Aug 7, 2018 · 25m · y-combinator
Geoff Ralston and Adora Cheung Discuss Startup School · Y Combinator
0:00 / 0:00
▶ Watch on YouTube →
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Y Combinator partners Geoff Ralston and Adora Cheung join host Craig Cannon to discuss the launch, curriculum, logistics, and benefits of YC's free 10-week online Startup School program for global entrepreneurs.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The partners as informed peer 3.0 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 0.5 The partners pushing back 1.1
speaking balance: gold is the partners, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 24:45 Geoff holding ground on his answer
When challenged by Craig for dodging the question about coursework, Geoff firmly asserts that community was genuinely the missing piece for his startup generation.
Hardest push from the partners ▶ 24:33 Craig pressing Geoff on dodging the questionCraig interrupts Geoff's broad praise of the content to bluntly state that he failed to answer the specific question about his personal knowledge gaps.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 21:15 Geoff correcting MOOC retention benchmarksGeoff sharpens Craig's generous 20% completion benchmark down to the single-digit 5% industry reality before highlighting Startup School's 56% rate.
The partners hold their own ▶ 6:50 Craig contextualizing acceptance percentagesCraig demonstrates instant command of YC batch figures by contextualizing 38 admitted alumni companies as representing a massive 10% of total cohort spots.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The partners as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The partners pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course Structure and Content Evolution | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig asks standard informational opening questions about changes to the course structure. Adora and Geoff collaboratively detail the advisor tracks, weekly meetings, and online resource library. | |
| Speaker Lineup Announcement | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Craig asks for clarification on track distinctions for past participants. Adora and Geoff walk through the differences between auditing and the official track with equity-free grants. | |
| Target Founder Stages and Success Stories | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Craig displays domain familiarity by immediately calculating batch percentages when Adora mentions 38 alumni companies entered YC. Geoff clarifies the internal MOOC framing and broad accessibility. | |
| Motivation Behind Grants and Partner Deals | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Craig prompts Geoff on why grants were added if the course was already working well. Geoff explains the rationale of reducing startup mortality and experimenting with capital distribution. | |
| Attendance Logistics, Completion Requirements, and YC Tie-In | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Craig asks logistical questions regarding in-person attendance and notes the forcing function of group accountability. Geoff and Adora detail strict attendance metrics and YC batch alignment. | |
| 10-Week Curriculum Walkthrough | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Craig invites the guests to walk through the 10-week syllabus. Geoff and Adora present the progression from ideation and product-market fit to growth, hiring, and founder psychology. | |
| Advisor Group Sessions and Completion Retention | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Craig brings up online course completion drop-offs, estimating typical completion at under 20%. Geoff and Adora sharpen the figure, pointing out industry MOOC baselines are actually 5% compared to Startup School's 56%. | |
| Behind the Scenes: Team and Custom Software | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | After discussing the software team, Craig directly calls out Geoff for deflecting a personal question about which class topic he needed most. Geoff defends his response before Craig jokingly concedes. |
Statements from this episode (10)
Ralston: Startup School originated from Sam Altman's Stanford course
“Well, Startup School began a couple of years ago with a course Sam taught online called How to Start a Startup. And last year we evolved it into a course we taught with Stanford called Startup School.”
Cheung: YC Startup School offers a 10-week course with weekly advisor meetings
“So, we, ah, it's a 10 week course, and you can either audit the course, or you can actually be part of the, you can apply to be part of the course. And to be part of the course, you get, ah, obviously access to the materials and lectures. You're put into a gro…”
Ralston: Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Sam Altman, and Michael Seibel to speak at Startup School
“Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston will be taking part in the course and giving some of their wisdom, which is also broad need to founders everywhere in the world, but we're also going to have other YC partners. Sam Altman, who's the president of Y Combinator,…”
YC will award $10,000 equity-free grants to 100 Startup School companies
“And we're going to choose a hundred companies that get that grant based on, well, the, how they do during the course and the information we're going to get from the advisors and the progress that company makes. So we're going to judge how promising that compan…”
Cheung: 38 Startup School companies got into core YC batches
“So we had 38 companies who actually got into our core YC program after going through startup school, and so they don't, they, I think for the most part, most of them did a lot of their iteration and talking to users during startup school, and they learn a lot …”
Cheung: Startup School Offers AWS and DigitalOcean Credits and Stripe Atlas
“So we have cloud credits from Amazon Web Services and DigitalOcean and maybe some others and then every company that comes through will be able to incorporate and create a bank account with, through Stripe Atlas.”
Ralston: Y Combinator's admission rate is between 1% and 2%
“The admission rate is somewhere between one and two percent.”
Ralston: YC does not pay Startup School advisors
“We don't pay these folks to do this. They volunteer their time.”