Y Combinator
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Y Combinator publishes practical startup guidance on product building, fundraising, founder decision-making, and scaling high-growth technology companies.
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Included for practical education on practical startup guidance on product building, fundraising, founder decision-making, and scaling high-growth technology companies.
Showing 320 digests for Y Combinator.
Productivity & habits
YouTube
How the best startup founders manage their time and priorities
Y Combinator
October 6, 2023
Productivity & habits
9
Deep work & focus
7
Fake work feels productive but creates zero real progress
Maker vs manager schedules: mixing them kills deep work
Focus is saying no — your most important decisions are what to skip
Founder interviews
YouTube
How Surbhi Sarna built a $275M biotech company from nothing
Y Combinator
September 29, 2023
Founder interviews
10
Fundraising & VC
6
Customer discovery
5
A teenage cancer scare exposed a diagnostic gap she spent a decade fixing
Rejected 50+ times by investors who called women's health too small a market
No MD, PhD, or MBA — founder-problem fit matters more than credentials
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
Why famous founders give advice they never followed themselves
Y Combinator
September 13, 2023
Identity & self-belief
8
Case studies
7
Long-term planning
5
Sam, Elon, and Thiel all took conventional paths before going big
Skipping step one is impossible without the wealth step one created
Founder advice often reflects what they'd tell their younger selves, not you
Mobile app design critique: five startup apps reviewed
Y Combinator
September 1, 2023
Design thinking
9
User research
7
Watching one real user reveals more than any design review
Dark icons on dark backgrounds and tiny tap targets are silent conversion killers
Gamification and onboarding questions that interrupt checkout cost you first-time users
Why top VC firms secretly love YC but won't admit it
Y Combinator
August 23, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Pitching investors
6
Top VCs invest in hundreds of YC companies while publicly disparaging it.
YC filters 20,000 applicants into ~200 fundable, further-along companies for VCs.
Investors advising you against YC are usually the ones not offering to invest.
What bad investor meetings teach founders about raising money
Y Combinator
August 17, 2023
Fundraising & VC
9
Pitching investors
7
Bad investor behavior is a signal, not a test to pass.
Believe the no — but never trust the investor's stated reason.
Your startup's validity is not determined by investor enthusiasm.
Prospecting & outreach
YouTube
How 50 YC founders got their very first customers
Y Combinator
August 9, 2023
Prospecting & outreach
9
Customer discovery
6
Cold email, LinkedIn, and door-to-door still win first customers
Reddit waitlist hit 1,000 signups in 24 hours with no product
First contract signed with no code — built and shipped in seven days
How successful startups pivot: real stories from YC group partners
Y Combinator
July 21, 2023
Pivoting
9
Product-market fit
7
Brex, Goat, and GoCardless all pivoted to become billion-dollar companies.
Pivot hell: switching ideas weekly prevents the user contact that reveals the right one.
If you don't know your main KPI each morning, you probably need to pivot.
AI strategy & adoption
YouTube
Will OpenAI kill all startups? Why the answer is no
Y Combinator
July 13, 2023
AI strategy & adoption
9
Business models
7
Case studies
5
Every major tech shift created more startups than it destroyed.
OpenAI's goal is AGI — the gap below that is your opportunity.
Second-order effects, not obvious wrappers, are where big companies emerge.
How to avoid cargo culting other startups
Y Combinator
June 30, 2023
Business models
9
Product-market fit
6
Copying Google's office culture won't make you Google
Founders now copy unicorns with no revenue or proven model
Start with what users want — not fundraising announcements
Conversion rate optimisation
YouTube
How to design an AI startup website that converts
Y Combinator
June 15, 2023
Conversion rate optimisation
9
Copywriting
7
AI strategy & adoption
5
Visitors must answer 'what is this?' within seconds of landing
Show a feat-of-strength demo before asking anyone to sign up
One primary CTA beats multiple equal-weight options every time
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
Facing hard truths: how founders bridge dreamland and reality
Y Combinator
June 7, 2023
Identity & self-belief
8
Pivoting
6
Resilience & grit
5
Self-deception after a growth stall is the most common way startups die
You need a specific, articulable reason why you'll succeed where others failed
Recruiting people who will genuinely disagree with you is the core survival skill
How generosity and value-giving build lasting tech companies
Y Combinator
May 30, 2023
Business models
8
Customer discovery
7
Prospecting & outreach
5
Fear of consulting early stops founders learning what customers actually need.
Linux, Google, Excel all succeeded by giving more value than they charged.
Give value upfront in outreach — before asking for a single minute.
Founder interviews
YouTube
How immigrant grit shaped a $875M startup founder
Y Combinator
May 16, 2023
Founder interviews
9
Resilience & grit
7
Identity & self-belief
6
Refugee parents' survival instinct became Tracy Young's entrepreneurial fuel
Imposter syndrome made her hide identity traits that were actually strengths
Immigration drives economic output — and founders disproportionately prove it
How to apply and succeed at Y Combinator
Y Combinator
May 12, 2023
Fundraising & VC
8
Vision & mission
6
Case studies
5
Most reasons founders avoid applying are fear-based, not factual.
Technical talent on the team gives 5x better odds of an interview.
The interview is a conversation — treat interviewers as future partners.