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Y CombinatorThe Student's Guide To Becoming A Successful Startup Founder
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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 2:28
Advice for High Schoolers: The Startup Game Isn't Going Away
Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell explain they are speaking directly to ambitious high schoolers, many of whom already apply to YC. Michael uses a Final Fantasy VII analogy: you can grind and level up before fighting the boss rather than rushing in.
- •The startup game isn't going away, so young people have time
- •Many YC applicants are literally in high school
- •Deferring gratification to up-skill makes you far more powerful later
- •The grinding has to actually happen, and in real life it's harder to see than in a video game
- 2:28 – 4:16
Learn to Code
Dalton names learning to code as the most obvious skill to build. Michael recalls being the non-coding business founder who felt borderline useless early on, and both argue coders are the power center of software companies.
- •Learn to code even if you want to be a founder or product person
- •Michael felt borderline useless next to his three software-engineer co-founders
- •Resources include AP computer science, Replit and Codecademy
- •Coders are highly compensated, hard to replace and have the easiest path to implementing ideas
- •You don't need to be a teenage whiz kid; it's never too late
- 4:16 – 4:52
Learn Basic Design
Michael's second skill is learning basic design software. He recalls having to make buttons himself in Photoshop when his startups had no designer, and notes good and bad design examples are everywhere to copy.
- •Learn how to use basic design software
- •In early startups, if a button was needed and no designer existed, it was on you
- •Examples of good and bad design are all over the internet to copy
- 4:52 – 6:49
Launch Products and Do the Reps
The third skill is launching products, even small side projects. Dalton cites Mark Zuckerberg and Adam D'Angelo's Winamp music recommendation plugin as a no-stakes example, and says the advice from the greats is to do the reps.
- •Go through the full motion of idea, release and handing it to someone
- •The product doesn't need users or to be a business
- •Zuckerberg and D'Angelo built a popular Winamp plugin in high school
- •Many great founders worked on cool projects when young and don't understand why you'd ask why
- •Reps matter even if the poem goes unshown or the bands break up
- 6:49 – 9:13
Learn to Talk to People and Make Friends
Michael says founders must learn to talk to people and that this is a 100% learnable skill. Dalton adds that high school identity buckets like nerd or jock aren't permanent, and both describe high school as a sandbox for experimenting.
- •Social skill is learnable; YC founders have changed massively
- •You get better by sucking at it first and being uncomfortable
- •Identity buckets are fake and not permanent
- •High school reputations don't follow you, so you can experiment
- •Everyone feels shy, even those who seem not to
- 9:13 – 11:21
Learn to Care and Help People
Michael argues founders must be empathetic and care about customers and users, and that this can be practiced early. He tells a story about tutoring a 9th grader, initially to check a box, and seeing how much the parents appreciated real help.
- •Founders have to actually care about customers and users
- •Michael tutored a 9th grader at first to check a box for a scholarship contest
- •The parents' gratitude showed him that real help is appreciated
- •If you really care, even a screw-up won't get you fired
- •Caring is rare, and young people who care stand out
- 11:21 – 13:35
Playing the Credential Game
Michael raises credentials as a tricky topic, since we don't live in a world where they don't matter. Both argue against either extreme of embracing or rejecting the system and say the system is a tool you can use toward your goals.
- •Some people love the system, others want to rage against the machine
- •Rejecting the system outright can hold you back
- •Trusting it as a pure merit filter leads to disappointment later
- •A centrist approach: understand the rules and use credentials for long-term goals
- •The system is a tool you can use rather than something operating on you
- 13:35 – 15:42
Telling Fads That Stick From Fads That Pass
The hosts discuss young people getting swept up in fads like the internet, crypto and WallStreetBets. Michael says fads stick when they add real value, and that startup fads like Zoom or Robinhood often hide what's really going on.
- •Young people often get really into the current thing
- •Fads are another system to understand
- •Fads stick when they add value and pass when they don't
- •The Zoom and Robinhood founders saw the need before COVID and WallStreetBets
- •Learn to spot real versus fake and temporary versus long-term value
- 15:42 – 17:50
Be Excited About Technology
Michael and Dalton contrast the era when journalists were uniformly excited about the internet with today's negative coverage. They say both extremes are wrong, but a young person's job is to be an optimist and to see technology as progress.
- •Journalism once showed no reservations about the internet
- •Today's coverage asks how every new technology will exploit us
- •Both extremes are incorrect, though critics make fair points
- •Young people shouldn't internalize too much of the current negative narrative
- •Look at your phone and online learning as evidence that technology is progress
- 17:50 – 20:08
Be Honest, Starting With Yourself
Michael raises honesty as a big lesson. Dalton says the best skill is being honest with yourself, and both explain that the startup world runs on trust and that blunt nerd honesty, like saying the emperor has no clothes, is valuable.
- •Honesty with yourself underlies relationships with parents, friends and institutions
- •Customers, investors, co-founders and employees rely on high-trust honesty
- •Nerds are criticized for saying what they think, but that candor is essential
- •Acknowledge it if your product sucks or you don't care about your user
- 20:08 – 23:46
Love the Long Games
Michael recalls starting his company at 23 and his lawyer saying the average startup takes seven to 10 years to exit, which proved right. Dalton says real ambition means patience over many years and cites his high school girlfriend who became the New York Times poetry critic.
- •Michael had never done anything long before his startup; his company sold seven years later
- •True ambition means being patient over many years
- •Dalton's poetry-loving high school girlfriend became the New York Times poetry critic
- •Many people lose their dreams in their 20s, while those who keep them and put in years reach the top
- •Michael's grind in his 20s was worth it compared to friends' fun in New York
- 23:46 – 24:21
Live Your Dream
To wrap up, Michael and Dalton encourage high schoolers interested in startups not to let anyone put them down. They tell them to have a dream, be themselves, and know the game will be there when they're ready.
- •It's awesome to be thinking about the startup game
- •Never let anyone put you down
- •Have a dream and be yourself
- •The game will be there when you're ready to play
