One trait that many great founders share is conviction. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, we’ll talk about finding confidence in what you're building, the dangers of inaccurate assumptions, and a question founders need to ask themselves before they start trying to sell to anyone else. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Coming Up 00:16 - Intro: How Fast Is Too Fast? 00:26 - Rigorous Thinking 02:10 - Superficial Validation 03:26 - Solving Problems 04:09 - High Quality Reps 05:52 - Best Qualities 06:57 - Conviction 08:26 - Fear 12:52 - YC Standard Deal 13:33 - "Pivotitis" 14:01 - Random Walk 16:11 - A Useless MVP 19:40 - Learn A Good Rep
Based on the thousands of companies YC has funded over the years, the biggest common element between all successful startups is having technical talent on the founding team. But what do you do if you don't know how to code? You may think you can get by using no-code tools, part-time consultants, or dev shops to bring your startup idea to life. But that thinking is wrong. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, we’ll discuss exactly why that is and why recruiting a technical co-founder is the single biggest way to create value as someone trying to start the next big thing. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Coming Up 00:32 - Technical Founders 01:52 - The Intersection 05:06 - Software Engineers 09:18 - How to Find Them 10:31 - Ask The Best 11:28 - How Not to Pitch 13:26 - The Adventure 14:17 - Great Recruiters
ZIRP stands for “Zero Interest Rate Policy,” and it refers to a stretch of time — most recently throughout the pandemic — in which the Federal Reserve sets interest rates around 0% and commercial banks are able to borrow money for next-to-nothing. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, we’ll talk about some of the downstream side effects we saw during this stretch of time: an explosion of unicorns, a surge of new investors, and the impact it had on the way founders think. We’ll share the advice we gave YC founders to brace them for the future, and how some companies made the right move in the middle of an unusual/unsustainable moment. Join us as we look back at how it all played out. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Intro 00:12 - What is ZIRP? 01:51 - Why ZIRP 03:39 - The Corn Analogy 04:20 - Startups & Stocks 06:06 - Money ≠ Success 07:53 - Unicorns 09:55 - Winter Was Coming 11:15 - Lucrative Lending 12:56 - 3 Types of VCs 14:09 - Build for Endurance 15:24 - The Aftermath 17:45 - Outro
It’s easy to analyze your way out of taking the first step. It’s something we see a lot, particularly when founders try to choose what to build based on what they think VCs and investors will like. In this episode of Dalton & Michael, we’ll talk about the risks of “thinking like an investor”, how to know when you’re stuck in this mindset, and how to unlearn it. We’ll also cover a short list of things that we’ve found actually matter when starting a company — it’s simpler than a lot of people think. Apply to Y Combinator: https://yc.link/DandM-apply Work at a Startup: https://yc.link/DandM-jobs Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Coming Up 00:24 - How VCs Think 03:05 - What Matters 04:56 - What's Changed 06:41 - First Principles 08:41 - Fear 10:06 - Positive Feedback 11:18 - First Customers 12:56 - Scaling 14:19 - Macro Vs. Micro 15:54 - Unlearning 17:22 - Time With Users 20:36 - Superpowers 21:42 - No Exit Strategy