mwseibel

35 ms·

1. 151.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   So the reason we did this is not because of deal flow. Over 7500 companies apply to YC every batch and only 100-150 get in. The reason why we did this is cause the number one reason why companies don't apply to YC is because they don
2. 152.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   Honestly - it would make our jobs so much easier if there was a simple guide on how to figure out what makes a good startup. The problem is that a successful startup is the exception. It is hard to design a process to find outliers. Her
3. 153.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   Yes!
4. 154.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   Totally fine to need a lot of money. Actually there are a lot of fintech/alternative lending companies where debt fundraising is a big milestone because debt/capital is core to the product. This is relatively rare though.
5. 155.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   How do you explain all the situations where companies raise money and no/very little value has been created?
6. 156.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   If you are a startup reporter I think you can get signal from customers/users and you should be writing about features/product improvements instead of funding rounds.
7. 157.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   I love this quote!
8. 158.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   Honestly - looking at how many VC funds actually make good returns - I would say often isn't accurate. Remember that raising a series A is associated with many more failed companies than successful. I think there are far better signal
9. 159.▲
   by mwseibel 10y ago

   Too much capital has certainly harmed companies (of course too little as well).
10. 160.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Hey folks - new blog post out this morning - happy to answer any questions
11. 161.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    In terms of usage - Skype, Bit Torrent, and Bitcoin come to mind (last two aren't commercially successful yet...)
12. 162.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Hey everyone - this is Michael Seibel - I'm one of the group partners for Peer5 and I'm really excited they have launched. If you have any questions for me - feel free to ask :)
13. 163.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Damn - that is a great point!
14. 164.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Maybe you should consider applying to YC - feel free to email me at michael@ycombinator.com if you'd like to chat about it
15. 165.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    My experience was with a multiplayer game - which was a ton a fun
16. 166.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    You make a good point - many investors (maybe us as well) don't start thinking a new technology is cool until they can investing in companies using or leveraging that technology... From a user perspective though, I bought Oculus Rift
17. 167.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Big screen TVs aren't convenient either - but a huge number of households have them - VR doesn't have to be exactly like smartphones in order to be very popular
18. 168.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    100% agree - this is how I am going to explain it from now on
19. 169.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    You should take a look at this YC company: https://www.sixa.io/ - these changes might come faster than you think :)
20. 170.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    lol - great point - a squat rack is a pretty bulky piece of equipment too!
21. 171.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    I totally agree! The immersive experience not only makes you forget that you are working out but also makes you want to be better at moving around so you can perform better in the game.
22. 172.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Yes - recruit a technical co-founder :)
23. 173.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    I think gaming companies are solving the problem of consumer entertainment and I think in that world a/b testing is super important.
24. 174.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Hey folks - btw - I'll be in and out of the thread all day and I'll try to answer every question - so keep them coming and check back in :)
25. 175.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    The first thing I ask a founder is how often does the target customer have the problem they are looking to solve and how much money are they willing to spend to solve it. The more often the customer has your problem and the more money they
26. 176.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    This is one of the reasons why YC pushes people to launch MVPs so quickly - the speed of learning is much faster when the product is in customer's hands.
27. 177.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Different answer depending on whether you have a product built or not. Also different if you have a consumer product. My best personal experience with customer research is for live consumer products. In that case we would recruit potenti
28. 178.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    In operating my startup or working at YC I haven't faced any overt racism (in the real world just living life that is a different story). Have I faced any covert racism? - very hard for me to tell because so much of startups is facing
29. 179.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    I always loved Mixpanel - but its been a couple years since I've been active on the product side and there are now tons of great tools. In the end of the day - use the events based analytics product that your team will enjoy looking a
30. 180.▲
    by mwseibel 10y ago

    Yes, one of our YC partner Dalton Caldwell hammered this idea in my mind. He told me that when he sees a founder trying to attack a product that other have either failed or succeeded at - he looks for what they've learned from those f