Bernstam: Scribd and most early batch startups would have failed without YC
Tikhon Bernstam · The Challenges a Repeat Founder Faces - Tikhon Bernstam · Y Combinator · Sep 8, 2017 · at 3:58
Tikhon Bernstam, co-founder of Scribd and Parse, discusses the impact of participating in Y Combinator's Summer 2006 batch under partners Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, and Robert Morris.
0:00 / 0:30exact quote · 31.0s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“Honestly, we would never have made it without that program. And I think that's true of actually most Of those companies and I, I'd argue probably most of the companies because without that community of, like, like-minded people who are highly motivated and working on, like, the same general, like, pathway as you, and also, like, people who've done it before, like Paul, Jessica, J Paul, JL, Trevor, and, like, Robert, who were basically there to, like, kind of, like, no, you guys are, like, that's stupid.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Tikhon Bernstam
Bernstam: Founders should never start companies with people they do not know
“I mean, I don't advise people work with people they don't know.”
Bernstam: International tech hubs should exploit regulatory niches, not copy Silicon Valley
“It feels like every, every city internationally or a lot of them think like, how do we build the Silicon Valley of like, you know, South America, or how do we build the Silicon Valley of like Peru? And it's like, that's not really the right approach. I don't t…”
Bernstam: Solo founders can succeed despite Silicon Valley conventions against them
“I actually like solo founders. I know that's an unconventional thing in the Valley, but Drew was initially a solo founder with Dropbox. And a lot of other great companies were as well, or had one founder who really drove the project through.”
Bernstam: Auditing daily software that annoys you reveals prime startup opportunities
“I really like looking at the software that you use every day, And seeing which ones annoy you, like which ones make you like really cringe. And I always write those down because if you're using that, it means it's probably one of the better products or it's wh…”