The Launch Pad

Startups accepted to Y Combinator have three months before Demo Day, where they will present to hundreds of investors.

Leading up to Demo Day, the YC advisors want startups to remove all distractions. Eat, exercise, code, and talk to customers. Oh, and move to Mountain View for three months.

This exclusionary lifestyle requirement limits the types of founders that apply and are accepted to YC. You’re basically talking about young, male, and relatively well off covers 90% of the pool.

Y Combinator created the accelerator model, but many others like Tech Stars have followed.

However, other incubators often require or encourage founders to chase VC investment during the program in a 50/50 time split. YC doesn’t want that.

YC just wants their founders focusing on product until Demo Day, where they’ll naturally be exposed to hundreds of potential investors.

YC partners want the founding team to arrive with a good idea, one that can grow quickly. But it’s also not a prerequisite.

“Fund for the pivot,” is a common phrase repeated by Paul Graham, YC co-founder. By that Graham means the team is smart and shows promise, so they’ll probably figure out their original idea is bad and pivot into something with higher potential.

Programmers like programming, not necessarily talking to customers. Knowing this, YC advisors harp on them to talk with customers.

This is where some startups are helped by having a third, non-technical founder with an outgoing personality – someone who feels natural talking with prospective customers.

Some startups look for the easy win, a small problem with a straightforward solution. That’s not the kind of problem YC wants founders to solve.

YC wants startups to solve a difficult problem, where they can create a competitive advantage.

Fortunately, people find encouragement in difficult problems. Immersing yourself into a difficult problem is easier than a mundane problem.

Startups can’t feel like the United Nations. As Graham puts it, “Here, we don’t fire you. The market fires you.” Decisions demand quick resolution.

At four people, startups begin introducing democratic principles and committees. At one person, starting a company is too heavy a burden.

The right number is two or three founders.

The YC partners want to see startups with revenue, not just user or traffic growth although those also help.

Demanding revenue forces founders to talk with potential customers and discover what they’re willing to pay for.

VCs arrive at Demo Day looking for companies that will grow rapidly if big money is applied. VCs are not looking for consistent and stable growth. VCs want to see curves.

Startups seeking investment spend too much time hearing no, then trying to convince the VC that the reasons provided aren’t really problems.

Ben Horowitz, investor and author of The Hard Thing About Hard Things, says those founders are wasting their time. Just accept the no and move on.

The reasons listed are usually surface level and often hide biases like not wanting to fund female founders.

Prior to Demo Day, all YC founders receive coaching on their presentation. Without coaching and explicit instruction, most are terrible presenters.

Whether pursuing a technical leadership or people management path, most software engineers would benefit from presentation coaching.