Y Combinator Head Michael Seibel: The ONE Mistake Killing Startups #yc #twitch
Published 2023-10-30
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Michael evaluates 1000s of startups a year and sees hundreds go through YC, which means he has better data on startup success than just about anyone in tech. He's is also the cofounder of Twitch.
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00:00 Michael Seibel Interview - Y Combinator, Twitch Founder
00:33 What makes YC startups successful
07:52 Dealing with failure
12:12 YC vs venture capital
25:57 MVPs + product market fit
35:01 How to pivot a business
41:22 Equity splits
48:38 Is YC still for outsiders?
53:36 A conspiracy theory that Michael believes
55:46 Michael’s take for common bad advice
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Michael Seibel Links:
Twitter: twitter.com/mwseibel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/
Website: www.michaelseibel.com/
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All Comments (21)
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It is so easy to draw lines between Michael's business advice and his real world experience. Thank you guys, it was really insightful and fun talk. I particularly want to reflect on the part where Michael talks about 'broken people' and the need to expand the envelope in face of negative odds. I fancy the idea that some people just hold very high standards for themselves and have relentless hunger to better understand the world we live in.
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He and Dalton have really helped me to the extent that I have some more common sense and am less deluded. It's lifelong learning.
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Michael is so pleasant to listen to!
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Excellent share Auren. Should be required watching for pre-YC companies and other startup founders. Michael's insights, expertise and wisdom with startups, founders and funding challenges. Bravo!
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I will never do a start up but I enjoy watching these videos for some reason
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"I often feel as though the misunderstanding happens in the problem space. Everyone we fund [at YC] can build software, and so building good solutions is way more... that skill is way more distributed among the YC population. Understanding customer problems? That's actually really hard. Most people don't even want to engage with that intellectually." -- Michael
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This guy is a gem
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Interesting Insight!
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Michael is a LEGEND! I’m preparing a video about his path
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MVPs + Product-Market Fit The journey isn't always linear. Advice aren't like the laws of physics. Therefore, it's recommended to launch quickly, fail fast, learn, and iterate.
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5:15 "Spec-list" -- the list of things you want to build for that interval of time [usually per week or whatever] Good term! I have a notebook = blank paged nice paper art sketchbook that I use to draw UI and make lots of checkboxes. It is a spec-list. A weird, artsy one that I have honed for my purposes and workflow, but essentially the same thing! :D
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Brilliant interview with only 15k views. I must have found the right place.
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An accelerator or venture fund is like a record label. The software developers are the band. Musicians create great bands and a great musical vision that is amplified by the label. You gotta get a great band of software developers and a great software vision. If the VC has to do it for you then they don't need you.
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I can answer question in 21:39 To build an accelerator with an online Ai analysis where a pitch deck is analysed through an app and sent automatically to the right person in the right VC form will be an evolution of YC
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Bruh what is Michaels skin care routine?! Buddy is GLOWING !
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excellent insights by Michael Seibel, a bit dissappointed by the questions and coordination by Hoffmann...
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What does DaaS mean?
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What does a 51:49% co-founder split change when it comes to decision making? Equity ownership doesn't change decision making power if both are on the board.
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What Start Up?
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So he says that building the solution is easy and it's all about understanding user needs. Then I don't know why engineers from big tech companies seem to be geeting so much easier into YC or receive funding (maybe wrong impression?). They might be better at building but have probably no edge identifying customer needs.
