00:00 - Why we're starting with evaluating ideas 1:25 - YC doesn't just fund companies with traction 2:50 - How can I predict if an investor will like my idea? 5:15 - A startup idea is a hypothesis 6:55 - The problem 10:55 - The solution 12:35 - The insight 14:00 - Founder's unfair advantage 15:00 - Market growing 20% a year 15:40 - Product 10x better 16:30 - Acquisition model 17:55 - Monopoly 18:50 - Threshold belief 19:10 - Miracle belief 20:10 - Example: YC 23:20 - Example: Wufoo
Hi David! Thank you for the awesome video. It really helps a lot. Do you know where I can find the video you mentioned at the end: the first ways to prove the hypothesis
I've been working full-time to stand up my startup for 2 YEARS. I've struggled with framing the problem/solution clearly in a way that appropriately conveys just how important what we're building really is. I've had investors hang on for a second, sometimes third meeting, but they indicate that they just don't understand the magnitude of the value. NO ONE has ever explained this problem as eloquently as Kevin did in this video! I had a HUGE "A-HA" moment while watching this. Not once. Not twice. THREE TIMES. Every single new founder needs to watch this 3 times over. Thanks Kevin and YC for this. Can't wait to get through the rest of the videos.
Hi, what were your problems and how did you solve them? and does your startup generate enough profit for you to live during 2 years of working full time on it?
@@chatsnoirblamo thanks for asking! We just started our raise 2 weeks ago. We’ve had $60K in SAFEs executed in the last 24 hours, have a potential lead with 660 soft-circled of our 1.2M goal for this round. We’ve built our product, have our first 350 users, and delivered our first few paid transactions on platform. With the money we raise, we plan to improve the software, onboard 10,000 users, and track $1M ARR.
I loved the way you mapped key points (problem, solution, insight) to individual parameters of success realization. While I was hearing the talk, i went like "Son of a gun! I never thought about it this way!" Thanks Kevin for keeping it simplified yet really insightful.
4:00 This way of thinking from Paul Graham... This is awesome, instead of focusing on the negative side of things, look at the positive side of things that how it can possibly win.
All the YC people know what they're talking about. Hugely valuable resource just in this format, let alone getting customized support. Thank you YC for being awesome.
Thanks for your open contribution to people's minds. It's great to deal with result-oriented startup owners who understand what they are looking for exactly. We hope to see more videos soon! ❤️
This is one of the greatest videos I have seen re: startups early stages. Every word you said has been incredibly valuable for my business/startup. Thank you so much for sharing this content.
Problem: Superyachts are too expensive. My pitch is low-priced yachts that are basic boat hulls combined with mobile homes, yet they still look amazing. I call them trailer-yachts.
Why shoehorn a huge mobile home into a yacht-sized hull? Why not a small RV? "I've got a yacht, so that means I'm in the elite" "Is it one of those Winnebago yachts?" "Yeah" "Wow you're hip dude" "Thanks" type of deal .
Million Dollar Lecture ! Million Dollar EITHER to save it from wasting in wrong idea OR Making it from implementing just a right idea. . Thanks Kevin for this insight.
The amount of time I would have saved if I saw this video years ago :( Everyone should watch this before their journey. I also think this can turn into a product and change the way you source startup applications.
Again amazing video! like said in the video, startup school last year was a bit more later stage (still really good) but focussing on the really early stage of startups e.g. ideas helps a lot.
The insights were just great it would immensely help me as a founder to apply at YC.. i don't know if many have observed but.. there is an odd grey brick amidst all red bricks.. 5:00 4th row from top and second brick from the left.. guess thats how odd my comment would look in this section 🤣
I had been consuming lean startup information a few years ago, and almost forgotten about it when I launched Edgy this year. => The videos of this week definitely prove that either a) you work on your startup growth oriented, or b) you're just one of those (=> in the trading world one of those teachers). *Kudos for a clear & on point presentation to both of you guys.*
You could also add an additional tip, like creating a page and then sharing it, that way you won't have to re-tell the idea/ plan again and again. Maybe use page builders like GatherThoughts or Wix etc
Taking notes for others to read - growth - why will you win? - hypothesis, i) problem Ii) solution III) insights - good problems are popular and growing and urgent and expensive and mandatory and frequent (ideal to have multiple, some characteristics will also do) -ideal 1m+, 20 yoy growth, law change, $B market, people should use multiple times a day and the idea should solve the problem now. -do not, solution in search of a problem - insights: why this solution will work, what's your unfair advantage? Unfair advantage needs to be related to growth. -types of unfair advantage: founders (1 of 10 super expert), market (growing at 20% yoy?), product (10x better than competitors), cx acquisition (need $0 acquisition paths / word of mouth), monopoly (do you have monopoly in the long run? Network effects?) - Beliefs: can they even make/build it?
Notes - Startup = Growth We need to find ideas - how it could possible win Startup idea is a hypothesis Startup Idea: Problem Q1. What's the setting? Q2. What's the solution? Q3. What's the insight? Problem: Good problems are popular Growing Urgent Expensive Mandatory Frequent User Behaviour = Motivation + Ability + Trigger Ideal Idea: 1mn+ Users Need: Right now $Bn market Law changed in favour Hourly/Frequent Requirements Solution: SISP- Solution in search of Problem Don't start with technology, start with a problem Insight: What's the reason why this solution work? Unfair advantages related to growth You need one of these unfair adv- Founder - 1 of 10 Market - 20% Growth Y-o-Y - Great to be in that space - but weakest unfair advantage Product - 10x better than competition Acquisition - $0 -> Paid acq Big No-No -> Growth by Word of Mouth Monopoly - Boolean -> Company with Network Affects, Marketplaces -> As you grow, do you become stronger? Belief: 1. Threshold - What's the default just for them to even succeed? Super combination of founder's skills Evidence of those skills 2. Miracle Example YC as a startup Founders - Built and Done a successful startuo Market - Future $B software companies Product - Covering 3 months living expense was enough. Hackers want to do this. Acquisition - Hackers. PG Wrote books and essays. Cheap Monopoly - Alumni Network. Easier to recruit. Scales advice. Results - Funded 2000 companies. Total Mkt Cap -$100bn.
I am thinking about a new type of restaurants : eating-spots, in eating-spots, food keeps changing, chefs also rotate, this is opposed to current restaurants thanks to this rotation of food and chefs, eating-spots are way more powerful than restaurants, along with that, there is an app, people vote for the food that will be cooked in the next days, menu is influenced by the live input of the people via an app,
Hello my fellow entrepreneur, I am from Korea where delivery food is very*100 popular. Why should people visit restaurants although they can just order one in their rooms? Eating spot seems to be targeting working population or students, but these people could also use the existing delivery apps in pursuit of benefits that you have chosen to provide via your future business. Just wanted share idea! No offense at all, and hope you do well :)
Another example of Monopoly is a startup with high initial capital requirements like Tesla or manufacturing, it could be a competitive advantage if you can get over the initial hump of costs
What if I have an idea for an existing company like a feature they should add. This particular feature could completely disrupt the ecommerce space for products and services. I was told to get a provisional patent. I also started to draw the idea out on canva. Its literally so simple but like I said can change the ecommerce space.
What about companies that are just being another X or almost solving a problem that another company already is solving but with their philosophical own take on it eg Uber vs Lyft or startups that copy each other because there s a huge market that everyone can benefit of. Would love some negative examples as opposed to examples that worked.
I am from Brazil and english isn't my first language. It isn't hard to understand what you say, but sometimes I miss some words. Isn't it possible to add subtitles in English? I know that there's the transcripit in the website, but it isn't practical to watch while reading it. Of course I will do that even though it is not practical, but it'd be great if the transcript was in the video as subtitles.
Thanks for such insightful explanation. I have a question; If startup is all about solving problem, then what Facebook/Instagram/CZcams or other social media were trying to solve? I try to put myself in the context of the era/time those products were founded and I feel that it's quite hard to evaluate the idea based on the criteria you've explained. I would be glad if someone could help to explain. Thanks
Vending business like massage chair requires low investment. Anybody can own vending machine because it's easy to manage and can generate revenue quickly. It is very profitable and low entry costs and have the ability to scale over time.
At the end, Kevin talks about how the next lecture will talk about the first ways to prove your hypothesis through talking to users. Does anyone know where I can find this lecture he's talking about? I can't seem to find a "part 2" to this lecture...
He elaborates, but I'll paraphrase here: you need AN explanation, you can't just present a problem and say you've got a solution, without offering some insight into why the problem needs to be solved. This is often shown with data or any other visuals on why this is a big problem and why it needs to be solved. Hope this helps, Yassine. :)
What if its not a STARTUP? But, something you started 13 years ago as a PHYSICAL product but now is an APP. And has a lot more visibility and will be available WORLDWIDE?
What exactly did you mean by "unfair"? Wufoo example advantages doesn't look unfair to me. They're great, but none that couldn't be relatively easily replicated by competitors 🤔
Is it recommended to have pitch deck (3-5 bullet points each slide) and a separate deck for investors (more info and detail about business) or should you just have one deck which is the universal pitch deck?
Great vid! In 9:49 Kevin said "we like markets that grow 20%/year" => Why 20%? Is there any research or link that explains why is this considered the sweetspot for a startup idea? cc: @Kevin Hale
00:00 - Why we're starting with evaluating ideas
1:25 - YC doesn't just fund companies with traction
2:50 - How can I predict if an investor will like my idea?
5:15 - A startup idea is a hypothesis
6:55 - The problem
10:55 - The solution
12:35 - The insight
14:00 - Founder's unfair advantage
15:00 - Market growing 20% a year
15:40 - Product 10x better
16:30 - Acquisition model
17:55 - Monopoly
18:50 - Threshold belief
19:10 - Miracle belief
20:10 - Example: YC
23:20 - Example: Wufoo
2:50 - all about growth exponentially
What is YC 🤔?
@@illutan "y combinator"..its a venture capitalist firm.
@@samarthgupta3056 thank u 🙏❤✌
Hey Y Combinator we are doing research on CZcams timestamps and wondering why you timestamp and how often
Love YC , especially putting these materials online which may help tons of entrepreneurs who may not have the opportunities to be in the YC program.
Hi David! Thank you for the awesome video. It really helps a lot. Do you know where I can find the video you mentioned at the end: the first ways to prove the hypothesis
I've been working full-time to stand up my startup for 2 YEARS. I've struggled with framing the problem/solution clearly in a way that appropriately conveys just how important what we're building really is. I've had investors hang on for a second, sometimes third meeting, but they indicate that they just don't understand the magnitude of the value. NO ONE has ever explained this problem as eloquently as Kevin did in this video! I had a HUGE "A-HA" moment while watching this. Not once. Not twice. THREE TIMES.
Every single new founder needs to watch this 3 times over. Thanks Kevin and YC for this. Can't wait to get through the rest of the videos.
Hi, what were your problems and how did you solve them? and does your startup generate enough profit for you to live during 2 years of working full time on it?
update?
@@chatsnoirblamo thanks for asking! We just started our raise 2 weeks ago. We’ve had $60K in SAFEs executed in the last 24 hours, have a potential lead with 660 soft-circled of our 1.2M goal for this round.
We’ve built our product, have our first 350 users, and delivered our first few paid transactions on platform. With the money we raise, we plan to improve the software, onboard 10,000 users, and track $1M ARR.
@@paypixl5176 So how did you formulate your problem & solution?
I loved the way you mapped key points (problem, solution, insight) to individual parameters of success realization. While I was hearing the talk, i went like "Son of a gun! I never thought about it this way!" Thanks Kevin for keeping it simplified yet really insightful.
I agree. After watching this, I have some serious work to do (in a good way) :)
4:00 This way of thinking from Paul Graham... This is awesome, instead of focusing on the negative side of things, look at the positive side of things that how it can possibly win.
Was searching for Pt. 2 all over CZcams. Then realized it was uploaded 3 days ago. Keen!
where is part two??? :)
still waiting for pt.2 after a month
Probably one of the best use cases why CZcams exists, great insightful video
All the YC people know what they're talking about. Hugely valuable resource just in this format, let alone getting customized support. Thank you YC for being awesome.
Or good at presenting in that typical american evangelical way lol. Funny!
Thanks for your open contribution to people's minds. It's great to deal with result-oriented startup owners who understand what they are looking for exactly.
We hope to see more videos soon! ❤️
6:54 Characteristics of problems that lend themselves to good startup ideas:
1. Popular
2. Growing
3. Urgent
4. Expensive
5. Mandatory
6. Frequent
GEMPUF
Appreciate the list. Thank you.
@@afrofeastwhat?
A brilliant read about this subject: Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job by Brad Feld & Sean Wise
Thanks for sharing this! Great read
Going tonread. Thank you for sharing.
This is one of the greatest videos I have seen re: startups early stages. Every word you said has been incredibly valuable for my business/startup. Thank you so much for sharing this content.
Problem: Superyachts are too expensive. My pitch is low-priced yachts that are basic boat hulls combined with mobile homes, yet they still look amazing. I call them trailer-yachts.
Ayeee
Trouble is, there are no trailer parks for trailer yachts :(
Please take my money!
Why shoehorn a huge mobile home into a yacht-sized hull? Why not a small RV? "I've got a yacht, so that means I'm in the elite" "Is it one of those Winnebago yachts?" "Yeah" "Wow you're hip dude" "Thanks"
type of deal
.
@@SheikhStevesChannelyou can use the marinas in florida. Basically a trailer park
I am a big fan of Mr. Kevin Hale. Thank you for this session.
This is excellent! In 30 minutes, a perfect breakdown of how to think about start-ups and how investors think about them. Must watch!
Instant and huge fan of YC...Thank you, Kevin!
Thank you Kevin Hale! Valuable insights! Could you give a mic to the people asking questions?
This was incredibly useful. Im glad I came to this in person.
#humbleboast 😆
So cool! I wish I went there! Is this a free meetup event they organized in their offices? Or how do you get access to it?
Simple, objective, but so insightful! Thanks!
Million Dollar Lecture !
Million Dollar EITHER to save it from wasting in wrong idea OR Making it from implementing just a right idea.
.
Thanks Kevin for this insight.
Amazing content ever on startup.
Non-Tech founders can also build multi billion dollar idea
The amount of time I would have saved if I saw this video years ago :( Everyone should watch this before their journey. I also think this can turn into a product and change the way you source startup applications.
The value in this half hour is immense.
1. Problem
2. Solution (experiment)
3. Insight into why the solution will succeed.
I love this Guy! literally He reinforced my hope in my idea!
I think i am going to be Part of YC very soon. This is a Great Powerful Platform, where we need to go for Learning and Building next Unicorns !
Did you get in? If you haven't don't give up yet.
I now have some work to do. Thanks for this!
Again amazing video! like said in the video, startup school last year was a bit more later stage (still really good) but focussing on the really early stage of startups e.g. ideas helps a lot.
The insights are all very enlightening. Very informative and useful for entrepreneurs.
The insights were just great it would immensely help me as a founder to apply at YC.. i don't know if many have observed but.. there is an odd grey brick amidst all red bricks.. 5:00 4th row from top and second brick from the left.. guess thats how odd my comment would look in this section 🤣
I had been consuming lean startup information a few years ago, and almost forgotten about it when I launched Edgy this year. => The videos of this week definitely prove that either a) you work on your startup growth oriented, or b) you're just one of those (=> in the trading world one of those teachers). *Kudos for a clear & on point presentation to both of you guys.*
Did you ever launch your startup?
To the point and highly informative. Thanks for sharing this.
❤❤❤❤❤ top student from Sierra Leone 🇸🇱
Fantastic. Helps you decide to start or not start a business
i love the venture capital training thank you
You could also add an additional tip, like creating a page and then sharing it, that way you won't have to re-tell the idea/ plan again and again.
Maybe use page builders like GatherThoughts or Wix etc
or OnePager...
Very helpful and comprehensive. I love YC
Very good pitch very useful and concise. thanks
Great talk, thanks for sharing with community.
Taking notes for others to read
- growth
- why will you win?
- hypothesis, i) problem Ii) solution III) insights
- good problems are popular and growing and urgent and expensive and mandatory and frequent (ideal to have multiple, some characteristics will also do)
-ideal 1m+, 20 yoy growth, law change, $B market, people should use multiple times a day and the idea should solve the problem now.
-do not, solution in search of a problem
- insights: why this solution will work, what's your unfair advantage? Unfair advantage needs to be related to growth.
-types of unfair advantage: founders (1 of 10 super expert), market (growing at 20% yoy?), product (10x better than competitors), cx acquisition (need $0 acquisition paths / word of mouth), monopoly (do you have monopoly in the long run? Network effects?)
- Beliefs: can they even make/build it?
Notes -
Startup = Growth
We need to find ideas - how it could possible win
Startup idea is a hypothesis
Startup Idea: Problem
Q1. What's the setting?
Q2. What's the solution?
Q3. What's the insight?
Problem:
Good problems are popular
Growing
Urgent
Expensive
Mandatory
Frequent
User Behaviour = Motivation + Ability + Trigger
Ideal Idea:
1mn+ Users
Need: Right now
$Bn market
Law changed in favour
Hourly/Frequent Requirements
Solution:
SISP- Solution in search of Problem
Don't start with technology, start with a problem
Insight:
What's the reason why this solution work?
Unfair advantages related to growth
You need one of these unfair adv-
Founder - 1 of 10
Market - 20% Growth Y-o-Y - Great to be in that space - but weakest unfair advantage
Product - 10x better than competition
Acquisition - $0 -> Paid acq Big No-No -> Growth by Word of Mouth
Monopoly - Boolean -> Company with Network Affects, Marketplaces -> As you grow, do you become stronger?
Belief:
1. Threshold -
What's the default just for them to even succeed?
Super combination of founder's skills
Evidence of those skills
2. Miracle
Example
YC as a startup
Founders - Built and Done a successful startuo
Market - Future $B software companies
Product - Covering 3 months living expense was enough. Hackers want to do this.
Acquisition - Hackers. PG Wrote books and essays. Cheap
Monopoly - Alumni Network. Easier to recruit. Scales advice.
Results - Funded 2000 companies. Total Mkt Cap -$100bn.
Thank you for your time, effort and talent. Maholo
Startups is all about GROWTH
Good one Kevin. Keep it up!!
I am thinking about a new type of restaurants : eating-spots,
in eating-spots, food keeps changing, chefs also rotate,
this is opposed to current restaurants
thanks to this rotation of food and chefs, eating-spots are way more powerful than restaurants,
along with that, there is an app,
people vote for the food that will be cooked in the next days,
menu is influenced by the live input of the people via an app,
Hello my fellow entrepreneur, I am from Korea where delivery food is very*100 popular. Why should people visit restaurants although they can just order one in their rooms? Eating spot seems to be targeting working population or students, but these people could also use the existing delivery apps in pursuit of benefits that you have chosen to provide via your future business. Just wanted share idea! No offense at all, and hope you do well :)
Kevin is very charismatic speaker
Another example of Monopoly is a startup with high initial capital requirements like Tesla or manufacturing, it could be a competitive advantage if you can get over the initial hump of costs
Great presentation, great insights.
nice video !
Where the part2 will come?
great insight and observation
11:59 almost dropped the F bomb
What if I have an idea for an existing company like a feature they should add. This particular feature could completely disrupt the ecommerce space for products and services. I was told to get a provisional patent. I also started to draw the idea out on canva. Its literally so simple but like I said can change the ecommerce space.
Did you ever figure this out?
"It could". PROVE.
Great presentation! Super valuable.
This advice is so awesome! Are the slides available anywhere?
Kevin Hale thank you!
What about companies that are just being another X or almost solving a problem that another company already is solving but with their philosophical own take on it eg Uber vs Lyft or startups that copy each other because there s a huge market that everyone can benefit of.
Would love some negative examples as opposed to examples that worked.
4.49
Very informational. Loved it..
Insightful Presentation!
I am from Brazil and english isn't my first language. It isn't hard to understand what you say, but sometimes I miss some words. Isn't it possible to add subtitles in English? I know that there's the transcripit in the website, but it isn't practical to watch while reading it. Of course I will do that even though it is not practical, but it'd be great if the transcript was in the video as subtitles.
Thanks for such insightful explanation. I have a question;
If startup is all about solving problem, then what Facebook/Instagram/CZcams or other social media were trying to solve?
I try to put myself in the context of the era/time those products were founded and I feel that it's quite hard to evaluate the idea based on the criteria you've explained.
I would be glad if someone could help to explain. Thanks
I was thinking the same
Amazing talk and video! So cool seeing WuFoos story, I used them early on
This is gold.
Vending business like massage chair requires low investment. Anybody can own vending machine because it's easy to manage and can generate revenue quickly. It is very profitable and low entry costs and have the ability to scale over time.
What to do if the market growth isn't 20%, but it's a niche market (jewellery market)?
At the end, Kevin talks about how the next lecture will talk about the first ways to prove your hypothesis through talking to users. Does anyone know where I can find this lecture he's talking about? I can't seem to find a "part 2" to this lecture...
Fabulous material!
Can you share the deck that you used?
The problem I am thinking of has all these aspects.
Thanks for directing
The idea of my solution contains all 100% of the listed conditions, but I do not speak English well, how do I get into YC?
I didn't understand the Monopoloy part, any explanations?
Agree. Thank you
i didn't understand the "you need one" part, 13:16
any explanation?
and thanks for the great content YC.
He elaborates, but I'll paraphrase here: you need AN explanation, you can't just present a problem and say you've got a solution, without offering some insight into why the problem needs to be solved. This is often shown with data or any other visuals on why this is a big problem and why it needs to be solved. Hope this helps, Yassine. :)
@@lalineaa thanks mila
Looking for a blockchain developer for my startup.
Great advice
Will you please share a link to the slides for this session?
What if its not a STARTUP? But, something you started 13 years ago as a PHYSICAL product but now is an APP. And has a lot more visibility and will be available WORLDWIDE?
Thank you so much!
Great knowledge.
Thank you
Great video, thank you!
What exactly did you mean by "unfair"? Wufoo example advantages doesn't look unfair to me.
They're great, but none that couldn't be relatively easily replicated by competitors 🤔
thank you YC
Any tools to do market research?
Is there a part 2?
thats what I am just looking for
Is it recommended to have pitch deck (3-5 bullet points each slide) and a separate deck for investors (more info and detail about business) or should you just have one deck which is the universal pitch deck?
Usually you'll have multiple decks for different scenarios.
great presentation
thanks a lot!
This was helpful
the best YC video!
Thank you for video! Is there a video which explains how to find people problem? Maybe there is some top list of people problems?
Startup sounds awesome but I would be happy with a small to medium sized business
Did Steve Jobs or Bill Gates go to Y Combinator?
At last a great Startup pitch
Its not clear when yc says your pricing should be 10x your competitors yet they market by saying 10x cheaper
What do you think of idea evaluation / consulting services such as ideaconsult.com.au? Anyone find it helpful?
You would pay for that? Look for other methods of evaluation or even testing. Ask a friend who can be objective and honest.
Best way to evaluate an idea is to test it. I'd rather implement it and test it over a month than paying a consulting firm.
Great vid! In 9:49 Kevin said "we like markets that grow 20%/year" => Why 20%? Is there any research or link that explains why is this considered the sweetspot for a startup idea? cc: @Kevin Hale
thank you so much
Lets comment all our problems in Comment Section.....who knows we might come up with an idea...
How did you grow the 100k users??
@@joelw2413 the details. How