On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI features a fireside chat between Harj Taggar, Partner at Y Combinator, and Alda Leu Dennis, General Partner at Initialized Capital from the in-person Traction Conference.

Previously, Harj was a Co-founder and CEO at Triplebyte and Co-founder and President at Auctomatic. Harj was also the first seed investor in a number of unicorns including Instacart, Coinbase, Rippling, and Opendoor.

In this episode, Harj dives into:

1:26 - How he became the first partner at Y Combinator 

7:36 - The #1 mistake when starting up

11:29 - The most common mistakes post launch and post product-market fit

15:47 - The balancing act of hiring too fast vs. too slow

17:00 - How CEOs need to transform on their journey to building a unicorn company

20:00 - The key factor that helps early stage companies raise money

Learn more at https://tractionconf.io

Connect with Harj Taggar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harjtaggar/

Learn more about Y Combinator at https://www.ycombinator.com/

This episode is brought to you by:

Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.

Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca 

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