“I didn’t intend to start a startup, I tried to get a job at Netscape, but nobody responded. So I decided to just start writing software myself and see where it goes” -@elonmusk origin story
Aaron Epstein
5,542 posts
Aaron Epstein
@aaron_epstein
- “If you’re doing the same thing as everyone else, it’s really hard to concentrate talent and stand out” -@sama
- I've noticed many successful founders have a new KPI for their second startup: revenue per employee They built huge companies the first time around, but got so bloated they didn't like working at their own startup anymore Learn from them: track this for your first startup too
- Over the next decade, it’s likely that new AI interfaces will emerge beyond the common chat UI that many products are using today. What are some of the most interesting ones you’ve built or use today?
- More designers should be founders. They already have so many of the skills needed to be great – strong user empathy, a focus on solving problems, a high bar for quality, and taste. If you're a designer, what's preventing you from making the leap?
- Better to spend your time focused on finding the true believers, rather than convincing the non believers. True of fundraising, hiring, and other things in life.
- If your goal is to learn, you can’t fail. Internalizing this has always made it easier for me to do risky things.
- The best part about being a founder is you get to pick the people that you work with.
- It’s inevitable that Chowdeck will be the DoorDash for Africa.Congrats to the team @chowdeck on their $9M Series A! A few years ago, Chowdeck made its first delivery with a mission to adapt food delivery to the realities of African cities. Since then, they've served over 1.5 million customers across 11 cities in Nigeria and Ghana through
00:00 - YC’s moving to 4 batches a year. Now no matter when you’re starting your company, there will be a YC batch you can join. finance.yahoo.com/news/silicon-v…
- It's now possible for small, high-agency teams – even solo founders – to build multi-billion dollar companies with as little as just $500k in funding from YC.
00:00 - YC founders often ask me for referrals to great freelance designers who can help level up their product or brand design. Who are the top designers I should be referring them to?
- I've reviewed hundreds of cold emails, and honestly most of them are terrible. Here's everything I've learned about how to write cold emails that actually convert.
00:00 - More designers should be founders. And we want to back them at YC. Over the next decade, as new coding tools make it easier than ever to build and ship products quickly, great design is going to matter even more.
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