Simone Giertz describes herself as a maker/robotics enthusiast/non-engineer. She’s also known as the Queen of Shitty Robots. She runs a YouTube channel about those robots and is a cohost on Tested with Adam Savage from MythBusters.You can find her on YouTube and on Twitter @SimoneGiertz.She also has a Patreon.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro1:41 - "Whatever feeds the ego kills the soul."4:21 - Maintaining passion for your work7:16 - Building a sustainable business as a creator9:01 - Shipping a real product - The Every Day Calendar - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/simonegiertz/the-every-day-calendar18:01 - Being scared to step away19:31 - Generating ideas20:46 - Finding out she had a brain tumor, having surgery, and sharing it26:01 - Returning to work after brain surgery28:01 - Learnings from taking time off29:01 - Asking for help30:31 - Evaluating how she's spending her time32:16 - Giving herself permission to try other things34:21 - Challenges as a creator and entrepreneur 36:01 - Not feeling guilty about play and pursuing the things you enjoy41:01 - Becoming less disciplined in certain areas over time42:46 - Ali asks - How to get started when dealing with imposters syndrome?43:06 - beep boop asks - What's your favorite robot?43:46 - Beste asks - Are there any moments where she is bored and feels like giving up on creating new things?44:56 - Khawar Shehzad asks - What thing do you wish you knew when you started your career?46:06 - Olaf Doschke asks - What would have happened if Simone's toothbrush helmet wouldn't have gone viral?48:36 - Johnathan Nader asks - What is the best version of yourself?

Michael Babineau is cofounder and CEO of Second Measure. Second Measure analyzes billions of credit card transactions to answer real-time questions on consumer behavior. They were in the Summer 2015 batch of YC and you can check them out at SecondMeasure.com.Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC. Before working at YC he cofounded Wufoo.You can find Michael on Twitter @mikebabineau and Kevin is @ilikevests.The YC Podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro00:35 - What idea did Mike apply to YC with?01:20 - Where did the idea come from?4:35 - From project to company10:20 - What info did investors want to know that Second Measure could provide?12:05 - Their first customers14:35 - The primary use case of Second Measure for VCs15:20 - What questions are they trying to answer?19:35 - Data examples from their blog21:05 - Post: Fashion retailers have nothing to fear (yet) from the rise of Stitch Fix23:35 - Post: Holiday sales rocket Peloton memberships ahead of SoulCycle active riders25:05 - Post: Prime members deliver for Amazon every day27:35 - Second Measure's product development process29:35 - Finding good data scientists who work from first principles37:05 - Why is credit card data so messy?42:05 - Cleaning data44:20 - Using their product for competitive analysis47:35 - Their sales process49:05 - Raising money from Goldman Sachs and Citi52:05 - Focusing on a specific problem54:05 - Keeping the product compelling when it's table stakes

Vidit Aatrey is cofounder and CEO of Meesho. Meesho is a platform in India that allows people to resell products using their social networks. They were in the Summer 2016 batch of YC and you can check them out at Meesho.com.Adora Cheung is a Partner at YC. Before working at YC she cofounded Homejoy.You can find Vidit on Twitter @viditaatrey and Adora is @nolimits.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro01:20 - What is Meesho?3:20 - Why not just sell directly to consumers?5:05 - What are the macro trends in Meesho's favor in India?7:30 - A trust deficit market8:55 - How does Meesho help users get online and start selling?11:45 - Most impactful user stories13:50 - Growth drivers15:50 - Balancing growth and quality17:25 - What if Facebook copies Meesho?18:50 - When did Vidit and his cofounder know they wanted to start a startup?21:20 - Their first startup idea and the inspiration for Meesho25:40 - When did they know Meesho was working?27:20 - How hard was it to pivot the business and how did they manage it?30:05 - As a CEO how does he stay in touch with users?34:50 - How has Vidit's role changed over time?36:55 - How has he learned to be a CEO?38:30 - What mistakes have they made?39:35 - What was his best decision?40:15 - What's a strong opinion he had about running a startup that he's changed since running Meesho?41:45 - How has the Indian startup ecosystem evolved?43:20 - Big problems worth solving in India43:05 - Can foreigners come to India and start a startup?45:10 - Best advice for aspiring Indian founders46:20 - After Meesho, what's the most exciting startup in India?47:20 - Why is Delhi the best IIT?48:15 - What's a must read book and why?49:10 - What's a startup idea he'd be working on if Meesho didn't happen?49:25 - In 100 years, what does he hope Meesho is?

Chris Best is the cofounder and CEO of Substack. Substack makes it simple for a writer to start a paid newsletter. They were in the Winter 2018 batch of YC. You can check them out at Substack.com.Jonathan Gill is the cofounder and CEO of Backtracks. Backtracks is a podcast analytics and hosting platform. You can check them out at Backtracks.fm.Chris is on Twitter @cjgbest and Jonathan is @jgill333.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro1:03 - Paid vs advertising in podcasting3:33 - Are advertisers overpaying for podcast ads?6:13 - What percent of the market will ultimately be paid content?8:13 - Payment mechanisms9:48 - Price anchoring12:28 - Individual creators vs brands17:23 - Deplatforming18:53 - Spotify20:23 - Discovery and growth in newsletters22:53 - Public and private feeds25:23 - Apple's role26:38 - Will education be the driver of paid content?30:23 - Educational podcasters in China32:23 - How are their newsletter and podcast customers growing?36:18 - Jack Ryder asks - In 5 years time, are personal newsletters going to replace social networks like Facebook?38:13 - Debdut Mukherjee asks - Do podcasts actually work? If so, how do startups calculate the ROI & the CAC?43:38 - Measurement45:23 - Best practices for new podcasters and newsletter creators

Brian Halligan is the CEO and cofounder of HubSpot. HubSpot builds software for marketing, sales, and customer service. You can try it out at HubSpot.com.Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC and cofounder of Wufoo.Brian is on Twitter @bhalligan and Kevin is @ilikevests.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.  Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro00:27 - Brian's an introvert that likes to work from home. He also runs a public company. How does he do both?2:12 - How does he manage his calendar as an introvert?4:12 - How Brian met his cofounder Dharmesh6:12 - The first project they worked on together7:27 - What was their unique insight when starting HubSpot?8:52 - Pricing in the early days9:27 - How would he have priced HubSpot differently knowing what he knows now?10:27 - HubSpot's first customer12:27 - Important early features14:47 - At what point did they shift entirely away from consulting?15:32 - Providing advice as content vs in the product16:27 - SEO is underrated17:12 - Trends in B2B and marketing21:57 - Inbound marketing and audience building advice26:52 - How did Brian know that his cofounder was right for him?28:12 - The internet disproportionately benefiting small businesses over big ones29:12 - Keeping your company hungry when you're big29:52 - Building assets for your company 30:47 - Freemium34:27 - Structural pieces of HubSpot Brian would have changed if he did it again37:27 - Creating the voice of your company39:57 - Early metrics they tracked40:32 - Having a coach and reviews41:57 - How Brian's changed as a CEO from the beginning42:51 - What was the hardest thing to give up as CEO?43:57 - Humility

Jarvis Johnson was previously a software engineer at Patreon, Yelp, and Google. He’s now a YouTuber.You can find him on YouTube at Jarvis Johnson and on Twitter @jarvis.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro00:20 - Jarvis' intro00:50 - Where his videos first got traction1:30 - Being part of the software industry while critiquing it4:05 - How he got into programming6:30 - Moving to California7:50 - Interning at Google then Yelp9:20 - Interviewing multiple times at the same company10:20 - Moving from Yelp to Patreon14:30 - Switching from individual contributor to manager18:35 - Learnings from managing that he applies to himself21:45 - What made Jarvis want to do YouTube full time?30:20 - Investing in yourself31:25 - Making what you want vs talking to viewers35:55 - When did things really start to click for his channel?38:20 - Choosing to make multiple genres of video44:00 - Nathan Allebach asks - Are content creators responsible in any capacity for their audiences?51:05 - Taylor asks - In what ways do you think content creation can benefit one's career in the tech industry?54:40 - Jarvis made a podcast when he was a teenager56:30 - Octopus Blues asks - What lessons did improv teach you/who would you recommend it to, if anyone?58:45 - Predictions for YouTubers and content creators

Harry Zhang is the cofounder of Lob. Lob makes it possible for enterprises to programmatically send physical mail. They were in the Summer 2013 batch of YC.Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC.Harry is on Twitter @harryzhang and Kevin is @ilikevests.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.***Topics00:00 - Intro00:31 - Harry's intro00:41 - What did Lob have when they applied to YC?2:01 - Documentation as an API company3:16 - Where did the insight to create Lob come from?4:26 - Lob's first version and first customer7:26 - Closing their first big customer then signing others12:31 - Did Harry always know Lob would be an API company?14:01 - How long did it take to work up to enterprise customers?15:31 - Pricing19:46 - Creating a product roadmap21:26 - Tradeoffs when building product22:21 - Competing for top engineers as an API company24:31 - Options vs RSUs28:01 - Sales mistakes32:21 - Building out features for enterprise clients34:16 - Why did Lob choose to not vertically integrate?39:31 - How has Harry had to change as a founder over the life of Lob?

Max Rhodes, CEO of Faire, and Anu Hariharan from YC discuss Faire's journey, from idea inception to product/market fit. Topics include changes in SMBs, try before you buy model, scaling challenges, calming stress, and strategic hiring for growth.

Austen Allred is the CEO and cofounder of Lambda School.Lambda School provides a CS education that's free until you get a job. They were in the Summer 2017 batch of YC.You can learn more about Lambda School at lambdaschool.com.Austen is on Twitter at @austen.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.***Topics00:00 - Intro1:01 - Encouraging people to do something that they're scared to do5:16 - Where did the insight for Lambda School come from?6:26 - College vs developer schools10:26 - Building a network12:16 - Does Austen see value in a traditional liberal arts education?14:56 - Steven Klaiber-Noble asks - As competitors begin to copy your model what front do you believe you'll be competing on?17:56 - Why did Austen choose to raise money?20:06 - Fundraising falling through on Austen's first startup21:36 - Moving back to Utah and writing a book about growth23:26 - Why Austen wrote a book26:26 - "Starting a company is by definition saying, I think what I can do is worth more than what other people will pay me for."27:26 - Mispriced human capital30:21 - Other opportunities for Lambda School32:46 - Modeling risk35:36 - David Kofoed Wind asks - When Lambda School is incentivized to take in people that will land high paying jobs, how do you think about the diversity of candidates? One would imagine that it quickly becomes a game of pattern matching the stereotypical SV people.37:51 - Will Lambda School ever not be remote?41:16 - Dave Dawson asks - You appear to be on the successful path now, was there a point early in Lambda School when you wanted to stop?43:46 - Helping everyone become an autodidact46:46 - Rethinking where to start on an online course48:11 - Dave Dawson asks - What keeps you up at night at this point? 49:46 - Dayo Koleowo asks - “I have made remarks I do not agree with” - from Austen's Twitter bio. What is that one remark you wish you didn’t have to disagree with?53:26 - Choosing remote work as a core problem to solve in your company55:56 - Analysts aren't good at measuring product quality57:36 - Teaching taste

Amy Buechler is an executive coach for startup founders.Michael Seibel is a partner and the CEO of YC.In this episode we talk about coaching and use examples from Michael’s time working on Justin.tv and Socialcam.You can find Amy at her site foundercoach.io and on Twitter at @amybue.Michael is on Twitter at @mwseibel.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.***Topics00:00 - Intro00:41 - What is coaching?01:11 - How is coaching different from therapy?2:31 - What are the most common challenges founders in coaching have?3:26 - Challenges with roles and responsibilities at Twitch7:46 - How would Amy have coached Michael around roles and responsibilities?9:41 - Not being disruptive as a leader11:31 - Switching roles at Twitch12:46 - Uneven equity splits15:01 - Distributing and negotiating equity21:16 - Communicating your own value22:51 - Can there be too much communication?24:11 - Productive arguments28:11 - Talking about performance issues30:16 - Setting clear goals and managing motivation33:16 - Enjoying the work34:01 - Conversations about runway36:51 - Digging your company out of the grave and continuing40:21 - Michael being against coaching initially42:31 - How to have hard conversations44:16 - Removing a responsibility from someone49:51 - Returning to roles and responsibilities 50:41 - Jeanie McCallister asks - What’s the single most important piece of advice you can give a founder?