Apr 4, 2018 · 1h 2m · y-combinator
3D Home Printing for the Developing World – Alexandria Lafci and Brett Hagler of New Story Charity · Y Combinator
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this Y Combinator podcast episode, host Craig Cannon interviews New Story Charity co-founders Alexandria Lafci and Brett Hagler about their mission to eliminate global housing poverty through transparent crowdfunding, local partnerships, and breakthrough 3D home printing technology.
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 1.6 Guest teaching 2.1 Guest disagreement 0.0 The partners pushing back 0.2
speaking balance: gold is the partners, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:40 Pushing back on initial conservative expectations
Alexandria recounts her initial strong resistance to Kevin Hale's 10x compressed target, admitting she wanted to call back and reject the goal before committing to execute.
Hardest push from the partners ▶ 19:41 Craig pressing for concrete definitions of transparencyCraig challenges the founders to explain beyond standard marketing rhetoric what being more transparent and efficient actually means in practical operational terms.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 20:36 Alexandria dismantling vanity metrics in social housingAlexandria explains that house counts are an empty metric if the homes sit unused or disintegrate, detailing how rigorous data collection on health and sleep quality actually drives programmatic decisions.
The partners hold their own ▶ 59:45 Craig synthesizing the R&D initiative as asymmetric riskCraig succinctly synthesizes New Story's moonshot 3D printing bet within standard venture logic as an asymmetric risk where failure is bounded but success transforms the sector.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder Origins and Identifying Key Housing Problems | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig asks open-ended questions about the founders' backgrounds. Brett and Alexandria detail the systemic issues with disaster relief and lack of donor transparency in international housing charities. | |
| Development Work Challenges and Local Partnerships | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Craig clarifies how aid money seeps out and leaves people in tents. Alexandria educates him on the realities of international development and why working with vetted local partners is crucial. | |
| Building the MVP and the Crowdfunding Model | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Craig asks how they built their initial MVP and questions their operational setup prior to formal 501(c)(3) approval. The founders explain their manual Webflow mockup and how they proved demand early. | |
| Scaling in Y Combinator and 100 Homes Goal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Craig asks how YC transformed the business. Alexandria and Brett explain how YC partner Kevin Hale compressed their 12-month goal into a 100-day target, leading to corporate community sponsorships. | |
| Measuring Impact and Data-Driven Decision Making | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Craig pushes on what efficiency and transparency mean in practical terms. The founders explain why raw house count is a vanity metric compared to rigorous longitudinal impact data like sleep and health. | |
| Innovating Shelter with 3D Home Printing Technology | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Craig prompts the founders to explain the technical details of 3D home printing. Alexandria breaks down the continuous cement extrusion method and explains how it outperforms traditional cinder block walls. | |
| Customization, Field Testing, and Global Application | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig asks practical technical questions about plumbing, electrical fixtures, and curved architecture. Alexandria explains CAD file integration and community-specific architectural modifications. | |
| Partnership with ICON and Hardware Design Constraints | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig inquires about the financial mechanics and licensing with ICON. Alexandria shares the unique hardware design constraints required for deployment in off-grid emerging markets. | |
| On-the-Ground Challenges and Managing Innovation Speed | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig asks about operational bottlenecks when scaling. Alexandria and Brett discuss overcoming local skepticism and balancing disruptive R&D while maintaining core operational discipline. | |
| Team Culture, Creative Outreach, and Strategic Advice | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig asks for advice on nonprofit fundraising and outreach. The founders explain their unorthodox high-effort outreach tactics like custom FedEx packages and sending physical Lego sets. | |
| Co-Founder Chemistry, Support Networks, and Conclusion | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Craig frames the 3D printing initiative as smart asymmetric risk and affirms the value of peer founder networks. Alexandria closes with appreciation for YC's support of mission-driven nonprofits. |
Statements from this episode (21)
New Story Charity was one of Y Combinator's first non-profits
“So, we're a non-profit. One of the first ones to go through Y Combinator, and we build houses and communities throughout the developing world.”
Families lived in 90-day temporary tents eight years after Haiti's earthquake
“And everybody was given temporary aid, right?
Which is necessary at the time,
But it was only supposed to last for, like, maybe 90 days.
and as of today, it's been almost, I mean, over eight years.
And people are still living in tents.”
A major humanitarian group raised $500M but built only six houses
“It was one of the largest humanitarian organizations, like a bunch of big headlines came out that they raised basically like half a billion dollars and within like six years had only built, and this is not an exaggeration, I think like six houses. That's like …”
Local partners understand community dynamics better than outside aid organizations
“Everywhere you go, you spin the globe, point your finger, everywhere you go, there are competent people and organizations who are going to know their communities, how to do business in those locations better than you ever will.”
New Story uses 100% of public donations directly for home construction
“100% of what you give will go towards building the house. Well, it's not going to cover any of our overhead, and we do that by having a couple private donors that fund all of our overhead, like private investors, basically.”
New Story raised $100,000 in two months to build six Haitian homes
“We got, like, a 100,000 dollars within, like a couple months. And that allowed us to use a local partner that we had already known in Haiti that had a long had a lot of experience there. Build our first six houses.”
New Story funded 100 homes in 92 days during Y Combinator
“We did that and then actually hit a hundred homes in like 92 days. So we exceeded our goal.”
New Story's first hire after Y Combinator was an impact data manager
“So actually our first hire after YC, which we had a lot of funding growth was, okay, impact, right? And so we didn't go out and hire more marketing. We didn't go out and hire more. We actually hired impact data manager that Ally can talk about.”
The raw number of homes built is a vanity metric
“Cause it's not actually number of homes is a vanity metric, right? What if those homes are empty? What if those homes aren't actually better than what people were in before? What if those homes are crumbling? Right? So the impact, like what is the change in pe…”
Families moving into New Story homes gain three to five sleep hours
“When families move into a home they're, they increase their amount of sleep by like three to five hours.”
Nonprofits should operate with the same principles as tech startups
“Like we believe there should be no difference in how a nonprofit operates.”
New Story plans to open-source its 3D home printing technology
“We want to prove that in our communities and then not keep that for new story. Right? Like, not like, oh, this is RIP, like, sorry guys, like, we've got this three D printer. But then open source or democratize that with all the other nonprofits and government…”
A 3D-printed house tested three times stronger than cinder block homes
“When we tested the PSI levels, it actually came in three times stronger than our normal cinder block homes.”
3D home printing can reduce construction costs from $6,500 to $3,000
“So right now our homes on average are about 6500 dollars per home. We believe with three D home printing, we can get that down to about 3000 dollars over time, not in the beginning, but over time,”
3D printing will cut home construction from 15 days to 24 hours
“So right now take about 15 days to build a house. This would be under 24 hours and then under 12 hours is the goal.”
3D printing curves costs no more than printing straight lines
“It's not any more expensive or difficult to design in like loops and curves as it is to do straight lines.”
New Story's next goal is 3D printing a community in El Salvador
“Doing it in Austin is one thing. Do printing a community of homes in El Salvador is the next goal. And so we have to prove it ourselves”
New Story and ICON built the first 3D printer for remote regions
“Our printer that we've designed is a printer that's ready to work in some of the most remote areas in the world, some of the You know, most difficult to work places in the world which is the first of its kind.”
New Story built a working 3D printer and house in seven months
“Last August is when we said we're going to start building this printer. We want to do it by South by Southwest in March. At that point, no printer existed, right? And not only was the printer built, but the house was built.”