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Jun 22, 2018 · 25m · y-combinator

Announcing Work at a Startup · Y Combinator

Jared Friedman · 10m spoken Matt Long · 9m spoken Craig Cannon · 2m spoken
0:00 / 0:00
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In this Y Combinator podcast episode, host Craig Cannon speaks with YC team members Jared Friedman and Matt Long about the launch, evolution, and traction of 'Work at a Startup,' a platform and accompanying conference designed to streamline engineer recruitment for YC portfolio companies.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. The partners hold 46.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

The partners as informed peer 5.6 Guest teaching 0.0 Guest disagreement 0.0 The partners pushing back 0.0
05100:0010:0020:000:00–2:21 · The partners as informed peer 4/10 Introductions and Overview of Discussion Jared briefly introduces his background as an early YC founder at Scribd and partner at YC before Matt details the basic premise and motivation behind building Work at a Startup. The atmosphere is purely introductory and cooperative.2:21–6:11 · The partners as informed peer 6/10 History of Hiring Initiatives at YC Jared articulates the history of YC hiring initiatives from Hacker News job boards to internal forums, framing startup hiring fundamentally as a matching problem. Matt builds on this by explaining the specific cultural and technical matching data gathered.6:11–9:14 · The partners as informed peer 5/10 Beta Launch and Platform Evolution Matt explains the product iterations from the December 2017 beta launch, noting how founder feedback forced them to reintroduce resumes after initially trying to omit them. Jared adds data on international candidate diversity and remote roles.9:14–16:16 · The partners as informed peer 7/10 Insights from the Hacker News Startup Discussion Jared synthesizes findings from a 1,000-comment Hacker News discussion, breaking down candidate concerns regarding compensation, equity transparency, job security, and remote flexibility. Matt reflects on why non-financial benefits and team bonds get overlooked in discussions about compensation.16:16–24:18 · The partners as informed peer 6/10 Announcing the Work at a Startup Conference Jared and Matt announce the upcoming conference details, including talks from Sam Altman and Justin Kan, rapid founder pitches, and live hardware demonstrations. The tone remains informative and collaborative throughout the logistics breakdown.0:00–2:21 · Guest teaching 0/10 Introductions and Overview of Discussion Jared briefly introduces his background as an early YC founder at Scribd and partner at YC before Matt details the basic premise and motivation behind building Work at a Startup. The atmosphere is purely introductory and cooperative.2:21–6:11 · Guest teaching 0/10 History of Hiring Initiatives at YC Jared articulates the history of YC hiring initiatives from Hacker News job boards to internal forums, framing startup hiring fundamentally as a matching problem. Matt builds on this by explaining the specific cultural and technical matching data gathered.6:11–9:14 · Guest teaching 0/10 Beta Launch and Platform Evolution Matt explains the product iterations from the December 2017 beta launch, noting how founder feedback forced them to reintroduce resumes after initially trying to omit them. Jared adds data on international candidate diversity and remote roles.9:14–16:16 · Guest teaching 0/10 Insights from the Hacker News Startup Discussion Jared synthesizes findings from a 1,000-comment Hacker News discussion, breaking down candidate concerns regarding compensation, equity transparency, job security, and remote flexibility. Matt reflects on why non-financial benefits and team bonds get overlooked in discussions about compensation.16:16–24:18 · Guest teaching 0/10 Announcing the Work at a Startup Conference Jared and Matt announce the upcoming conference details, including talks from Sam Altman and Justin Kan, rapid founder pitches, and live hardware demonstrations. The tone remains informative and collaborative throughout the logistics breakdown.0:00–2:21 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Introductions and Overview of Discussion Jared briefly introduces his background as an early YC founder at Scribd and partner at YC before Matt details the basic premise and motivation behind building Work at a Startup. The atmosphere is purely introductory and cooperative.2:21–6:11 · Guest disagreement 0/10 History of Hiring Initiatives at YC Jared articulates the history of YC hiring initiatives from Hacker News job boards to internal forums, framing startup hiring fundamentally as a matching problem. Matt builds on this by explaining the specific cultural and technical matching data gathered.6:11–9:14 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Beta Launch and Platform Evolution Matt explains the product iterations from the December 2017 beta launch, noting how founder feedback forced them to reintroduce resumes after initially trying to omit them. Jared adds data on international candidate diversity and remote roles.9:14–16:16 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Insights from the Hacker News Startup Discussion Jared synthesizes findings from a 1,000-comment Hacker News discussion, breaking down candidate concerns regarding compensation, equity transparency, job security, and remote flexibility. Matt reflects on why non-financial benefits and team bonds get overlooked in discussions about compensation.16:16–24:18 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Announcing the Work at a Startup Conference Jared and Matt announce the upcoming conference details, including talks from Sam Altman and Justin Kan, rapid founder pitches, and live hardware demonstrations. The tone remains informative and collaborative throughout the logistics breakdown.0:00–2:21 · The partners pushing back 0/10 Introductions and Overview of Discussion Jared briefly introduces his background as an early YC founder at Scribd and partner at YC before Matt details the basic premise and motivation behind building Work at a Startup. The atmosphere is purely introductory and cooperative.2:21–6:11 · The partners pushing back 0/10 History of Hiring Initiatives at YC Jared articulates the history of YC hiring initiatives from Hacker News job boards to internal forums, framing startup hiring fundamentally as a matching problem. Matt builds on this by explaining the specific cultural and technical matching data gathered.6:11–9:14 · The partners pushing back 0/10 Beta Launch and Platform Evolution Matt explains the product iterations from the December 2017 beta launch, noting how founder feedback forced them to reintroduce resumes after initially trying to omit them. Jared adds data on international candidate diversity and remote roles.9:14–16:16 · The partners pushing back 0/10 Insights from the Hacker News Startup Discussion Jared synthesizes findings from a 1,000-comment Hacker News discussion, breaking down candidate concerns regarding compensation, equity transparency, job security, and remote flexibility. Matt reflects on why non-financial benefits and team bonds get overlooked in discussions about compensation.16:16–24:18 · The partners pushing back 0/10 Announcing the Work at a Startup Conference Jared and Matt announce the upcoming conference details, including talks from Sam Altman and Justin Kan, rapid founder pitches, and live hardware demonstrations. The tone remains informative and collaborative throughout the logistics breakdown.

speaking balance: gold is the partners, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · the partners 20.5% · guest 79.5%0:00 · the partners 20.5% · guest 79.5%3:00 · the partners 54.7% · guest 45.3%3:00 · the partners 54.7% · guest 45.3%6:00 · the partners 0% · guest 100%6:00 · the partners 0% · guest 100%9:00 · the partners 78.2% · guest 21.8%9:00 · the partners 78.2% · guest 21.8%12:00 · the partners 57.6% · guest 42.4%12:00 · the partners 57.6% · guest 42.4%15:00 · the partners 67.9% · guest 32.1%15:00 · the partners 67.9% · guest 32.1%18:00 · the partners 39.3% · guest 60.7%18:00 · the partners 39.3% · guest 60.7%21:00 · the partners 34.8% · guest 65.2%21:00 · the partners 34.8% · guest 65.2%24:00 · the partners 79.9% · guest 20.1%24:00 · the partners 79.9% · guest 20.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:59 Nuancing black-and-white views on startup compensation

In a completely collaborative episode, Matt mildly pushes back against the prevailing sentiment in online forums that working at a startup is irrational due to lower upfront compensation compared to FAANG salaries.

 Hardest push from the partners ▶ 23:58 Reframing the definition of modern startups

Jared actively broadens the conventional assumption of startups as pure software and SaaS by emphasizing heavy involvement in hard sciences, machine learning, and robotics.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:30 Explaining why founder behavior required resumes

Matt explains how real-world founder hiring behavior contradicted their initial idealistic design of excluding resumes, forcing the platform to reintroduce them.

 The partners hold their own ▶ 11:00 Analyzing compensation trends and startup network safety

Jared demonstrates deep domain knowledge by detailing how startup equity transparency and the broader YC network mitigate early-stage job security risks.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicThe partners as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementThe partners pushing backWhy
Introductions and Overview of Discussion 4000 Jared briefly introduces his background as an early YC founder at Scribd and partner at YC before Matt details the basic premise and motivation behind building Work at a Startup. The atmosphere is purely introductory and cooperative.
History of Hiring Initiatives at YC 6000 Jared articulates the history of YC hiring initiatives from Hacker News job boards to internal forums, framing startup hiring fundamentally as a matching problem. Matt builds on this by explaining the specific cultural and technical matching data gathered.
Beta Launch and Platform Evolution 5000 Matt explains the product iterations from the December 2017 beta launch, noting how founder feedback forced them to reintroduce resumes after initially trying to omit them. Jared adds data on international candidate diversity and remote roles.
Insights from the Hacker News Startup Discussion 7000 Jared synthesizes findings from a 1,000-comment Hacker News discussion, breaking down candidate concerns regarding compensation, equity transparency, job security, and remote flexibility. Matt reflects on why non-financial benefits and team bonds get overlooked in discussions about compensation.
Announcing the Work at a Startup Conference 6000 Jared and Matt announce the upcoming conference details, including talks from Sam Altman and Justin Kan, rapid founder pitches, and live hardware demonstrations. The tone remains informative and collaborative throughout the logistics breakdown.

Statements from this episode (7)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Long: YC surveys show engineering hiring is founders' top post-program problem
“Internal surveys we've done with founders of YC companies kind of confirmed that we're overwhelmingly hiring, and in particular hiring engineers is kind of the number one problem they face following going through the YC program.”
Matt Long Jun 22, 2018 ▶ 1:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Friedman: Scribd hired half its early engineering team via Hacker News
“I think probably half the engineering team that we hired came through Hacker News, and that's not atypical for YC companies.”
Jared Friedman Jun 22, 2018 ▶ 3:02
Disclosure
YC reintroduced resumes after founders kept checking applicants on LinkedIn
“We actually now do ask you for a resume just because, you know, after, after not having it for a long time, a lot of times the first thing founders would tell us, you know, when we ask them how, you know, how they're liking the product is, well, this is great,…”
Matt Long Jun 22, 2018 ▶ 8:51
Insight
Friedman: Startup compensation has risen significantly, narrowing big-tech pay gap
“Compensation at startups has gone up a lot as well. And so I think we may be closer than they think, but there's still more that startups have to do on that front.”
Jared Friedman Jun 22, 2018 ▶ 12:20
Insight
Friedman: The startup ecosystem offers better macro job security than big tech
“While working at any individual startup may not be as secure as working at a large company, hopefully working for startups in general can be even more secure, because if the startup that you're working at now doesn't work out, there's going to be 20 other star…”
Jared Friedman Jun 22, 2018 ▶ 13:15
Assertion Supported
Cannon: Zapier famously paid employees to relocate away from the Bay Area
“Zapier is a great example of one of those companies. They were paying people to delocate from the bay last year, which was interesting.”
Craig Cannon Jun 22, 2018 ▶ 16:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Friedman: Y Combinator has grown 10x in size since 2010
“YC has grown a lot since then. We're 10 times the size, and so the Converse is going to be about 10 times the size head of us back then.”
Jared Friedman Jun 22, 2018 ▶ 17:03
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