We're actually at a 56% graduation rate. Many companies opted to not make a video for various reasons, including wanting to remain in stealth or they felt they were too early.
I highly recommend others to sign up for the next cohort when the opportunity arises. The weekly calls, content, and team spirit was all really motivational and taught me tons.
Here's my presentation for Monkey Test It. Check it out and let me know what you think:
We had a great experience. Thanks to all of the mentors, who spent hours per week helping all of the participants in office hours.
We're working on Moonlight (https://www.moonlightwork.com), where we're helping companies hire expert software engineers as part-time consultants. We grew from no revenue before Startup School to thousands of dollars per week in revenue.
Big thank you to Steven for making the entire logistics work and Russ CTO and co-founder at Rainforest QA our advisor for his help, advice and support.
I like the sense that I can get a broad overview of what is out there and what the market looks like by seeing such a large sample of successful companies.
How do you guys pick the categories?
I ask because some categories are largbe (B2B) and there seems to be a lot of overlap. (i.e. what if there is a B2B company that is also a developer tool?)
There are also some categories that I cannot find. There isn't, for instance, a data science category.
For the first version of Startup School, we stuck with pretty broad categories, just to keep it simple. However, we do plan to make these categories more granular in the future.
I recommend the program to anyone thinking about starting a startup. The highlight was having live mentorship from very successful startup founders. My mentor had raised tens of millions in VC funding for his startup. He spent 2 hours with us every week.
I had a similar problem looking for a immigration lawyer. The problem with only looking at court records and other public information is it skews in favor of lawyers that take on slam-dunk cases.
If a law firm successfully processed 500 green card applications for Google that isn't as impressive as being successful in processing 10 EB-1 applications for early stage startup founders.
My solution was to ask for recommendations from people that required the same service as me. Could you integrate anonymous yelp style reviews for lawyers where the person giving the review could be verified?
It's a good idea to search for a lawyer who is good at the specific service you require. We're working on making the data as narrowly tailored as possible to the problem the user is searching for. Right now, the data is filtered to the level of case type. Later on, we can add additional specific factors.
Verified reviews are also something we'd like to add. Also, we'd want to filter the reviews to show more prominently reviews from past users who used the lawyer for the same issue.
Interesting concept, however assuming you become popular enough, then you could be victim of lawyers trying to game the metrics.
What happens if a lawyer choose to only defend a lot of easy to win cases to bump up their track record close to 100%. How do you identify how hard a case was in the first place, and find the lawyers who do go after hard cases successfully.
We'd like to be able to pinpoint a lawyer who is good at the specific legal problem that the user has. So we'd want to filter cases so that data can be counted on narrow ranges of very similar cases. Right now we're filtering the data at the level of case type, and we'd like to add additional filtering on specific factors in the future.
Some of the filtering and case patterns would probably be best identified with machine learning.
We didn't do a video because we felt we were too early (we probably should have done one anyway). We're making a platform for "bite-sized learning", starting with daily email courses.
Not too surprising given the low barrier to entry and acceptance rate. Doesn't mean there aren't some gems. In fact that's the whole point of this program, to give more people chances to do something great. Maybe not everybody makes full use of that chance, but it gives the opportunity to do so to more people
Keep in mind, these videos are nice, but unlike demo day, they are unlikely to result in funding. For companies that are working on getting stuff out the door, the video is probably not the highest priority.
For many of the teams, english is a second or third language, and they came from areas where startups/tech are in it's infancy, so access to decent hardware is tough.
With that said, we only spent a week working on videos and it's more our fault than theirs that we chose to focus on building product rather than pitching, as many companies were very early.
If they have a laptop with a microphone, they still have the ability to make a much, much more impressive presentation than nearly any of the ones I watched.
Why spend hundreds of hours building your product if you spent 10 minutes writing a script you're going to read out to your webcam in a dimly lit room?
Probably because they are busy growing their businesses in other ways.
As far as I can tell, the distribution of the pitch videos is unknown (and there are hundreds of pitches) so there is no end goal, it seems to be mainly a way of sharpening one's pitch.
Yeah a lot of these pitches were very wooden, and many seemed to try to catch your attention by quoting the multi billion dollar markets the founders wish to grab a piece of the pie from. Shark Tank pitches are way better.
I think a couple text lines about the market, some screenshots, and a product demo video would be good. Optionally, for those looking for funding, some info on traction growth.
The hardest is the demo video, but that is the most important. Without a good demo video you don't understand why your product exists.
We already had a few thousand in MRR before joining Startup School, but didn't have proper roadmap towards growth, sales, development and running a business in general.
Startup School and the weekly calls helped us identify our weaknesses and now we're better equipped towards scaling Nestify.
After completing the course I can't recommend Startup School enough. For a free course the value I got out of it was amazing.
* Our group's mentor (James, co-Founder of Lista YC S09) was totally committed and freely giving of his time. We could set up individual office hours for 1-on-1 advice and he put a ton of effort into surveying us & adjusting his approach so we could get maximum value.
* Being part of a 25 startup cohort (the size of our group) was hugely motivating. Even when the conversation in our video chat office hours wasn't perfectly incisive it was still energizing to hear other founders pushing at the same things you're facing.
* The internal Startup School networking tools were decently effective and I don't think YC talked about them too much when inviting people to apply. Building a network of other founders when you're bootstrapping in Cape Town, South Africa can be a little tough. Now I've got around 30 different folks I'm emailing with - all of whom have resonating experiences due to the Tinder-style networking tool in the Startup School portal.
* I also got around $5000 in AWS, Azure and GCP credits. Apart from being able to spend this year's infrastructure money on other business things (awesome!) I can also experiment pretty freely with the different platforms and pick the most ideal setup for my app.
I'm building a tool for ongoing monitoring of your HTTPS state & configuration. Feel free to mail me (address in profile) to chat about it or Startup School!
We went from startup school, to participating in techcrunch battlefield NY 2017.[1]
We were clueless to what to expect or how all this works, but through the guidance and many one on ones with our instructor we were able to manage it.
The course prepared us for meeting with investors, helped us with how to deal with the first rounds of investments (first money can be overwhelming) and how to do the non scalable things early on. It was definitely a useful course.
Also, being on a video call every week, listening to 20+ plus other people's business can be very valuable. Problems that seemed unique to us and unsolvable were solved with a quick chat with someone who already went through it.
I can say without a doubt it's useful, and would recommend it.
This is a post I made early explaining my thoughts (relevant here):
What's helpful is that you're placed in a group of say 20 other companies all trying to produce something, some are making money, some have literally nothing. You can learn from one another, share ideas, test out each others products, etc.
One thing most people trying to start a company don't have is a support network of highly motivated people doing the same thing. I know I personally do, but many of my fellow startup school colleagues do not. That's what's helpful: The startup school group office hours (or therapy sessions).
The second most valuable portion of startup school, is that they force you to be accountable. If I say I'm doing X, they want to see it. They expect results, and they push you to share.
Finally, and perhaps most valuable portion of startup school for some, is the fact you can network. I'd argue this is different than group office hours. There are many companies that have synergies, for example my project: https://projectpiglet.com/ can help identify trends, or "experts", which other teams could use.
There are other examples, but it's definitely been useful.
That being said, it is not YC proper. You don't get funds, many of the founders don't actually have an LLC or C-Corps. Many are in school, or (like myself) have full-time jobs working 50 hours a week.
Although not being able to work on the project full-time sucks, I've definitely made progress I wouldn't made, with the help startup school. We would have had less without it, the ideas from the team have bubbled up and the support pushes us to do better. I would recommend it.
102 comments
[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 153 ms ] threadIt was very helpful for us (MoQuality) and seems like a huge success overall. Thanks YC! :)
PS: Our presentation: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/536
Their loss...
I highly recommend others to sign up for the next cohort when the opportunity arises. The weekly calls, content, and team spirit was all really motivational and taught me tons.
Here's my presentation for Monkey Test It. Check it out and let me know what you think:
https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/461
We're working on Moonlight (https://www.moonlightwork.com), where we're helping companies hire expert software engineers as part-time consultants. We grew from no revenue before Startup School to thousands of dollars per week in revenue.
Here is our presentation: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/14
https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/324
How do you guys pick the categories?
I ask because some categories are largbe (B2B) and there seems to be a lot of overlap. (i.e. what if there is a B2B company that is also a developer tool?)
There are also some categories that I cannot find. There isn't, for instance, a data science category.
Thanks in advance.
Shameless self promotion: :)
https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/281
Aside from really great advisors, the group spirit and interacting with fellow founders was best part of the program for me.
Shoutout to our advisor, Joshua, and others at YC for all their time and hard work.
I will be launching in a few weeks, here is my presentation: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/791
My presentation: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/242
If a law firm successfully processed 500 green card applications for Google that isn't as impressive as being successful in processing 10 EB-1 applications for early stage startup founders.
My solution was to ask for recommendations from people that required the same service as me. Could you integrate anonymous yelp style reviews for lawyers where the person giving the review could be verified?
Verified reviews are also something we'd like to add. Also, we'd want to filter the reviews to show more prominently reviews from past users who used the lawyer for the same issue.
What happens if a lawyer choose to only defend a lot of easy to win cases to bump up their track record close to 100%. How do you identify how hard a case was in the first place, and find the lawyers who do go after hard cases successfully.
Some of the filtering and case patterns would probably be best identified with machine learning.
It was also great to see that there was clearly effort put into crafting a solid pitch.
"Mom, I'm on TV": https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/799
We just launched Tuiqo (simple document versioning) and this is our presentation: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/215
Launched https://kyso.io - Kyso is the fastest way to share data analysis to your team and the world.
Our pres: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/411
We don't have the platform ready yet, but if you want to learn React.js, check out our first course: (it's free!) https://nanohop.com/react-daily-emails/
I mean, they might have an amazing product, but the delivery could be a show stopper. What do you guys think?
With that said, we only spent a week working on videos and it's more our fault than theirs that we chose to focus on building product rather than pitching, as many companies were very early.
Why spend hundreds of hours building your product if you spent 10 minutes writing a script you're going to read out to your webcam in a dimly lit room?
As far as I can tell, the distribution of the pitch videos is unknown (and there are hundreds of pitches) so there is no end goal, it seems to be mainly a way of sharpening one's pitch.
The hardest is the demo video, but that is the most important. Without a good demo video you don't understand why your product exists.
Barely managed to release a public beta this week in time for the presentation :)
https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/91 (personal games for kids ages 1-5)
Startup School and the weekly calls helped us identify our weaknesses and now we're better equipped towards scaling Nestify.
Our presentation: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/532
* Our group's mentor (James, co-Founder of Lista YC S09) was totally committed and freely giving of his time. We could set up individual office hours for 1-on-1 advice and he put a ton of effort into surveying us & adjusting his approach so we could get maximum value.
* Being part of a 25 startup cohort (the size of our group) was hugely motivating. Even when the conversation in our video chat office hours wasn't perfectly incisive it was still energizing to hear other founders pushing at the same things you're facing.
* The internal Startup School networking tools were decently effective and I don't think YC talked about them too much when inviting people to apply. Building a network of other founders when you're bootstrapping in Cape Town, South Africa can be a little tough. Now I've got around 30 different folks I'm emailing with - all of whom have resonating experiences due to the Tinder-style networking tool in the Startup School portal.
* I also got around $5000 in AWS, Azure and GCP credits. Apart from being able to spend this year's infrastructure money on other business things (awesome!) I can also experiment pretty freely with the different platforms and pick the most ideal setup for my app.
Finally a shameless plug for my startup: https://watchdog443.com
I'm building a tool for ongoing monitoring of your HTTPS state & configuration. Feel free to mail me (address in profile) to chat about it or Startup School!
Also, here's our presentation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07ljML9g0Yg
We were clueless to what to expect or how all this works, but through the guidance and many one on ones with our instructor we were able to manage it.
The course prepared us for meeting with investors, helped us with how to deal with the first rounds of investments (first money can be overwhelming) and how to do the non scalable things early on. It was definitely a useful course.
Also, being on a video call every week, listening to 20+ plus other people's business can be very valuable. Problems that seemed unique to us and unsolvable were solved with a quick chat with someone who already went through it.
Any way, i'll write a post about it eventually. In the meanwhile here is our presentation for Renly: https://www.startupschool.org/presentations/435
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/16/renly-launches-studio-book...
Please see this as an open invitation to ask question or give comments about our product :)
I can say without a doubt it's useful, and would recommend it.
This is a post I made early explaining my thoughts (relevant here):
What's helpful is that you're placed in a group of say 20 other companies all trying to produce something, some are making money, some have literally nothing. You can learn from one another, share ideas, test out each others products, etc.
One thing most people trying to start a company don't have is a support network of highly motivated people doing the same thing. I know I personally do, but many of my fellow startup school colleagues do not. That's what's helpful: The startup school group office hours (or therapy sessions).
The second most valuable portion of startup school, is that they force you to be accountable. If I say I'm doing X, they want to see it. They expect results, and they push you to share.
Finally, and perhaps most valuable portion of startup school for some, is the fact you can network. I'd argue this is different than group office hours. There are many companies that have synergies, for example my project: https://projectpiglet.com/ can help identify trends, or "experts", which other teams could use.
There are other examples, but it's definitely been useful. That being said, it is not YC proper. You don't get funds, many of the founders don't actually have an LLC or C-Corps. Many are in school, or (like myself) have full-time jobs working 50 hours a week. Although not being able to work on the project full-time sucks, I've definitely made progress I wouldn't made, with the help startup school. We would have had less without it, the ideas from the team have bubbled up and the support pushes us to do better. I would recommend it.