes it more interesting than most research labs. If you like building and tinkering, YC is the place for you. So what do I not agree with? One thing YC can do a better job of is focus more on people, culture and leadership. That is an important part of building a company. Sure, getting to PMF is the most important thing in the early days, but without valuing people, culture and leadership, you're not going to build a great company. IMO this is something that is underemphasized during the batch. There is only so much a founder can do alone. Ultimately you need to build a great team, attract great talent, and for the right reasons (passion, purpose, love of the craft), not the wrong reasons (love of money).
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Precisely! 🎬🔮🆙 After reviewing 2100 YC applications. Here are the top 5 reasons founders get rejected🙅 #founders #fundraising #ycombinator #funding #investors #venturecapital #VCs #investment #pmf #startups #entrepreneurs #innovations
Building something new | Ex Y Combinator Visiting Partner | Co-founded Arcus (sold to Mastercard)
I've reviewed 2100 YC applications. Here are the top 5 reasons founders get rejected🙅 During my time at Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner, and at The Founder School, I’ve reviewed over 2100 YC applications. Outside of traction and market, here are 5 common reasons get founders rejected: 🚫 No founder/market fit: The earlier the stage, the more important it is to highlight your experiences. Especially how those experiences relate to the problem that you’re solving. This is important because great ideas come from unique insights that founders can only get from solving their own problems 🧑🤝🧑 Team: The ideal team has one hustler (sells to customers, VCs, and press) and one hacker (builds products quickly). Ideally, you have at least a 2-person team that clearly demonstrates these two traits 🚷 Not formidable: Building a successful startup is hard and it takes a village. Great founders are resource magnets. They naturally attract resources like venture capital, press, customers, and engineers. I see a lot of videos where founders just don't seem articulate or even that excited. Remember that if you’re not excited about your startup, no one else will be 🐪 Quicksand idea traps: These are common b2c lifestyle ideas (better nightlife, better exercise), where the founder doesn't have expertise. These ideas seem exciting at the beginning, but founders slowly drown because they can't differentiate or acquire customers. A close cousin of the quicksand trap is the solution-in-search-of-a-problem trap 🤓 Not concise: Many founders drown in a sea of jargon, thinking it's impressive. It's not. Please remember that investors won't invest in things that they can't understand Know someone who could benefit from this post? Pls repost #startups #venturecapital #ycombinator #accelerator
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I love YC Demo Day season. It’s an insane concentration of driven founders building something they deeply believe in at the frontier of tech. I know it's more trendy for VCs to complain about YC. But I believe Garry Tan when he says 5-10% of companies become worth a billion dollars. Maven’s hit rate from YC is even higher: 16% have had $B+ exits, and we’re trending toward a 40% graduation rate from Seed to Unicorn with investments we’ve made alongside YC. Since Maven’s founding in 2013, we’ve funded 12 YC startups out of the 66 companies we’ve invested in. Here are a few: Cruise: acquired by GM for $1B+ Embark: $4B SPAC, acquired by Applied Intuition Chariot: acquired by Ford before Series A May Mobility: raised $300M+ in follow on funding, including from Toyota Carrot Fertility: raised $100M+ in follow on funding, including from CRV and USVP Daybreak Health: Series A from Lightspeed, Series B from USV Moment Robotics: acquired by Cruise founder Kyle Vogt’s new company, The Bot Co (Maven is an investor) Our strategy differs from other YC investors. Many funds build a YC “index fund”, investing in many startups per batch. It’s not a bad move. But we focus on concentration, meeting all the companies in our thesis area and investing in one or two. Gratefully, I think every company from the list above can point to Maven as one of their most trusted partners that made a difference: intros to customers, closing follow-on funding from top VCs, connecting key hires, and offering genuine care and advice in both the best and toughest of moments. What are we looking for in a YC investment? 1) Team - a technical product team with startup DNA and hustle that can achieve a bold vision. Brilliant, determined founders no one would bet against who are ambitious enough to build an iconic company. 2) Vision worth fighting for - what are you bringing into the world that is worth all the time, effort and money required for success? Why aren’t existing solutions good enough? Are we proud to help bring this idea to the world? 3) Massive market - because of the valuation premium YC demands, even a $B outcome may not return today’s average Seed fund. Honestly, that math sucks. In order to pay the premium, we have to believe that if we’re right, we’ll be wildly successful. 4) Consumer trend - Maven invests in tech companies addressing emerging consumer trends. Even if some investments are B2B or B2B2C, they are always grounded in a consumer insight: autonomous vehicles in 2014, fertility care in 2017, mental health in 2020. Today, we’re looking at consumer applications of AI and frontier consumer health. Many successful companies we fund are outside of YC as well – like Zoom, Hello Heart, Epic!, Class, Wildtype. So we match YC’s Unicorn % across the rest of our portfolio, too 💪 YC founders in consumer tech and digital health: if you want to build an iconic company that delivers a positive impact for millions of consumers - I can’t wait to talk to you!
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In which of these points do you feel strongest and in which weakest? 💪 Strengthening our weaknesses batch by batch is a good start 🚀 #startup #startuptips #founder #funding #seed
Building something new | Ex Y Combinator Visiting Partner | Co-founded Arcus (sold to Mastercard)
I've reviewed 2100 YC applications. Here are the top 5 reasons founders get rejected🙅 During my time at Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner, and at The Founder School, I’ve reviewed over 2100 YC applications. Outside of traction and market, here are 5 common reasons get founders rejected: 🚫 No founder/market fit: The earlier the stage, the more important it is to highlight your experiences. Especially how those experiences relate to the problem that you’re solving. This is important because great ideas come from unique insights that founders can only get from solving their own problems 🧑🤝🧑 Team: The ideal team has one hustler (sells to customers, VCs, and press) and one hacker (builds products quickly). Ideally, you have at least a 2-person team that clearly demonstrates these two traits 🚷 Not formidable: Building a successful startup is hard and it takes a village. Great founders are resource magnets. They naturally attract resources like venture capital, press, customers, and engineers. I see a lot of videos where founders just don't seem articulate or even that excited. Remember that if you’re not excited about your startup, no one else will be 🐪 Quicksand idea traps: These are common b2c lifestyle ideas (better nightlife, better exercise), where the founder doesn't have expertise. These ideas seem exciting at the beginning, but founders slowly drown because they can't differentiate or acquire customers. A close cousin of the quicksand trap is the solution-in-search-of-a-problem trap 🤓 Not concise: Many founders drown in a sea of jargon, thinking it's impressive. It's not. Please remember that investors won't invest in things that they can't understand Know someone who could benefit from this post? Pls repost #startups #venturecapital #ycombinator #accelerator
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I've reviewed 2100 YC applications. Here are the top 5 reasons founders get rejected🙅 During my time at Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner, and at The Founder School, I’ve reviewed over 2100 YC applications. Outside of traction and market, here are 5 common reasons get founders rejected: 🚫 No founder/market fit: The earlier the stage, the more important it is to highlight your experiences. Especially how those experiences relate to the problem that you’re solving. This is important because great ideas come from unique insights that founders can only get from solving their own problems 🧑🤝🧑 Team: The ideal team has one hustler (sells to customers, VCs, and press) and one hacker (builds products quickly). Ideally, you have at least a 2-person team that clearly demonstrates these two traits 🚷 Not formidable: Building a successful startup is hard and it takes a village. Great founders are resource magnets. They naturally attract resources like venture capital, press, customers, and engineers. I see a lot of videos where founders just don't seem articulate or even that excited. Remember that if you’re not excited about your startup, no one else will be 🐪 Quicksand idea traps: These are common b2c lifestyle ideas (better nightlife, better exercise), where the founder doesn't have expertise. These ideas seem exciting at the beginning, but founders slowly drown because they can't differentiate or acquire customers. A close cousin of the quicksand trap is the solution-in-search-of-a-problem trap 🤓 Not concise: Many founders drown in a sea of jargon, thinking it's impressive. It's not. Please remember that investors won't invest in things that they can't understand Know someone who could benefit from this post? Pls repost #startups #venturecapital #ycombinator #accelerator
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Fundraising Catalyst | Helping Everyday People Raise Money to Change the World | Founder & CEO of Friendraising for Success | Speaker | Serial Tech Founder
Are founders “naturally” resource magnets? I agree with everything on this list except for one thing: the idea that great founders naturally attract resources like venture capital, press, customers, and engineers. In my experience, I’ve worked with founders at the very start of their journeys who could barely string a few coherent non-techie sentences together—yet, after focused training, they became masterful storytellers who could inspire and engage investors and customers alike. I’ve also seen founders who used to stand awkwardly at tech events, unsure how to start conversations, completely transform their approach by working on their mindset and implementing the right strategies. I believe it’s a disservice to think that a founder either has “it” or doesn’t from the outset. So much of what we consider “natural” can actually be learned, developed, and refined with the right guidance and effort.
Building something new | Ex Y Combinator Visiting Partner | Co-founded Arcus (sold to Mastercard)
I've reviewed 2100 YC applications. Here are the top 5 reasons founders get rejected🙅 During my time at Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner, and at The Founder School, I’ve reviewed over 2100 YC applications. Outside of traction and market, here are 5 common reasons get founders rejected: 🚫 No founder/market fit: The earlier the stage, the more important it is to highlight your experiences. Especially how those experiences relate to the problem that you’re solving. This is important because great ideas come from unique insights that founders can only get from solving their own problems 🧑🤝🧑 Team: The ideal team has one hustler (sells to customers, VCs, and press) and one hacker (builds products quickly). Ideally, you have at least a 2-person team that clearly demonstrates these two traits 🚷 Not formidable: Building a successful startup is hard and it takes a village. Great founders are resource magnets. They naturally attract resources like venture capital, press, customers, and engineers. I see a lot of videos where founders just don't seem articulate or even that excited. Remember that if you’re not excited about your startup, no one else will be 🐪 Quicksand idea traps: These are common b2c lifestyle ideas (better nightlife, better exercise), where the founder doesn't have expertise. These ideas seem exciting at the beginning, but founders slowly drown because they can't differentiate or acquire customers. A close cousin of the quicksand trap is the solution-in-search-of-a-problem trap 🤓 Not concise: Many founders drown in a sea of jargon, thinking it's impressive. It's not. Please remember that investors won't invest in things that they can't understand Know someone who could benefit from this post? Pls repost #startups #venturecapital #ycombinator #accelerator
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Partnering with innovative start-ups & VCs to find best-in-class tech talent [🦄 for 🚀]
𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐢𝐩: 𝑆𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑅𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑢𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑝 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑 This week's tip dives into a recent trend in the startup ecosystem: Y Combinator founders raising smaller seed rounds with less equity dilution. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧: ▪ YC startups are seeking seed funding in the $1.5M-$2M range, lower than the usual $3M-$5M. ▪ They're also offering less equity (around 10%) compared to the standard 20%. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧? 🔸 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥: This shift could signal a newfound focus on maintaining control for longer. By giving up less ownership, founders have more flexibility in future fundraising rounds. 🔹 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭: With a potential economic slowdown and ability to do more with less, founders might be taking a cautious approach, seeking less capital to validate their ideas before scaling aggressively. 🔸 𝐕𝐂 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲: Some VCs might be wary of the lower equity offers, especially if valuations remain high. This could create a funding gap for YC founders. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Is this a new normal or a temporary shift? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure: it's an interesting development that could have implications for the entire startup funding landscape. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬? Are founders being smart by taking a conservative approach, or is this a sign of a bigger funding crunch to come? Share your insights in the comments! #Startups #VC #Funding #YC #ThursdayTechTip 𝐏.𝐒. Let me know if you'd like to hear more about specific fundraising strategies for the current market!
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Management Consultant | Strategy Director | Corporate Scaling | Value Creation | Mergers & Acquisitions | #1 Best Selling Author | Venture Partner | 5x Community Top Voice
<<𝘼𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙩-𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧/𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙪𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙥!>> Many startups lose steam after a hot launch. The culprit? Shifting focus from building a great product to fundraising and other "fake work". Here's how to stay on course: ✅Focus on Real Work #priorities: Build a product-users love & acquire customers. This is the hard work that drives growth, not endless interviews or press tours. ✅Maintain #Momentum: Keep the fire burning! Momentum is key to overcoming obstacles and achieving escape velocity. #startuplife Avoid These Traps: ❌"We Made It" Illusion: Don't get complacent after a funding round. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. ❌Fear of Change: Stay flexible! As you grow, adapt and pivot when needed. Early Traction Mirage: A good product is essential for long-term growth. Don't rely on willpower alone. The best startups keep laser focus on building amazing products and acquiring users. #realwork This is the #success recipe for reaching for the moon (and beyond!) *The following is a blog post by #SamAltman of #OpenAI when he was President of Y Combinator #Startups #YC #founders #growth #business #Accelerator #Incubator #BusinessMomentum #YCombinator
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Raising in the US. We helped founders raise $40M in the last 2 years 👇 TLDR: We're looking for startups who want to raise millions in the US. We're running pitch deck sprints with YC founders who've done it before. Why? Raising already feels like a rollercoaster. Throw in a foreign investing landscape and it's easy to feel like you're not fit enough to stomach the ride or that you might be thrown off at the end. It's a bumpy journey. We make the ride shorter and smoother. How? By crafting the right story and brand, By refining pitches with YC founders, By designing a deck investors won't skim. All in sprints. With people who've done it before. For context: Y combinator (YC) accepts only 1-3% of startup applications. So founders who get in know how to craft a story. In 2023, YC receive 24,000 applications and accepted 229 startups. So under 1%. The Ask Are you looking for raise millions in the US? or do you know somebody who is? This will be min. 4.5K USD so it does require an investment upfront! Let us know here: https://lnkd.in/g6fCbusB With love from Skale, Joumana 🍌 - 🍌 Hi! I'm Joumana (rhymes with banana). I run a design agency for growing startups and VCs. My goal is share what's worked for me and to help startups stand out from the competition. I keep it real. Enjoy!
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Y Combinator is ripping off founders. Here's how it works... You get a few things when you join Y Combinator: 1️⃣ Network: founders + investors 2️⃣ Advice: 11 week accelerator program 3️⃣ Visibility: demo day and additional publicity 4️⃣ Investment: both from YC and at Demo Day So why is it a bad deal? Let's focus on that fourth one... investment. When you join, they make two investments: → $125k SAFE for 7% of your startup → $375k SAFE uncapped converting next round Assume that next round you raise is your Seed. Median 2Q24 Seed: $3.5M on $15M pre-money. YC invested at a $5.5M blended valuation. They will end up owning 9.03% for $500k. On paper, their investment is worth $1.67M. Not bad for 11 weeks of work. The real issue is the $125k for 7%. 🚩 It values your startup at $1.79M post-money. A tiny fraction of the typical angel or Pre-Seed. You end up getting much more dilution. So are the services worth it? To be clear, YC provides incredible services. Good advice, strong network, amazing investors. Back when Paul Graham or Sam Altman ran YC, it was probably a good value. Maybe great value. But now you can replicate most of it on your own. You can get the same advice on podcasts. The Y Combinator partners speak all the time. Want to raise money from a top-tier investor? If you're clever you can meet almost anyone. Want a network of founders? Lots of communities to join. You can't replicate the same structured program. But is that worth an extra 5-7% of your startup? I think it depends on the startup. What do you think? Tell me in the comments! 💬 __ Was this helpful? 👍 like and ♻️ repost it to help other founders!
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Hi Guys, Thoughts & Lessons of the Day!, Pronoy here. Let's discuss one of the most debated topics between founders and VCs: Where and when should startups focus on profit and growth, and which is more valuable?. In my view, it depends on several factors, including the startup's stage, company type, long-term objectives, and overall company capabilities. Most startups (over 99%) in the early, growth, or even scaling stages, only focus on revenue growth. Profitability typically becomes a priority in later stages, especially before or after an IPO, or sometimes not even then. From my research into many unicorns, especially fast-growing and public companies, they often achieve an average year-over-year (YOY) revenue growth of 50% or more. Now, some thoughts about us (I & Mohanta Group). We’ve been part of the startup world for over a decade. However, as a self-funded and self-built startup, our growth and development have been slower than expected. Based on our company age, we should be in the scaling and expansion stages, but we are currently in the growth stage. We're not raising growth or Series A funds right now, but we plan to in the next 1-2 years, once we build more post-funding traction. Our flagship subsidiary brand would qualify for Series A funding, but our focus is on building India’s first fintech conglomerate startup at the growth stage, not a single-entity fintech or wealthtech scale-stage startup. In my view, revenue growth, profitability, and sustainability are all important for a company’s longevity. Based on our business type, long-term game plan, and capabilities, we will focus on all three. As a conglomerate startup (comprising five different businesses), we aim for high revenue growth with good to strong profitability. With our market knowledge and experience, we are mature and moving towards the top 1% or higher in our field and life across various dimensions. If everything goes according to plan, we have the potential to set new benchmarks, make a lasting impact, and achieve greatness in both our startup and personal journey!. To learn more about us, visit: https://bit.ly/MGCEmpire and https://lnkd.in/eVvBZ45N. Stay tuned and follow me: Pronoy Mohanta for future updates on MGC, collaboration opportunities, learning on diverse life topics, and more!. Thanks to all. #PMZQuotes #Debate #Founder #VC #Focus #PronoyMohanta #MohantaGroup #SelfMade #Conglomerate #Fintech #Investment #IT #Business #Education #Consulting #Media #Leader #Startups #Entrepreneurship #VCs #GrowthStage #Grow #Growth #Revenue #RevenueGrowth #Scaling #Profitability #Mentor #Sustainability #SeriesAFunding #IPO #Unicorns #WealthTech #LongTermGoals #SelfFunded #VCBacked #MatureStartup #Top1Percent #MarketInsights #IndiaStartups #Leadership #TechStartups #FinancialGrowth #Scale #Expansion #Funding #CollaborationOpportunities #Benchmarking #Impact #Kolkata #India #FutureLeaders #Minicorn #Soonicorn #Lessons #Wisdom
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Communications Designer | Presentations, Keynotes, Web
7moWhat’s the smallest check 🥲 I love it