Dalton & Michael

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the best approaches to developing a healthy lifestyle that ultimately helps you run and grow a successful startup. Take care of yourselves out there. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel provide an update on the upcoming Summer 2022 batch along with the changes and trends they've noticed in the startup world today. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs #startups #business #tech Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Intro 00:29 - In-Person events 02:14 - Summer 22 batch trends 03:04 - Hype cycle 05:03 - Tech relocation 06:57 - Where the action is 08:04 - Economic downturn 09:35 - Sober analysis 11:03 - New standard deal 14:24 - Old standard deal 16:36 - Guiding principle 17:53 - Alumni audience

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the best approaches to managing the many setbacks startup founders can face over the lifetime of starting and running a business. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Introduction 00:26 - Punches that land 01:04 - The setback cycle 02:05 - Fundraising 04:27 - YC - No for now 05:42 - Survivorship bias 06:28 - Co-founders 08:02 - The magical deal 09:15 - After the deal, credits don't roll 11:21 - A bad launch 13:28 - Movie mess us up 15:27 - Getting sued 16:51 - Silver linings 18:44 - You are the example 20:00 - Taking stock 20:50 - Worst case analysis 22:00 - Wrap up

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss Paul Graham's essay "Default Alive or Default Dead." They share strategies to cut your company's burn rate and keep your startup alive to see another day. Paul Graham's essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/aord.html Trevor Blackwell's startup growth calculator: http://growth.tlb.org Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Introduction 00:23 - Default alive or default dead 02:14 - The calculator 02:59 - Founder's distraction - Fundraising game 07:32 - Fundraising leverage 09:57 - Math are different 11:29 - Kill or cure 15:37 - The fatal pinch 19:22 - Tough decisions when default dead 19:40 - Headcount 20:46 - Ad Spend 22:50 - Raising prices 25:16 - Personal bankruptcy - Taking a big hit to growth rate 26:28 - Twitch's pirate ship 32:22 - Takeaways 32:27 - Survive to thrive 33:15 - To burn or not burn 34:06 - 10x better if operationally intensive business #ycombinator #startups #burnrate

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the struggles of working at FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) and how to strategize leaving a big tech job to become a founder at a startup. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - When you should quit? 01:00 - What value can technical founders extract from a FAANG job? 03:21 - Assumptions - Why working at FAANG makes sense? 03:48 - Reality of the job 06:01 - Transferable Skills 08:35 - Path to get funded 10:55 - The retention trap - What's the company trying to do? 15:31 - When to get out? 17:31 - FAANG Optimization 18:56 - Plan at the start

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel take a look at Paul Graham's essay "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" and share tips on how to be more effective and productive on the journey to creating a billion dollar business. Read PG's essay here: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done 00:38 - PG Essay 01:18 - Maker Schedule 03:59 - The Right Time 05:01 - Structure of YC 05:59 - Manager Schedule 06:36 - Meetings 07:38 - Visible KPIs 09:38 - Your Main Focus 11:01 - Social Media 13:33 - Tools for Time 14:10 - Startup Mentorship 16:00 - Hedging Bets

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on the midwit meme, how it applies to startups, and the best example: Elon Musk. Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - What is the idiot approach? 00:52 - How and when can overthinking be bad? 01:47 - Advantage to be young 02:37 - Example - Elon Musk 05:30 - Midwit Meme - Fundraising 07:02 - MVPs 08:20 - Co-founders 10:16 - Applying to YC 12:03 - Product Market Fit 13:17 - Trapdoor Decisions 14:34 - Framework 16:21 - Beginner's Mind 16:45 - What Do I Need To Unlearn

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on common pitfalls in the advice from different types of investors and why you, the founder, are ultimately responsible for the success of your company. Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Why investors including YC can't fix their company? 01:56 - Investor with the finance background 02:33 - Balance Sheet 04:14 - Big Company Exec 05:37 - What does failure look like for a lot of our companies? 08:01 - Successful entrepreneur in non-tech 09:49 - Junior investor 12:25 - Influencer / Famous person 12:58 - What is the advice that founders get from other entrepreneurs? 14:25 - Founders 14:42 - founders 15:54 - Extremely young investor (Scout) 17:17 - Wrap up 17:22 - YC partner common bad advice 19:44 - Personal accountability 19:57 - Big takeaway 21:20 - Great investor advice

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on software hacks that don't scale. Companies discussed include Google, Facebook, Twitch, and imeem. Watch the first video on doing things that don't scale here: https://youtu.be/4RMjQal_c4U Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Do things that don't scale 00:56 - 90/10 solution - Paul Buchheit 01:35 - Gmail 05:40 - Facebook 10:05 - Twitch 12:07 - Friendster vs MySpace 15:03 - Imeem 16:59 - Twitch part 2 20:17 - Google 23:39 - Startup advice

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about Paul Graham's essay "Do Things That Don't Scale" and what it really means for founders. Read the essay here: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about the importance of understanding incentives and doing research when it comes to building a world-changing startup. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back?

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about OpenSea, Gusto, and the importance of building simple products that solve a real problem. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back?

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about where the ideas for Airbnb, Coinbase, and Stripe came from. Then they discuss what you can learn from these founders. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back?

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on the importance of talking to your users, why successful founders are ok with rejection from potential customers, and how protecting your ego by not talking to your users can kill your startup. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? https://twitter.com/daltonc https://twitter.com/mwseibel

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about solutions in search of a problem, whether or not to follow your passion, how to figure out what to work on, and how to motivate yourself. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? https://twitter.com/daltonc https://twitter.com/mwseibel

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about investor terms and incentives. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? https://twitter.com/daltonc https://twitter.com/mwseibel Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00:00 - Rookie mistakes 00:00:18 - Note from YC founder 00:00:41 - Valuations 00:01:08 - Jargon 00:01:38 - Standard docs 00:01:59 - Goals 00:03:28 - Find a lead 00:06:18 - Investor incentives 00:07:25 - Community 00:07:51 - Alignment

Dalton and Michael talk about fundraising mistakes. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? https://twitter.com/daltonc https://twitter.com/mwseibel

In the first episode of Rookie Mistakes, Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss co-founder mistakes. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? https://twitter.com/daltonc https://twitter.com/mwseibel