Y Combinator Startup Podcast

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 wa...

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...

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 avoidi...

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 t...

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

How 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://yc.link/SUS-apply Work at a Startup : https://yc.link/SUS-jobs Looking f...

Step 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/

If 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://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup : https://yc.link/DandM-jobs

Step 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/

Step 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 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://yc.link/SUS-apply⁠ Work at a Startup : ⁠https://yc.link/SUS-jobs

One 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://yc.link/SUS-apply⁠⁠...

YC 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://yc.link/SUS-apply⁠⁠ Work at a Startup : ⁠⁠https://yc.link/SUS-jobs

YC'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:/...

In 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://yc.link/SUS-apply⁠⁠ Work at a Startup : ⁠⁠https://yc.link/SUS-jobs

Thinking 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://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup : https://yc.link/DandM-jobs

With 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://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup : https://yc.link/DandM-jobs

Dalton 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://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup : https://yc.link/DandM-jobs

Dalton 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/

Dalton 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/

Dalton 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/

Dalton 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/

Dalton 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/