Everything We Teach at YCombinator in 10 Minutes

How to START a STARTUP with Michael Seibel (Reddit, YC, Twitch)

Interested in starting a startup? In this video, YC's Michael Seibel shares valuable insights on how to start a successful business from scratch.

Welcome to our channel! In this video, Michael Seibel, CEO of Y Combinator, provides a comprehensive guide on how to start a startup in just 15 minutes. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or already in the startup world, this video is packed with invaluable advice and insights.

Michael covers:
1. The importance of having a technical co-founder.
2. How to brainstorm and validate your startup idea.
3. Key steps to building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
4. Strategies for achieving growth and gaining traction.
5. Tips for fundraising and dealing with investors.
6. Essential operations and hiring practices.
7. Don't miss out on this quick yet powerful session to jumpstart your entrepreneurial journey!

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:12 - Requirements to Start a Tech Startup
01:08 - Ideas and Problems to Solve
02:12 - Launching the MVP
03:12 - Achieving Growth
04:24 - Doing PR Yourself
05:20 - Fundraising Tips
06:00 - Controlling Operations and Costs
07:04 - Hiring the Right People
08:24 - Conclusion

Prerequisites for making startup

• no job
• 1 years worth of money
• 2-4 people, 50% tech

Team building

In the video "How to START a STARTUP with Michael Seibel (Reddit, YC, Twitch)," Michael Seibel, CEO of Y Combinator, discusses team building and hiring for startups in several key ways:

• Co-Founder Requirements: He emphasizes that starting a tech startup ideally involves two to four co-founders, with at least 50% of the team being engineers. Everyone should have about a year’s worth of personal savings (enough to live frugally) and should have quit their jobs to commit fully to the startup. The idea itself is not required at the outset; having the right team is the most important starting point.

• Team Buy-In: When brainstorming ideas, it's best to discuss them with your teammates before they become too solidified, so everyone feels ownership and commitment to the idea.

• Hiring Philosophy: Seibel advises founders to aim to increase the average talent of the company with each hire. He notes that founders are often smart and willing to take risks, but the first few employees should be even smarter and slightly more risk-averse than the founders. If you can't hire someone smarter than yourself, you should consider doing the work yourself rather than settling for less.

• Transparency and Loyalty: When making offers to new hires, be transparent about stock options, total shares outstanding, and salary. This builds trust and loyalty, which is especially important for early employees.

• Hiring Slowly: He highlights that startups can achieve a lot with just a small founding team, citing examples like Instagram, which sold for a billion dollars with fewer than 20 employees. The advice is to hire slowly and only when necessary.

In summary, Seibel’s approach to team building is centered on assembling a capable and committed core team, making thoughtful hires that raise the overall talent level, and maintaining transparency and loyalty with new team members while keeping the team as lean as possible for as long as possible.

Idea

• daily/weekly problems

Market

• what is the sector worth?

Mvp

• second place where most companies screw up
• how fast can you launch product? -> why longer than two months?

Growth

• focus on reference customers
• using = sharing

PR

• pr = business development
• introduction
• follow up
• provide something of value

have pretext to talk to the media