Stealth Mode
topic on 4 shows · 4 statements across 4 episodes
the Y Combinator Startup Podcast
In Depth
A Product Market Fit Show
TBPN
4 statements about Stealth Mode, every show
Shiebler: Exiting stealth is for scaling sales and hiring, not initial customers
“You don't need to go out of stealth to delight your first customers. You need to go out of stealth to acquire additional customers and to be able to improve your ability to hire engineers.”
Hotz: Comma.ai rejects stealth mode because competitors cannot out-execute him
“Nah, we don't believe in stealth. I'm a really open guy. You are pretty open. I tell you everything I'm doing. Come on. Here's what I say. Here's what I say. I'm going to tell you what I'm doing. And you can try to compete, but I'll still crush you.”
Lorenc: Operating in stealth mode unnecessarily limits customer intros and investor interest
“The one thing I never understood is like the whole stealth thing of like, we're just not going to tell anybody what we're working on. It's like, I don't know why you do that. You know, if you're out there, people hear about you, they talk about you get more in…”