May 31, 2016 · 17m · y-combinator

Q&A with YC at the Female Founders Conference 2016 · Y Combinator

Jessica Livingston · 7m spoken Kat Manalac · 3m spoken Carolynn Levy · 2m spoken

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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

At the Female Founders Conference 2016, Y Combinator partners share actionable advice on startup evaluation, key founder traits, early execution strategies, and their inspiring long-term vision for women in technology.

Chapters · click to jump

1 statement ▾

Livingston seeks co-founders with shared history solving personal problems open →

2 statements ▾

Livingston: YC does not avoid startups stuck in the trough of sorrow open →

Livingston was impressed by Airbnb founders hand-gluing custom cereal boxes open →

1 statement ▾

Manalac: Startups cannot achieve word-of-mouth growth without a simple one-sentence pitch open →

2 statements ▾

Levy: Tacking on unfamiliar co-founders is more damaging than going solo open →

Livingston: Y Combinator funds solo founders in every batch open →

1 statement ▾

Livingston: Successful startups are far more broken than people realize open →

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 2.5 Guest teaching 1.3 Guest disagreement 0.5 The partners pushing back 0.0

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

Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:09 Carolyn condemns superficial co-founder matching

Carolyn strongly rejects the common advice of seeking out co-founders merely to fill perceived deficiencies, calling it a terrible and destructive idea.

Hardest push from the partners ▶ 12:41 Jessica interrupts flow to correct age misconceptions

Jessica takes over the moderation to address and dismantle widespread misconceptions among applicants who believe they are too old for Y Combinator.

Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:50 Carolyn explains the dangers of hasty co-founder partnerships

Carolyn educates the audience and panel on how founder breakups from artificial co-founder pairings cause fatal company death spirals.

The partners hold their own ▶ 8:43 Kat explains the mechanic behind simple value propositions

Kat demonstrates her domain expertise by connecting concise pitch delivery directly to organic word-of-mouth customer growth.

the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each

Topic	The partners as informed peer	Guest teaching	Guest disagreement	Why
Female Founders Conference 2016 Opening Graphic Sequence	3	1	0	The host facilitates questions from attendees regarding YC eligibility and team composition, contributing her own context about the Fellowship program. The panelists collaboratively elaborate on domain expertise and founder determination in an entirely supportive atmosphere.
Investing in Unconventional Ideas: Gobble and Airbnb Case Studies	4	1	0	The panel discusses early investments in Gobble and Airbnb, stressing scrappiness and concise communication. Kat adds her own insight about founders needing to explain their business in a simple sentence grandparents can understand to drive word-of-mouth growth.
Early-Stage Focus and Avoiding Common Startup Distractions	2	3	2	The discussion covers startup distractions and solo founders versus teams. Carolyn offers emphatic advice against tacking on artificial co-founders just to satisfy applications, while Jessica directly addresses common demographic misconceptions.
Ten-Year Vision for Female Founders and YC Reflection	1	0	0	Kat asks Jessica for a retrospective and ten-year outlook for female founders. Jessica shares an optimistic vision of female-founded unicorns and reflects on how even successful startups are messy behind the scenes.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure

Livingston seeks co-founders with shared history solving personal problems

“Yeah, I look for founders who have known each other for a while or worked together for a while. I look for people who are solving a problem that they themselves have.”

Jessica Livingston May 31, 2016 ▶ 2:37

Disclosure

Livingston: YC does not avoid startups stuck in the trough of sorrow

“We don't care if someone's in the trough of sorrow. That is our job to help you get out of the trough of sorrow. We've done it before. We'll continue to do it. There are ways out.”

Jessica Livingston May 31, 2016 ▶ 4:41

Disclosure

Livingston was impressed by Airbnb founders hand-gluing custom cereal boxes

“In fact, sometimes I wonder if we funded them because I was so impressed by the fact that they, like, hand glue gunned their cereals, the Obama O's and the Captain, you know, campaign. Skills. I was like, whoa, these guys are scrappy. They're selling cereal on…”

Jessica Livingston May 31, 2016 ▶ 5:45

Insight

Manalac: Startups cannot achieve word-of-mouth growth without a simple one-sentence pitch

“The answer to, you know, what do you do should really be, you should be able to answer that in one sentence, and it should be a sentence that, you know, your grandparents could understand, because that, I think that's important for any company who wants to, yo…”

Kat Manalac May 31, 2016 ▶ 8:44

Insight

Levy: Tacking on unfamiliar co-founders is more damaging than going solo

“It's such a better idea for founders to just try and if they don't have a co-founder to just do it themselves. It will be very hard, but it is the damage that can be done by tacking on a co-founder that you haven't worked with, that you don't know very well, t…”

Carolynn Levy May 31, 2016 ▶ 11:21

Assertion Supported

Livingston: Y Combinator funds solo founders in every batch

“Yes, we fund solo founders, like tons of them every batch.”

Jessica Livingston May 31, 2016 ▶ 12:45

Insight

Livingston: Successful startups are far more broken than people realize

“Even the ones you read about that are successful in the press and hugely successful companies, they're often more broken than you'd ever really know.”

Jessica Livingston May 31, 2016 ▶ 15:15

Q&A with YC at the Female Founders Conference 2016 · Y Combinator

How this conversation actually went

Statements from this episode (7)

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