Latest Interviews
Showing 1–7 of 7 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- Y Combinator1h 58m
YC SUS: Aaron Epstein and Eric Migicovsky give website feedback
Aaron Epstein, Eric Migicovsky
Aaron Epstein, a YC alum and Creative Market co-founder, evaluates the websites of Startup School founders to identify critical failures in clarity, trust signals, and conversion optimization. The review process prioritizes precise value propositions and user benefit statements over visual aesthetics, exposing common issues like vague positioning, confusing navigation, and a lack of social proof across diverse ventures ranging from crypto tax tools to pet insurance. Epstein concludes with a strategic directive for founders to validate their messaging through external user testing and to align their site content immediately with a single, clearly defined use case.
- Y Combinator4h 20m
Female Founders Conference - Mountain View
Kirsteen Nathoo, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Adora Chung, Christina, Tiffany, Ashley, Carolyn Levy, Alexandra Zatarain, Jess Lee, Holly Liu, Stephanie, Pat Piper
Hosted by Y Combinator partners Kirsteen Nathoo and Carolyn Levy, the five-year-old Female Founders Conference convened 350 women in Mountain View to discuss scaling strategies, fundraising, and product validation through sessions led by founders from Promise, Vanta, and Eight. The event featured critical insights on overcoming bias in venture capital from Sequoia Capital's Jess Lee and detailed case studies on pivoting and hiring from Kabam's Holly Liu, who shared lessons from her billion-dollar exit. Outcomes included actionable advice on "doing things that don't scale" for early traction, navigating government contracts, and shifting investor narratives from empathy to financial opportunity.
- Y Combinator1h 33m
John Preskill on Quantum Computing
John Preskill, Steven Hawking, Kip Thorne, Craig Cannon
Established by Richard Feynman's early theoretical work, the field of quantum computing has evolved from theoretical challenges in the 1970s to a practical reality enabled by mid-1990s error correction and recent hardware advancements in superconducting and trapped-ion systems. As current devices approach 100 qubits, they are poised to disrupt public-key cryptography through Shor's algorithm while simultaneously offering transformative capabilities in quantum chemistry simulation and materials science. The industry now focuses on bridging these applications through hybrid classical-quantum systems and developing post-quantum security measures to address the imminent threat to existing encryption standards.
- Y Combinator3h 42m
Startup Investor School Day 4 Live Stream
Andy Bromberg, Aaron Harris, Ron Conway, Jeff
The final day of Startup Investor School featured a comprehensive analysis of early-stage investment history by Andy Bromberg, behavioral standards for angel investors presented by Aaron Harris, and a founder-centric investment philosophy from Ron Conway. The session detailed the evolution from traditional venture capital to modern token offerings like ICOs while establishing a strict code of conduct emphasizing reputation, speed, and integrity in deal-making. Ultimately, the event equipped attendees with tools to model SAFE conversions and fostered a network committed to maintaining ecosystem transparency and supporting high-potential founders.
- Y Combinator4h 16m
Startup Investor School Day 3 Live Stream
Elad Gil, Pejman, Jeff Clavier, Andrea, Ali Partovi
Day 3 of the Startup Investor School convened five prominent investors, including Elad Gil, Pejman Nozad, Jeff Clavier, Andrea Zurlo, and Ali Partovi, to dissect critical strategies for market selection, team evaluation, and portfolio construction. The speakers emphasized that successful angel investing requires a 10-year horizon, strict risk discipline regarding net worth allocation, and a service-oriented mindset that prioritizes founder support over immediate financial gains. Key consensus points highlighted the necessity of investing in brilliant founders with big ideas regardless of initial market perceptions, maintaining long-term patience through early-stage losses, and building a personal brand rooted in integrity and operational availability.
- Y Combinator2h 14m
IPFS, CoinList, and the Filecoin ICO with Juan Benet and Dalton Caldwell
Juan Benet, Dalton Caldwell, Craig Cannon, Dan Galpin, Francesc Campoy, Mark Mandelmann, Mark Blythouse, Mark Mandelbaum, Chris Broadfootnich
Protocol Labs, founded by Juan Bonet, is developing the InterPlanetary File System and its incentivized Layer-2, Filecoin, to transition internet infrastructure from centralized, location-based models to a decentralized, content-addressed network that ensures data sovereignty and censorship resistance. By replacing traditional venture capital with token-based funding models like CoinList, the organization enables long-term open-source research while utilizing Proof of Replication to create a liquid global market for unused storage capacity. This initiative aims to solve systemic inefficiencies in credit assignment and data redundancy, positioning Filecoin as a competitor to major cloud providers while fostering a new economy where protocol contributors are compensated directly through native network value.
- Y Combinator5h 9m
Female Founders Conference 2017
Avni Patel-Thompson, Emily Weiss, Laura Behrens Wu, Padmashree Warrior, Aileen Lee, Elizabeth Lyons, Vanessa Torridilla, Erica, Morgan de Bon, Diane Greene, Kirsty Nathoo, Carolyn Lebe, Anu Hariharan, Adora Chung, Jessica Livingston, Kat
The Female Founders Conference brought together prominent industry leaders like Avital Lee, Kate Winslet, and Aileen Lee to analyze the nine distinct factors that differentiate successful startups from unicorns. Prominent founders from companies such as Poppy, Glossier, and NIO shared case studies on overcoming funding rejections, pivoting from failure, and building inclusive cultures within male-dominated sectors. The event concluded with YC partners debunking common myths about early-stage investment while emphasizing that persistent storytelling and rigorous data preparation are essential for women founders navigating systemic bias.