Observations from 4 Weeks of YC Startup School
Last Thursday marked my 4th week of YC Startup School, the halfway point of the official 8-week (minimum) commitment to earn a certification.
While the video content has been very helpful, the best part of the program, in my opinion, has been the weekly group sessions. During these one hour blocks, my co-founder James and I have talked with a variety of founders who are also working to get their ideas off the ground. Whether it’s a telemedicine product for doctors in India or a short-term renters solution for vacant apartments in New York, the quality of an idea is consistently outweighed by founders’ delivery and presentation.
I want to share a few observations that I’ve noticed while listening to 16 different startup pitches over the last four weeks.
Video/Audio Quality
Don’t laugh, I’m being serious. You would be shocked to learn how many individuals tune into weekly group sessions using a cell phone.
Not only is vertical, pixelated video distracting, it almost always distorts the speaker’s message, making impossible for the pitch to hit home.
Lessons: use a computer, log in early, check your video and audio settings and always have a backup plan (ex: lower video quality so that at least the audio is clear).
When Receiving Feedback, Listen
Key word: listen. Don’t respond. Don’t refute. Listen.
This is the general structure of YC group sessions:
- Brief intros
- Goals and obstacles
- One plus / one minus
- Discussion
During part 3, each person offers one positive and one negative thought about each of the pitches that have been presented. Although this is supposed to be one-way feedback, the recipient of the feedback often tends to jump in to defend or clarify a point.
It’s an easy mistake to make. Of course you want to tell the person why they’re wrong about X, Y or Z!
But the key lesson I’ve learned is the value of of listening, internalizing and reflecting on all feedback before launching in to defend your idea. Not only does this allow you to offer a more complete answer that accounts for all questions or concerns, but you may find that you discover a nugget of truth or a common thread within the feedback that has been offered.
Finally, listening rather than immediately responding makes you appear more confident and prepared. I have observed a direct relationship between an individual’s ability to calmly and patiently absorb negative feedback and my desire to back their idea.
And in the hyper-competitive world of startups, anything to give you a slight edge is worth entertaining.
End with an Ask & an Offer
When wrapping up my Guess My Pay pitch, I end with: “Please let me know if would be willing do to an interview swap, where I answer 15-minutes of your questions in exchange for you answering 15-minutes of mine.”
You’d be surprised how effective this is and how many people have agreed to donate their time after the meeting to help me with market research.
Asking for something can be awkward — what if they say no? — but in the right situation (ex: YC group sessions), putting yourself into a vulnerable position almost always sparks more engaging discussion. When people think you are more receptive to their ideas, they are more likely to part with them. And you never know when one of these ideas might be the one that you’ve been looking for.