Y Combinator Startup Podcast

Latest Episodes:

YC Founders Made These Fundraising Mistakes Aug 18, 2022

Show notes

Michael 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

YC Founder Firesides: Gusto on building for new verticals Aug 15, 2022

Show notes

Gusto (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 and the future of embedded finance — sharing advice for startup founders and CEOs along the way.
Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Co-Founder Mistakes That Kill Companies & How To Avoid Them Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

In 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 Jul 27, 2022

Show notes

Dalton 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 Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

Dalton 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

Why You Should Leave Your FAANG Job Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

Dalton 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 Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

Dalton 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 Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

Diego 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 sensing to track carbon
11:37 - Connecting disparate groups
13:04 - How much carbon does a typical company offset?
15:28 - How big is the reforesting opportunity?
17:09 - What are the incentives to offset carbon?
18:40 - Why don't people trust carbon offsets?
20:33 - What are the different forest conservation methods?
25:20 - How does Pachama use technology?
29:00 - Growth challenges
30:20 - Who are the customers?
32:12 - The future of the carbon market
32:48 - Fundraising for a climate startup
37:50 - Advice for people that want to start working in the climate change space.
41:38 - Climate policy
43:23 - What are the most important things happening in the space?
45:10 - The benefits of agroforestry and permaculture

#156 - Amber Atherton and Iba Masood Dec 18, 2019

Show notes

Amber 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
18:11 - Evaluating investors
23:46 - Meeting with associates and partners
30:35 - Raising a Series A as a female founder
39:31 - Fundraising psychology
41:46 - What not to do when fundraising
45:01 - Talking to portfolio companies about investors
46:21 - What it's like to run a Series A stage company
1:00:41 - The most important piece of advice for fundraising

#155 - Laks Srini Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

Laks 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 did they learn from companies that failed in the space?
8:00 - Breaking down the product
11:25 - ZeroDown's customers
13:35 - Expanding to other markets
15:50 - What if a downturn happens?
17:10 - ZeroDown's hiring strategy
20:10 - What are their hardest technical challenges?
22:05 - ZeroDown's breadth and product strategy
26:40 - Customer interviews
28:35 - Should everyone own a house?
29:50 - Home ownership in the future
32:45 - Build something you really want to see in the world
34:40 - Working with his cofounders was the most important consideration

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