Sam wrote about this in his recent blog post [https://ycombinator.com/blog/diversity-and-startups], but I’ve found that important and seemingly obvious things often bear repeating. So with Demo Day approaching, I’d like to make the following point explicit: Y Combinator has a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate…
Japanese candy subscription box Candy Japan exceeded $10,000 per month in sales.
When I first graduated from college and went looking for a job with a startup I had no idea what to expect. I knew what I didn’t want - I had done ...
In the past few years, we’ve seen more founders from around the world coming to Silicon Valley to start startups. In YC’s W14 batch alone, we had founders from 22 different countries, and every year we see an increasing number of international applicants. We want to help founders from all over learn about startups, so…
Note: This is the talk I gave at Startup School Europe, which was held last Saturday in London. You've heard a lot of great startup advi...
Everywhere I go, everywhere I speak, I get asked this question. Are we in a bubble? I’ve been getting asked that question for at least four years now. It’s hard to sustain a bubble for four years. But we are also not in a normal valuation environment for high growth tech companies and we have […]
Groove is now Helply!
Andy sent me a WSJ piece with Bill Gurley yesterday. I don’t like to link to paid content so here’s a good Business Insider summary of the article that is open for anyone to read. Regular readers know that I’m a huge fan of Bill’s. He’s as smart as they come and I generally agree with him […]
As of this batch we’re introducing a new policy for investments by YC partners in the companies we fund. YC partners have invested in the startups we fund since the first batch. In the beginning it was harmless, and occasionally even necessary. And other investors couldn’t treat investments by YC partners as much of a…
I’m delighted to announce that Kat Manalac, Kirsty Nathoo, Carolynn Levy and I are hosting Y Combinator’s first Female Founders Conference [http://femalefoundersconference.org]on Saturday, March 1. We’re going to gather together female founders at all stages to share stories, give advice, and make connections. The…
If you missed Startup School 2014, the videos are now on YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-uHSnFig5OyY5JWSQrl_gESiEUJxe1m]. Notes from the 10th anniversary of Startup School: Ron Conway, SVAngel [http://youtu.be/qvHhhIfu7Lo?list=PLQ-uHSnFig5OyY5JWSQrl_gESiEUJxe1m] Are entrepreneurs made or born?…
There's a newer and updated post published 3 years later on a similar topic: How Pipedrive reached 50,000 paying customers Short answer: great product, some marketing and a bit of luck. These things got Pipedrive to pass the 10,000 paying customers milestone earlier in the year. The longer answer is below. This is the…
I started seed investing in 2010 (and much more actively in 2012) before becoming a full-time YC partner. In this period, I invested in about 40 companies. So far, five of them are in the “really...
Hello? is this thing on? I’m not sure if I even know how to operate this “blog” device any more. It’s been a year since my last post. I’m retired from blogging, remember? Want to hear something fun…
We are now accepting applications for the Winter 2015 batch. You can apply as a startup or as a non-profit [http://www.ycombinator.com/nonprofits/]. If you want to apply, submit your applicationhere [http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/]by 8pm PT on October 14. For more information on the process, readHow to Successfully…
People have been saying that startup valuations are really high for about 3 years now. I myself feel that they are high, but I have no idea when they are likely to change. It’s mostly investors...
Almost deported in First Class
I am often asked what I think about incubators. Short Answer: Incubators are bullshit. Most incubators are like the McDonalds edition of starting a company.
