21 hours ago
- The most important advice for startups is to explain what they've learned from users, which tests attention, understanding, and user need.
- Most startups face the same common problems, regardless of their product, a key insight enabling Y Combinator's effectiveness.
- YC's early funding of many startups provides extensive data and experience, compared to later-stage investors.
- Advising startups cannot be automated; it requires individualized guidance from partners who know each startup well.
- YC learned that treating startups as a group fails at scale, leading to sharding into smaller groups for better partner focus.
- Founders often misidentify their problems or prioritize them poorly, requiring partners to uncover deeper issues during office hours.
- Founders frequently ignore advice due to the counterintuitive nature of startups, which makes advice seem wrong until experience proves it right.
- YC's value lies in helping founders focus on the most critical problems to enable speed, which defines startups.
- Colleagues are as important as partner advice; YC creates a supportive community of peers that enhances founder success.
- YC was designed to address founder loneliness and provide seed funding, while fostering a collaborative environment that amplifies help and inspiration.