How to Start a Startup

Three segments in this lecture:

Tyler Bosmeny, founder and CEO of Clever, starts off today's lecture with an overview of the Sales Funnel, and how to get to your first $1 Million.

Michael Seibel, founder of Justin.tv and Socialcam and Partner at Y Combinator, then goes over how to talk to investors - the pitch.

Dalton Caldwell, founder of imeem and App.net and Partner at Y Combiantor, and Qasar Younis, founder of Talkbin and Partner a...

There's a lot that goes behind the scenes in running a startup. Getting the legal, finance (equity allocation, vesting), accounting, and other overhead right will save you a lot of pain in the long run. Kirsty Nathoo, CFO at Y Combinator, and Carolynn Levy, General Counsel at Y Combinator, cover these very important topics in this lecture.

From YC Startup Class - How to Start a Startup - Stanford CS183B

Lecture Transcript: genius.com...

Building product, and talking to users. In the early stages of your startup, those are the two things you should focus on.

In this lecture, Emmett Shear, Founder and CEO of Justin.tv and Twitch, covers the latter. What can you learn by talking to users that you can’t learn by looking at data? What questions should you ask? How can user interviews define or redefine your product goals?

From YC Startup Class - How to Start a Startup - ...

You are not the only one whom your decisions impact. Ben Horowitz, founder of Andreessen Horowitz and Opsware, discusses this important management perspective that founders miss, with, of course, the gratuitous rap lyric or two sprinkled in.

From YC Startup Class - How to Start a Startup - Stanford CS183B

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/B-horowitz-lecture-15-how-to-manage-annotated

See the slides and readings at startupclass.samal...

What should the CEO be doing on a day to day basis? How do you make sure the company is moving in the right direction?

Keith Rabois, Partner at Khosla Ventures and former COO of Square, tackles the nitty gritty - How to Operate. Lots of actionable takeaways from this lecture!

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Keith-rabois-lecture-14-how-to-operate-annotated

See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec14/

Dis...

So you've learned how to get started, how to raise money, how to build products, and how to grow. Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and Partner at Greylock Ventures, addresses many of the questions and confusions that might be cropping up - How to be a Great Founder.

From YC Startup Class - How to Start a Startup

Lecture Transcript: genius.com/Reid-hoffman-lecture-13-how-to-be-a-great-founder-annotated

See the slides and readings at s...

Stripe and Pinterest - two companies well known for their strong cultures. The founders - John Collison, Patrick Collison, and Ben Silberman - take Q&A from Sam in part 2 of Hiring and Culture.

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Patrick-collison-lecture-11-company-culture-and-building-a-team-part-ii-annotated

See the readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec11/

Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/courses/how-to-start-a-sta...

Brian Chesky, Founder of Airbnb, and Alfred Lin, Former COO of Zappos and Partner at Sequoia Capital discuss how to build a great company culture.

Lecture 10 from YC Startup Class - How to Start a Startup

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Alfred-lin-lecture-10-company-culture-and-building-a-team-part-i-annotated

See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec10/

Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/courses/how-...

Sam leads a panel Q&A on fundraising in this lecture with Marc Andreessen, Founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz, Ron Conway, Founder of SV Angel, and Parker Conrad, Founder of Zenefits.

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Marc-andreessen-lecture-9-how-to-raise-money-annotated

See Ron Conway's slide, and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec09/

Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/courses/how-to-start-a-startup/lec...

Lecture 8 features 3 speakers:

Stanley Tang, Founder of Doordash, covers How to Get Started.

Walker Williams, Founder of Teespring, covers Doing things that Don't Scale.

Justin Kan, Founder of TwitchTV and Partner at Y Combinator, covers Press.

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/William-sydney-walker-lecture-8-doing-things-that-dont-scale-pr-and-how-to-get-started-annotated

See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/cour...

Business Strategy and Monopoly Theory

Peter Thiel, founder of Paypal and Palantir, discusses business strategy and monopoly theory in "Competition is For Losers".

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Peter-thiel-lecture-5-business-strategy-and-monopoly-theory-annotated

See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec05/

Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/courses/how-to-start-a-startup/lectures/64034

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So you have an idea. How do you go from zero users to many users?Adora Cheung, Founder of Homejoy, covers Building Product, Talking to Users, and Growing, in Lecture 4 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Adora-cheung-lecture-4-building-product-talking-to-users-and-growing-annotated

See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec04/

Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/courses/how-to-st...

Counterintuitive Parts of Startups, and How to Have Ideas

Paul Graham delivers an informative (and highly amusing) talk, addressing counterintuitive parts of startups, in Lecture 3 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Paul-graham-lecture-3-counterintuitive-parts-of-startups-and-how-to-have-ideas-annotated

See the readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec03/

Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/course...

Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Sam-altman-lecture-1-how-to-start-a-startup-annotated

Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, and Dustin Moskovitz, Cofounder of Facebook, Asana, and Good Ventures, kick off the How to Start a Startup Course. Sam covers the first 2 of the 4 Key Areas: Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution; and Dustin discusses Why to Start a Startup.

See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/l...