Lessons from working with 600+ YC startups | Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator, Airbnb)

Why Companies Fail

In this section, the speaker talks about why companies fail and how it all comes down to not talking to users and finding product-market fit.

Reasons for Company Failure

• Companies fail because they don't talk to users.

• Not finding product-market fit is a major mistake.

• If a company doesn't find product-market fit, nothing else really matters.

Making Things People Want

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of making things people want and how it's always going to be true.

Importance of Making Things People Want

• The headline is "make things people want."

• It's still true and will always be true.

• Building something that's actually useful is key.

Introduction of Guest: Gustav Alstromer

In this section, the host introduces Gustav Alstromer as his guest. Gustav is a group partner at Y Combinator and has been there for almost six years. Prior to that, he was at Airbnb for over four years where he started the original Airbnb growth team.

Introduction of Guest: Gustav Alstromer

• Gustav Alstromer is introduced as the guest.

• He is a group partner at Y Combinator.

• He was previously at Airbnb where he started the original growth team.

Discussion on Climate Tech and Startups

In this section, the host talks about Gustav's experience working with over 600 startups at Y Combinator. They also discuss climate tech and why there has been an increased focus on it recently.

Discussion on Climate Tech and Startups

• Gustav is at the heart of YC's increased focus on climate tech.

• They discuss what's happening in climate tech and why things have shifted so much recently.

• The importance of thinking about the space if you're hoping to make the jump is emphasized.

Common Mistakes Early Stage Startups Make

In this section, Gustav talks about common mistakes that early stage startups and founders make.

Common Mistakes Early Stage Startups Make

• Not talking to customers is a major mistake.

• Learning that you're building something that's actually useful is key.

• Founders need to be able to articulate their vision clearly.

• Having a technical co-founder is important.

Advice from YC Partners for Founders

In this section, Gustav talks about advice that YC partners give founders most often.

Advice from YC Partners for Founders

• Focus on building something people want.

• Be able to articulate your vision clearly.

• Have a technical co-founder if possible.

Introduction of Sponsors: Linear and Epo

In this section, the host introduces two sponsors: Linear and Epo. He briefly describes each company's product offerings.

Introduction of Sponsors: Linear and Epo

• Linear is introduced as an issue tracker that streamlines product development processes.

• Epo is introduced as a next-generation A/B testing platform.

Linear Sponsorship

In this section, the host talks more about Linear and its features.

Linear Sponsorship

• Linear is incredibly fast and beautifully designed.

• It comes with powerful workflows that streamline product development processes.

• Users love the powerful keyboard shortcuts, efficient GitHub integrations, and built-in project updates.

Epo Sponsorship

In this section, the host talks more about Epo and its features.

Epo Sponsorship

• Epo is a next-generation A/B testing platform built by Airbnb alums for modern growth teams.

• It delivers results quickly and helps you easily get to the root cause of any issue you discover.

• Clients can check out Epo at

Airbnb's Success: The Importance of Hiring and Culture

In this section, the speaker reflects on their experience working at Airbnb and what made it such a special and important experience. They discuss the importance of hiring and culture in building a successful company.

What Made Airbnb Special

• The speaker reflects on their time at Airbnb, which they consider to be the highlight of their career up until that point.

• The team at Airbnb felt more like a group of friends working together on an ongoing project rather than a normal job.

• The team was made up of diverse individuals with backgrounds as former founders rather than just career people from the technology industry.

• The team had a special bond that reminded them more of close social connections than co-workers.

Importance of Hiring and Culture

• Hiring was one of the main factors that impacted Airbnb's success. The founders were very specific about the type of people they hired, ensuring they were excited to work on Airbnb and shared its core values.

• Culture interviews were conducted early on to understand the true motivations of potential hires and ensure they mapped with core values.

Overall, this section highlights how hiring for cultural fit can lead to building a strong team with a special bond that feels more like family than co-workers.

Airbnb Founders and YC Experience

In this section, the speaker talks about how the Airbnb founders cared about their time at YC and tried to recreate it within their company. They also discuss how starting with things that don't scale and talking to customers had a big impact on them.

Importance of Time at YC

• The Airbnb founders cared about their time at YC.

• They tried to recreate what they experienced inside Airbnb.

• Demo day and retro were two ways they did this.

Starting with Things That Don't Scale

• Doing things that don't scale was important for Airbnb's success.

• Talking to customers had a big impact on them.

Difficulty in Applying Lessons Learned

• It's hard to say if these lessons will work for other companies.

• Every company is different, making it tricky to apply lessons learned from others.

Success of Airbnb Business Model

In this section, the speaker talks about how Airbnb had an incredible business model from early on, making it hard for them to fail as a company. They also discuss how not all companies have the ability to take risks like Airbnb did early on because they don't have something obviously great.

Incredible Business Model

• Airbnb had an incredible business model from early on.

• It was hard for them to fail as a company.

Ability to Take Risks Early On

• Not all companies have the ability to take risks like Airbnb did early on.

• This is because they don't have something obviously great like Airbnb did.

Motivations for Starting a Company

In this section, the speaker discusses motivations for starting a company. They mention that while motivations can be diverse, successful founders have a deeper reason for starting their company beyond just finding a niche in the market.

Motivations for Starting a Company

• Motivations for starting a company can be diverse.

• Successful founders have a deeper reason beyond just finding a niche in the market.

Importance of Deeper Reason

• The deeper reason is important because it's what keeps founders going during tough times.

• It varies from person to person and can include solving technical problems, proving oneself, or changing the world.

Starting a Company as an Act of Desperation

In this section, the speaker discusses Elon Musk's quote that starting a company is an act of desperation. They mention that while they haven't heard this quote before, they believe most people start companies from a positive place and that motivations vary widely among successful founders.

Elon Musk's Quote on Starting a Company

• Elon Musk said that starting a company is an act of desperation.

• The speaker hasn't heard this quote before.

Positive Place for Starting Companies

• Most people start companies from a positive place.

• Motivations vary widely among successful founders.

Importance of Deeper Reason (Continued)

• Regardless of motivation, the deeper reason is what keeps founders going during tough times.

• It varies from person to person and can include solving technical problems, proving oneself, or changing the world.

Screening for Motivation in Founders

In this section, the speaker discusses how motivation is important for founders and how it can help with conflict resolution. They also talk about how Y Combinator tries to help founders discover their motivations.

Importance of Knowing Why You're Starting a Company

• Highlighting diversity of reasons people start companies

• Y Combinator helps founders discover their motivations

• Discouraging starting a company as a career step

• Not discouraging people who don't know why they're starting a company

Factors to Consider Before Starting a Company

• Financial, family, or relationship constraints may be more important than starting a company

• Startups are hard and require dedication; there's no middle ground between success and failure

YC Office Hours

In this section, the speaker talks about YC office hours and how they can be helpful for startups. They discuss the two types of office hours and what happens during them.

Types of Office Hours

• Regular office hours are one-on-one meetings with partners to discuss what's holding you back from moving faster

• Group office hours involve six or seven startups talking to partners and have a different purpose than regular office hours

Overall, the speaker emphasizes the importance of motivation in starting a company and encourages founders to consider their reasons before diving in. They also highlight the value of YC office hours in helping startups succeed.

The Importance of Group Office Hours

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of group office hours for founders and how it helps them overcome loneliness and anxiety associated with starting a company.

Benefits of Group Office Hours

• Founders can lean on each other for support since starting a company can be incredibly lonely.

• Hearing other founders explain their problems can help motivate oneself to solve their own problems.

• Group office hours provide accountability for founders to make progress towards their goals.

• Continuing group office hours after YC is encouraged as it provides an opportunity to learn from each other and hold oneself accountable.

Challenges in Finding Support

• Even when surrounded by other founders, everyone is often too busy working to socialize or offer support.

• To have productive group office hours, one must schedule time and remove distractions such as laptops and phones.

Overall, group office hours are a valuable resource for founders to overcome the challenges of starting a company. It provides an opportunity for them to connect with others who understand their struggles and offer support while also holding themselves accountable towards achieving their goals.

Asking the Right Questions

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of asking the right questions to uncover problems and challenges faced by startups.

Importance of Asking Questions

• The speaker suggests asking questions such as "What's holding you back?" in individual office hours and "What are your goals for next two weeks?" in group settings.

• By asking these simple questions, common problems faced by other founders can be uncovered.

• The speaker also highlights the importance of talking to customers or users to understand what is important and validate ideas.

Common Mistakes Made by Early Stage Startups

In this section, the speaker discusses common mistakes made by early stage startups.

Failure to Talk to Customers

• One of the most common reasons for startup failure is not talking to customers or users.

• Without understanding what is important to customers, it doesn't matter what a startup builds or what ideas they have.

• The speaker emphasizes that early on in YC, they spend a lot of time pushing founders to talk about their conversations with customers and what they learned from them.

Fear of Talking to Customers

• Another common mistake made by startups is being afraid to talk to customers.

• Technical people tend to think that software is a solution for everything but it's important to actually talk with someone over phone or in person.

• Founders need to realize that 90% of potential customers are not early adopters and reaching out takes work.

Lack of Technical Knowledge

• The second most common mistake made by startups is not being technical and not knowing what it takes to build a successful technology company.

• Having technical founders and being able to build the first prototype is crucial for success. YC screens for this during their interview process.

Conclusion

In this section, the speaker concludes by summarizing the importance of talking to customers, overcoming fear of rejection, and having technical knowledge in building a successful startup.

Key Takeaways

• Talking to customers is crucial for understanding what's important and validating ideas.

• Overcoming fear of rejection is necessary when reaching out to potential customers.

• Being technical and having the ability to build the first prototype is essential for success in building a technology company.

Talk to Customers

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of talking to customers and learning what matters. He shares examples of successful startups that have done this well.

Importance of Talking to Customers

• People often hear about talking to customers but don't do it because they're afraid or think they already know what they need to build.

• External validation from investors or others does not equate to product-market fit.

• Successful startups get really good at talking to customers and learning what matters.

Airbnb's Success Story

• One of the most important moments in Airbnb history was when Paul Graham told the founders to talk to their customers in New York.

• The founders did trips to New York and learned how to build MB by spending time with their customers.

• Founders should talk to 25-50 potential early adopters before launching a product.

Tactical Tip for Talking to Customers

• Fear of rejection is a common reason why people don't talk to customers.

• People often sign up for services but never use them, so founders shouldn't be afraid of rejection.

• When people stop using a service, it's usually because they're busy or forgot about it, not because they hate it.

Overcoming the Fear of Rejection

In this section, the speaker talks about how rejection is not as bad as people think and how it should be put in context to the early adopter idea. The importance of solving real pain and not just creating a nice little toy is also discussed.

Importance of Second Chances

• People have busy lives and may not use what you're building initially.

• Rejection should be put in context to the early adopter idea.

• You can reach out to them later if you make improvements.

Importance of Solving Real Pain

• Your product needs to solve real pain, not just be a nice little toy.

• It's important to watch people use your product or service to discover their pain points.

• Asking people if they have a problem with something may not reveal the intensity of their pain.

Discovering Pain Points

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of discovering pain points by watching people use your product or service. Examples are given on how non-technical people may struggle with automation and how EV charging systems can be difficult to use.

Watching People Use Your Product/Service

• Watching people use your product/service is crucial for discovering pain points.

• Non-technical users may struggle with automation and resort to manual methods like Excel.

• Example: Renting an EV and using different charging systems can reveal issues with EV charging systems.

Finding a Technical Co-Founder

In this section, the speaker provides advice for individuals who have an idea but lack a technical co-founder. The speaker emphasizes the importance of valuing engineering and understanding its value in building a successful company.

Importance of Valuing Engineering

• Understanding the value of protecting a technical co-founder is crucial.

• Many people undervalue software engineering or any engineering skill set.

• It is important to learn how to value engineering and understand that many decisions rely on it.

Finding a Technical Co-Founder

• There are many technical people who also want to find business co-founders.

• Asking the best technical people you know if they are interested in starting a company with you can be effective.

• Rejection is common, but some may have thought about starting their own company and would be interested.

• Having a technical co-founder is important because many decisions rely on engineering, and there are infinite iterations in building a product.

Learning How to Code

• Learning how to code yourself can be helpful in building a prototype.

• You don't need to be the best engineer, but you should understand the value of engineering.

Contracting Firms vs. Building Your Own Team

In this section, the speaker discusses whether using contracting firms or building your own team is more effective when building a product.

Building Your Own Team

• Two non-technical founders who valued engineering were able to build successful companies by hiring great engineers and giving them equity.

Using Contracting Firms

• The speaker cannot recall any specific examples where using contracting firms was successful in building an entire product.

• Writing specs alone does not guarantee success; being part of the iterations yourself is crucial.

The Importance of Determination and Technical Skills in Founders

In this section, the speakers discuss the importance of determination and technical skills in successful founders.

Key Attributes of Successful Founders

• The most important characteristics of successful founders are their determination to win and their internal motivation that is infectious to people around them.

• Technical skills are also crucial for success, with more technical founders being more likely to succeed.

• Successful founders figure out how to talk to users and move fast early on without waiting for permission from investors or others.

• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to communicate complicated ideas clearly and enjoy storytelling, are also key attributes of great founders.

Examples of Early Startup Teams

In this section, the speakers discuss examples of early startup teams that helped drive growth.

Calendly's Ukrainian Deaf Team

• When Calendly started, a Ukrainian deaf team built the first product and drove all the initial growth by using it within their firm and spreading it throughout Ukraine.

• This team continues to work with Calendly as its inch team.

Contractors Starting Their Own Startups

• In some countries like Ukraine or Europe, engineers often start their own startups while working full-time as contractors because they can't raise money yet.

Disrupting Performance Management with Pando

In this section, the speakers introduce Pando, an employee performance platform that disrupts traditional performance management paradigms.

Pando's Benefits for Employees and Managers

• Pando offers a continuous, employee-centric approach to performance management that helps employees stay engaged and see their progression in real-time.

• Managers can leverage competency-based frameworks to effectively coach and develop their teams, resulting in higher quality feedback and higher performing teams.

Key Attributes of Successful Companies

In this section, the speakers discuss the most common attributes of successful startups.

Importance of Founders' Characteristics

• The most common reason for startup success is the determination and infectious internal motivation of the founders.

• Successful founders are also technical enough to understand their product and market well.

Focus on Customers

• Successful companies figure out how to talk to users early on without waiting for permission from investors or others.

• They focus on customers rather than investors.

Communication Skills

• Excellent communication skills, including enjoying communication and storytelling, are also key attributes of great founders.

Attributes of Successful Founders

In this section, the speaker discusses the attributes that successful founders possess.

Strong Will to Win and Inspirational

• Successful founders have a strong will to win and are inspirational. They pull people along and get them excited.

Technical Ability

• Founders who are technical and can build things are more likely to succeed.

Customer Focus

• Successful founders figure out how to talk to customers and make time for them. They prioritize their customers over investors.

Excellent Communication Skills

• Successful founders are able to tell stories that get people excited. They have excellent communication skills.

Predicting Success in Startups

In this section, the speaker talks about predicting success in startups.

Knowing What Failure Looks Like

• YC is not very good at predicting which startups will be successful. However, they know what failure looks like and can help startups avoid it.

• YC tells founders how they might fail by being direct and honest with them about what they're doing wrong.

Outlier Success is Unpredictable

• There are many things uncorrelated with outlier success such as being in a hot industry or having investor interest.

• It's difficult if not impossible to predict which companies will become outliers because those ideas often don't make sense initially.

Conclusion

The speaker concludes by stating that picking great companies at the seed stage is not easy, but YC's job is to help startups avoid failure.

Indicators of Success

In this section, the speaker discusses indicators of success for startups and how they evaluate progress during a batch.

Progress as an Indicator of Success

• Startups that make continuous progress on a weekly or bi-weekly time scale are more likely to succeed.

• The ability to make progress quickly is a better indicator of success than market trends or investor feedback.

• Making progress at a fast clip is an interesting trend that correlates with success.

Focusing on Basics

• It's important to help teams avoid making basic mistakes, such as not talking to customers or trying to build everything all at once.

• Good teams can't fail, but it's still important to help them avoid common pitfalls.

Attributes of Successful Founders

In this section, the speaker discusses different attributes that successful founders possess and whether they are correlated with success.

Speed vs Quality

• There isn't necessarily a spectrum between speed and quality.

• Moving fast by talking to customers and having customer learnings can lead to building something with high quality.

Confidence vs Humility

• Confidence and humility aren't necessarily on a spectrum.

• Predicting confidence as a founder is critical for motivating people around you.

Importance of Founder Confidence

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of founder confidence in building successful startups.

Critical Role of Founder Confidence

• A founder's confidence in their own idea is critical for motivating others around them.

• Investors won't want to invest in companies where the founder lacks confidence in their own idea.

Confidence and Humility in Founders

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of having confidence as a founder while also maintaining humility towards those around you.

Balancing Confidence and Humility

• Founders need to have an unnatural amount of confidence to prove doubters wrong.

• Successful founders are often those who balance their confidence with a strong sense of humility towards others.

• Having humility is important for inspiring people around you and attracting employees and investors.

Execution vs Strategy in Startups

In this section, the speaker shares his opinion on the importance of execution versus strategy in startups.

Execution Over Strategy

• Strategy is not as important for small startups because they can only focus on one thing at a time.

• Execution is what matters most for startups, especially in the early days.

• Good founders are execution-oriented and continually prioritize their goals.

Autocratic vs Collaborative Decision Making

In this section, the speaker discusses decision-making styles among founders.

Decision-Making Styles

• Autocratic decision-making may work for large corporations but not for small startup teams.

• Founding team decision-making dynamics can vary from everyone deciding together to splitting up decisions based on expertise.

• Regardless of style, it's important to have a process in place to avoid rehashing decisions repeatedly.

Decision Making Process

In this section, the speaker talks about the decision-making process in startups. The process is on a short sprint basis, and everyone needs to feel good about decisions after the fact.

Short Sprint Basis

• Decisions are made on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

• Everyone needs to feel good about decisions after the fact.

Collaboration

• The decision-making process is collaborative.

• Small startups agree on how they decide together.

Product vs Distribution and Growth Strategy

In this section, the speaker discusses whether one should care more about product or distribution and growth strategy.

Caring About Product

• Caring about a product means caring about customers' expectations or use of the product.

• Talking to users is critical early on.

Distribution and Growth Strategy

• Scalable distribution strategies are essential for success.

• Doing things that don't scale is necessary at first.

• Once something works, invest in distribution and growth strategy.

Climate Tech Focus Area

In this section, the speaker talks about YC's focus area on climate tech.

Pushing for Climate Tech Focus Area

• The speaker was instrumental in pushing YC to focus on climate tech as a focus area.

• Over 130+ companies focused on climate tech have been funded by YC so far.

Ambitious People Focused on Climate Tech

• Ambitious people who want to start companies in this area view it as a non-profit but not all of them do.

• Climate tech is viewed as the number one problem.

The Transition to Clean Energy

In this section, the speaker discusses the transition from using energy sources that emit carbon to clean energy sources. This transition involves trillions of dollars and has attracted many software founders and engineers.

The Scale of the Transition

• The transition to clean energy involves trillions of dollars moving from things that cause climate change to things that don't.

• Tesla is just one company that provides a couple of percent of all new cars sold in the United States, yet it already has a market cap of six or seven hundred billion dollars.

• The economical motivation behind transitioning to clean energy is strong because it's good business.

Attracting Software Founders and Engineers

• Many software founders and engineers are attracted to working for startups focused on climate tech.

• Working for startups is critical in joining the transition to clean energy.

• There is an increasing number of smart, driven people who want to work for climate tech companies.

Y Combinator's Role in Climate Tech

In this section, the speaker talks about Y Combinator's role in promoting investment and focus on startups focused on climate tech.

Y Combinator's Early Focus on Climate Tech

• Gustaf Alstromer pushed Y Combinator to focus on climate tech early on.

• In 2018, when Diego Saez-Gil was starting Pachama, investors were unsure if they would fund companies like these. However, Pachama raised $60 million and is now doing well.

The Trend of Investing in Climate Tech

• There is an enormous focus on investing in climate tech.

• The number of new investors investing in climate tech is as big of a trend as any other trend we've seen in the last decade or two decades.

Request for Startup

• A detailed list of ideas or areas where it might be worth looking if you want to start a company was created by Gustaf Alstromer and David Rosenko.

• The list was created in response to people who come to them and say they want to work on climate tech but don't know where to start.

Importance of PM Skills in Climate Tech

In this section, the speakers discuss the importance of product management skills in climate tech startups. They highlight that having a solid PM background is more valuable than having deep domain expertise.

PM Skills vs Domain Expertise

• The panelists agree that actual regular PM skills are all that's needed to move into climate tech startup.

• Having a solid PM background is more valuable than having specific domain expertise.

• Founders can succeed with or without domain expertise, depending on the area they're in.

Areas of Focus for Climate Tech Startups

In this section, the speakers discuss areas of focus for climate tech startups. They highlight the need to decarbonize all things that emit emissions and also focus on carbon removal.

Decarbonization and Carbon Removal

• Decarbonization involves changing things in society that emit carbon such as transportation, energy, and homes.

• Carbon removal involves removing carbon from the atmosphere. It's not enough to just decarbonize everything.

• Shipping is an example of an area where a lot of carbon emissions come from freight ships around the world. There are two companies funded in this area - C-bound and another company building test off-ships.

Opportunities in Climate Tech

In this section, the speaker discusses various opportunities in climate tech and highlights some companies that are making progress in this field.

Electrification and Carbon Accounting

• Electrification has limitations due to batteries. Carbon accounting is critical for big companies to account for their carbon emissions.

• Companies like CarbonChain, Unravel Data Systems, and Ayar Labs are working on carbon accounting software platforms.

Software Platforms for EV Chargers and Home Energy Systems

• Enode is building a platform for EV chargers and home energy systems. Static is the Airbnb for EV charging in India.

• These software platforms will help connect all energy appliances that are run by small computers. They will be Wi-Fi connected and can be controlled through an app.

Battery Electric Planes

• Hard Aerospace, Wright Electric, and others are focusing on battery electric planes to decarbonize aviation.

Conclusion

• There is money to be made in climate tech. Progress is being made with battery prices decreasing.

Positive Developments in Politics and Corporations

In this section, the speaker discusses two positive developments that have occurred in the last 12-24 months. The first is the IRA, a climate bill passed in the United States that incentivizes green energy and supply chain onshoring. The second is that corporations are now becoming customers for decarbonization solutions.

Positive Developments in Politics

• The IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) has been passed in the United States.

• The IRA focuses on incentivizing green energy and supply chain onshoring for the win economy.

• Europe is now trying to counteract with their own incentives due to battery companies shifting production to the US.

Corporations as Customers

• Fortune 100 companies are now showing up as customers for decarbonization solutions.

• These companies are empowered to make decisions and invest in these solutions due to financial motivations such as reducing emissions by 2% every year.

• Corporations fear being left behind and not changing with the times, so they invest in these solutions to stay ahead of competitors.

Economic Opportunity for Climate Startups

In this section, the speaker talks about how climate startups can view climate change as an economic opportunity rather than trying to convince everyone of its importance.

Economic Opportunity for Climate Startups

• Climate startups should focus on B2B sales since most change will happen there.

• Sufficient amount of corporations need to be convinced that they need to change their habits.

• Climate startups can sell their solutions to corporations as customers who are motivated by financial and survival reasons.

• Climate startups are more impactful than campaigns trying to convince people of the importance of climate change.

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Individual Responsibility in Sweden

In this section, Gustav discusses the strong sense of individual responsibility in Sweden and how it can be perceived as unfriendliness or coldness by foreigners.

Individual Responsibility

• In Sweden, there is a strong sense of individual responsibility.

• This can be perceived as unfriendliness or coldness by foreigners.

• Swedes believe that everyone should take care of their own responsibilities, including taking care of their children.

• The society is actually quite individualistic but with a warmth to it.

Motivations for Speech in Sweden

In this section, Gustav talks about the motivations behind speech in Sweden and how they relate to individualism.

Motivations for Speech

• One motivation for speech in Sweden is the desire to avoid indebtedness to others.

• Swedes prefer to buy their own drinks at bars instead of buying rounds for others.

• This is because they don't want to have to figure out money at the end of the night and feel indebted to someone else.

• The principles of individualism are deeply ingrained in Swedish culture.

Applying to Y Combinator

In this section, Gustav talks about where people can find him online and how listeners can be useful. He also emphasizes that applying to Y Combinator does not require knowing anyone personally.

Finding Gustav Online

• Gustav tweets sometimes on twitter.com under the handle "Gustav".

• Useful videos on growth, sales, and customer communication are available on YC's YouTube channel.

Being Useful

• Gustav loves hearing feedback from founders about what they're working on and questions they have about their companies.

• Applying to Y Combinator does not require knowing anyone personally.

• The application process is designed to give everyone an equal chance of becoming an insider in Silicon Valley.