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The Future of Web Startups
October 2007 (This essay is derived from a keynote at FOWA in October 2007.) There's something interesting happening right now. Startups are undergoing the same transformation that technology does when it becomes cheaper. It's a pattern we see over and over in technology. Initially there's some device that's very…
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Why to Not Not Start a Startup
March 2007 (This essay is derived from talks at the 2007 Startup School and the Berkeley CSUA.) We've now been doing Y Combinator long enough to have some data about success rates. Our first batch, in the summer of 2005, had eight startups in it. Of those eight, it now looks as if at least four succeeded. Three have…
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YC: What No Means
Twice a year, Y Combinator has to say no to lots of people. Though we’ve done it 5 times already, it doesn’t seem to get any easier. Selecting a small number of investments from a much larger...
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Open Social: a new universe of social applications all over the web (Marc Andreessen)
Marc Andreessen is a cofounder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is an innovator and creator, one of the few to
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Reddit lesson #3: fuck facebook, make real friends
I've already explained how fortunate we were to get that email from Kourosh back in Feb 2006, but I'm often asked how that email ever made ...
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What reddit taught me about startups: "because it's your damn job"
WARNING: I've learned everything I know from 16 months at a startup and HBO miniseries. Trust nothing. Why do I look back so fondly on st...
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How to create a startup in 10.5 hours
I just launched FEEDJIT . It took me about 10.5 hours (4pm until 2:30am) from the first time my hand touched the keyboard until I fixed the last bug and went live. I got a question on the Seattle Tech Startup list about how I spent my 10.5 hours. So here’s a brief summary:
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Why not to do a startup
Marc Andreessen is a cofounder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is an innovator and creator, one of the few to
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Note to Founders: Have Vesting
Not vesting their stock is a common legal mistake new startup founders make. Early on in our funding cycles, I help the founders set up all the initial legal and incorporation paperwork. (I’m not a...
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How to Fund a Startup
November 2005 Venture funding works like gears. A typical startup goes through several rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take just enough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the next gear. Few startups get it quite right. Many are underfunded. A few are overfunded, which is like trying to…
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The Option Pool Shuffle
“Follow the money card!” – The Inside Man, Three-Card Shuffle Summary: Don’t let your investors determine the size of the option pool for you. Use a hiring plan to justify a small…
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