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Dalton Caldwell's Whale AMA
16 segments available
Dalton answers questions submitted on Whale. You can download the app here: http://apple.co/2jV1WrB --- 0:03 - What product categories are you most interested in right now? Both as an investor and a founder. 0:50 - What's your advice to entrepreneurs building content businesses on the internet? 1:37 - What's the admissions process like at Y Combinator? 2:35 - You've been outspoken about being wary about starting startups in the music space. When and how will this change? How should startups in this space position themselves to succeed? 3:29 - For an app like Whale - what would you suggest their North Star, that one metric to improve 10% WoW be? Of course revenue is great, but could you optimize for revenue too early? If not revenue, DAUs? 4:34 - What drew you to YC and how has it changed the way you look at startups? What would you do differently as a first time founder now that you have the background of YC? 5:39 - What are your thoughts on spending time cold emailing investors in SF? Assuming you have a good business and team but you're from a small town with a limited investor network. What else would you do? 6:38 - Kanye for president? What do you think? 7:31 - For founders that move to Mountain View for YC, are you recommending they hire their founding team in the Bay Area or where they are originally from? 8:26 - How does a great YC application look like? 9:13 - We often hear about success stories out of YC, can you rather tell us about a big failure and what did you learn from it as a partner? 10:11 - How should young founders answer the question "why now?" in regards to them starting a startup while still in school? How can a young founder stand out and separate themselves from their age? 11:01 - We create 3D printed sculptures of real people. I got rejected twice by YC. Should I keep applying? 12:03 - I have a social network of food and I would like to know which specific figures in terms of growth, revenue, users & so on we need to have to get into YC - supposing a potential monopoly & big market 12:42 - Do you think new startups which have the same mission as that of Google i.e. of making knowledge more accessible but a different approach be successful? Also ideas? 13:47 - Should founders say "We found this problem really hard to solve, but we dealt with it by.."" or ""Our MVP works like this because the insight..."?
Segments Timeline
Investing in Everyday Essentials
Dalton Caldwell shares his current interests as an investor and founder, focusing on essential product categories like food, transportation, housing, and healthcare. He highlights the potential for startups to create significant value in these areas, similar to the impact of companies like Uber and Airbnb.
"right now I'm interested in things like food Transportation housing the stuff that every person spends a huge percentage of their paycheck on every month um if you look at how much value has been unlo..."
Monetization Strategies for Content Businesses
Caldwell offers advice to entrepreneurs building content businesses, emphasizing the importance of having a solid monetization plan. He warns against the misconception that simply attracting users will lead to financial success, stressing the need for innovative revenue strategies in a challenging market.
"food my advice for people building content businesses uh having built them before is to have a clever plan on how to monetize I think a lot of people think if they build it people will come and if the..."
Understanding Y Combinator Admissions
As the head of admissions at Y Combinator, Dalton Caldwell explains the application process. He reassures potential applicants that networking is not necessary, and emphasizes that the key to acceptance lies in submitting a strong application and demonstrating initiative.
"anymore so I'm the head of admissions at y combinator um can so can tell you a little bit about the process the most important part about admissions at YC is filling out an application uh sometimes pe..."
The Future of Startups in the Music Industry
Caldwell discusses his skepticism about the music industry as a viable startup space, suggesting that its historical size may never return. He encourages entrepreneurs to consider other industries that have adapted to digital changes, rather than waiting for a resurgence in music startups.
"apply I think the null hypothesis is that um things won't change and the the music industry is just inherently going to be smaller forever that the fact it was as big as it was was a fluke of History ..."
Defining Whale's North Star Metric
Dalton Caldwell advises founders of the app Whale to focus on understanding user motivations rather than solely tracking growth metrics. He stresses the importance of having a clear vision for the product and aligning metrics with that vision to avoid losing direction.
"if I were on the team that was working on whale um I think the biggest thing that I would be thinking about is less here are our metrics and here's how we're tracking them and let's just grow x% week ..."
Lessons from the Investor's Table
Reflecting on his experience as a founder, Caldwell shares insights on the investor decision-making process. He emphasizes that many decisions are not personal and that having a strong product and numbers is more important than networking or personal connections.
"lost I was a Founder for a very long time um way longer than I've been working in YC and I raised I think eight or nine rounds of funding over the coast on my career and so I can really relate to what..."
Cold Emailing Investors: A Low Priority
Caldwell discusses the effectiveness of cold emailing investors, advising founders to prioritize working on their startups over seeking investor attention. He reiterates that Y Combinator's application process allows anyone to apply without needing prior connections.
"um all right cold emailing investors what do I think about that two things one of all of the ways you can spend your time as a founder of all the ways you can add value to your startup cold emailing i..."
Kanye West for President?
Dalton Caldwell shares his thoughts on Kanye West's presidential ambitions, recounting his experience at a Kanye concert where the artist expressed controversial political views. He reflects on the surprising nature of political outcomes and the potential for unconventional candidates.
"thanks Kanye West for president um here's what I think I was actually at the Kanye show that happened in San Jose um right as the Meltdown was starting he played a couple of songs and this just comple..."
Hiring Founders in the Bay Area
Caldwell advises founders relocating to Mountain View for Y Combinator on hiring practices. He suggests that early-stage startups often do not need to hire a founding team until they reach a point where growth becomes a bottleneck.
"most of the time a good startup um or a startup that's in YC uh can build the entire product do sales do everything they need to do with just the founders the founders between themselves have the abil..."
Crafting a Winning YC Application
Dalton Caldwell outlines the key qualities of a successful Y Combinator application, emphasizing clarity of communication. He explains that being able to articulate the startup's mission and insights clearly is crucial for gaining acceptance.
"team there's a lot of variability on what makes a good YC application and I would never want to put out advice that would cause everyone to try to make their application look a certain way but what I ..."
Understanding Startup Failure
Caldwell shares insights on startup failure, noting that it often occurs gradually rather than dramatically. He encourages founders to view failure as a normal part of the entrepreneurial journey and to approach it with a scientific mindset.
"communication what I've learned about failure working at Y combinator is that um most of the time the vast majority of the time it's not a big bang it's not something dramatic that happens it's just f..."
The 'Why Now?' Question in Startups
Caldwell explains the significance of the 'why now?' question in startup applications, highlighting the importance of timing in launching a business. He provides examples of successful startups that capitalized on the right moment in history.
"true as far as the why now question on the YC application I actually think you're uh misunderstanding it the reason it's there is why is this the perfect time to start the startup if you would have tr..."
Reapplying to Y Combinator
Caldwell discusses the chances of repeat applicants getting into Y Combinator, encouraging founders to demonstrate progress since their last application. He emphasizes that showing real advancements can significantly improve their chances.
"on repeat applicants have um actually a pretty good chance of getting in I don't know if everyone realizes this but um a pretty decent percentage of a batch is people that we had previously uh not acc..."
Team Dynamics in YC Applications
Caldwell highlights the importance of team dynamics in Y Combinator applications. He explains that understanding team composition and technical skills is crucial for acceptance, as YC prioritizes team potential over specific growth metrics.
"those the biggest wild card for knowing uh if you have a good chance to get into YC it's actually team questions and I know it's hard to talk about your team and the context of this uh whale question ..."
The Myths of Startup Success
Caldwell addresses the myths surrounding successful startups, using Google as an example. He explains that initial goals often evolve over time and that many successful companies did not have a clear mission from the start.
"you guidance on there's this uh really common thing in Silicon Valley where after a startup is successful a bunch of stories and myths are created um to sort of imply that was their mission all along ..."
Gaining Insights Through Experimentation
Caldwell emphasizes the value of storytelling in conveying insights gained from startup experiences. He encourages founders to share narratives of their journey, highlighting the importance of user feedback and unexpected discoveries in shaping their products.
"accident the best way to talk about what your insights are is to tell tell the story tell The Narrative of here's what our initial idea is here's how we talk to users here's how we experimented it uh ..."