Conference Presentation, Fireside Chat, Panel
Female Founders Conference - New York
Y CombinatorJessica Livingston, Kathryn Minshew, Alex Cavoulacos, Mariya Nurislamova, Reshma Shetty, Shan-Lyn Ma, Reham Fagiri, Tiffani Ashley Bell, Alana Branston, Katherine Minshew, Kirsty Nathoo, Adora, Stephanie, Holly Liu, Sharon Pope, Kat Mignolet, Matthew, Carolyn
- Y Combinator anticipates a global ecosystem with "thousands" of accelerators by the current timeframe, having evolved from a 2005 landscape where it was the sole entity in the valley.
- The program intends to expand investments exclusively through batch operations, moving specific cohorts to Silicon Valley to maintain its unique market position.
- Despite significant growth over 13 years, Y Combinator expects its core curriculum to remain "remarkably similar" to its 2005 iteration, while anticipating an alumni community of "thousands" fostering an "asshole-free culture."
- Y Combinator plans to continue funding "very young founders" without requiring external CEOs and expects to take more risks, unconstrained by Limited Partners or vague fiduciary duties.
- The organization expects female founders to show heightened interest in funding, with summer 2018 data showing that 27% of its batch included a female founder.
- Y Combinator considers a weekly growth rate of 10% to be highly successful, projecting a 10x increase by the end of a batch, while viewing any launched product as providing confidence in product-market fit compared to having nothing.
- Y Combinator advises that any founder, regardless of location, should spend three months in the Bay Area to build a network, even if they subsequently return to their home city.
- The organization expects to potentially launch an experimental NYC outpost in the future, though there are currently no immediate plans for such expansion.
- The Muse expects to build a company reflecting founder values rather than traditional models, having already implemented a "baby at work policy" despite industry skepticism.
- The Muse anticipates that as the organization grows to "90 people," individual behaviors will replicate across the team, making cultural change increasingly difficult compared to individual adjustments.
- The Muse expects that "diverse teams" provide a competitive advantage if committed to from the beginning, and plans to terminate clients who do not treat people well to maintain value integrity.
- The Muse expects to select future investors selectively once the company is established, contrasting this with the early seed round where they had to actively solicit funding across New York and Silicon Valley.
- The Muse projects it may need to "raise $750,000 in five weeks" from scratch in a future crisis scenario, though this specific approach is not recommended for others.
- The Muse expects that performance management requires a baseline where managers periodically fire underperformers, noting that "for every ten people you've hired... if there's not one person that you're either managing out for firing you're probably being too soft."
- The Muse warns that "culture fit" interviewing can create bias against introverts, women, and people of color, serving as a force for discrimination depending on team composition.
- Katherine Minshew anticipates an increase in female founders at future conferences as part of an effort to change historical diversity gaps.
- Zola expects to serve couples from engagement through their first year of marriage, aiming to "survive and thrive" where other wedding startups have closed.
- Zola expects to eliminate returns by allowing virtual returns and delaying shipping until requested, thereby making the business "much more capital efficient" through drop-shipping.
- Zola anticipates being able to "very clearly predict and forecast what we're going to sell seven months to one year in advance" based on registry sign-ups.
- Zola expects Kevin Ryan to act as a coach, mentor, and active co-founder/investor, providing operational reality checks for the business.
- Shanlyn Ma expects that male founders often project absolute certainty with "no doubt" regarding billion-dollar potential, whereas women tend to be more modest and factual.
- Shanlyn Ma advises female founders to verbally externalize their internal conviction during pitches to overcome tendencies of doubt regarding billion-dollar success.
- Shanlyn Ma advises founders to commit "at least the next 10 years of your life focused on this one thing," expecting this dedication to be the best investment of time.
- AppDeCo expects to solve marketplace "chicken-and-egg" problems by copying content from Craigslist to convince sellers to transact.
- AppDeCo expects that unscalable efforts generate referrals, with each initiative resulting in "five, ten people signed up."
- AppDeCo expects that superior execution matters more than financial competition, noting that competitors with significantly more funding have previously shut down.
- Bulletin expects to prove brands will pay for space by testing concepts via unscalable "outdoor weekend flea markets" in parking lots.
- Bulletin expects to achieve "10x" growth if it maintains a "10% week over week" growth rate.
- Bulletin expects to reach an "inflection point" characterized by "exponential growth," allowing a shift in focus to product-market fit.
- The Human Utility expects to have laws passed regarding water affordability as a long-term goal, applying "startup-esque principles" to achieve systemic change.
- The Human Utility expects to overcome the "cutthroat" nature of the nonprofit sector by showcasing actual success stories.
- The Human Utility expects to hire staff for customer service to prevent founder burnout and aims to build a "stronger recurring giving program."
- Scentbird expects to expand internationally in the future.
- Scentbird expects to become a "unicorn" by building upon its current status, though it remains a current one.
- Scentbird expects that the "extra dilution" associated with a founder working on their "life's mission" is worth the cost if it provides the necessary capital for success.
- Ginkgo Bioworks expects that efficiency extends runway and increases optionality, planning to drive this by defining metrics such as "how much genetic engineering can we do per person."
- Reshma Shetty expects that female leaders pushing for efficiency face personal risks of being perceived as "battle axe" or "unsympathetic" leaders.
- Reshma Shetty expects that problems such as recruiting and interpersonal conflicts "scale with n squared" as the number of people increases.
- Ginkgo Bioworks expects that "something repetitive software can most likely replace" manual tasks that do not scale.
- Y Combinator expects that simply "working on something interesting" will attract talented people to the startup.
- Y Combinator expects that most people in Silicon Valley are open to providing advice, provided specific questions are asked.
- Y Combinator expects that founder relationships often form organically with college friends or prior colleagues.
- Y Combinator expects that options should vest during maternity leave and that suspending vesting is illegal.