How Not To Start A Startup | Michael Seibel | Talk and Q&A

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🚀 CEO of Y Combinator & Co-Founder of Twitch: Michael Seibel
As the CEO of Y-Combinator, Michael Seibel has advised some of the world's most promising startups. He joined Silicon Valley’s elite startup incubator in 2014 as its first African American partner and is committed to bringing more minorities into the competitive three-month-long program. Since 2005, YC has funded 2,000 companies that have generated over $100 billion in value. YC's top companies include Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox, and Coinbase. Prior to heading up YC, Seibel co-founded Justin.tv (Twitch) in 2007 which sold to Amazon for $970 million in 2014. Hear from Michael at Seedery 2021!
💎 Leading Y-Combinator and Founding Twitch
💻 www.michaelseibel.com

[@soumen_das]

Even at 5 am he talks more sense than 99% of the population.

[@carsanovadidrifto800]

Hey fam, I hope that you and your loved ones are well. I would like to ask you the most important question ever asked: Who is Jesus? Not who is He to you. Rather, who is He really? Jesus is the Son of God, who came to the world as a man. He lived a perfect and sinless life . Even though He was perfect and sinless, on the cross of Calvary God wrathfully punished Him for the sins of the world. 3 days later He rose from death. Now He is seated at the right hand of God, ruling as King over Heaven and Earth. On the judgment day He will judge you, me and every human being that has ever lived. Those who believed in Him will enter eternal joy with Him, but those who did not believe in Jesus will be sent to eternal condemnation. So turn from your sins and believe in the Jesus. Believe and hope that you can be forgiven for all your sins because of His death and resurrection. He took your place in Hell, so that if you submit to Him as your Lord and God, you can be forgiven and take His place in heaven- you will be made sinnless and perfect before the Holy Father. He'll also give you a new heart and mind that can love and obey Him. Jesus lives so that you can have true life and freedom, and most importantly so that you can have an eternally peaceful relationship with God. You are dead, and Jesus is your Hope of love. Acts 15:11 ”On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." Ephesians 1:7 ”In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" Ephesians 2:8 ”For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,” John 11:25-26: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?' 1 Corinthians 6:14: "And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power." Romans 6:9: "We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him."

[@falcon20243]

@@carsanovadidrifto800 Jesus was jewish. He was trying to get following for a new philosophy he found. This made him a bit of a trouble maker. And they put him on the cross as punishment. Now if someone comes and tell you that they have found a philosophy that is better than Christianity, then if christians will have their way they will also put this new guy on the cross as punishment. So if someone says that they have found something better. You should listen to them and not do to them what they did to Jesus. Humans are always able to improve on ideas of previous generations. What is important is to keep an open mind about it.

[@vincentjiang4866]

Michale is like Aristotle of startups

[@lxc3909]

Aristotle needs a tissue. :]

[@nky12345]

@@lxc3909 0:22

[@bryanenid1228]

Who would be Plato then?

[@ethantastic]

5am and sick, and he's still a prophet

[@parthibsarkar1483]

This guy is the most humble CEO i have ever seen

[@julkiewicz]

I could listen to that guy all day. It's like a meditative experience.

[@timc5233]

Wow, I've started and ran 3 different restaurants, and I have never heard such helpful insight into growing a significant and successful business.

[@tkjohnson9200]

Don't be turned off by the "Scenesters"...made me teary eyed because that was the biggest hurdle I've recently overcome...being so turned off by the "get rich quick", "look at me", "bandwagon", and low to no personal conviction people.

[@zmirc]

Respect!!! So great to see high consciousness, humanity still has a chance

[@utubes720]

That was a really amazing session. I was creating a quick deck to ensure my cofounders and I were aligned, before we even got to the product/market deep dive. I’m just going to use this video as the jump off point instead.

[@KLear-qm6dg]

How did things turn out?

[@mikewhit]

I think the version of you at 5am pre-coffee is more lucid than other talks I've seen you in lol

[@stevezenn7418]

Another brilliant video with Michael Seibel! Thanks guys - great work.

[@jasonhenry5040]

This is a gift. Thank you Michael.

[@margaretcezar1109]

This is so relatable. Thank you Michael 🙏

[@collectitbydiyversity2442]

Thank you again for your amazing insight. And for doing this at 5 am while you were under the weather (sniffles). Not sure how I missed this video back in April, but glad it popped up while watching your more recent video. I'm working on a passion that isn't cool or that is considered the big rave, but it is fun to work on, and it helps solve a major problem for many starting businesses. Thank you for reminding me to keep at it. Would be great to get more of your insight on it. ...Back to work...

[@kiwa8801]

I love this, Thank you for sharing your valuable insights keep up the amazing work, this makes me look out for what is not trending

[@yuniakibona7267]

really impactful. Thank so much for sharing and Micheal thank for the clear no BS insight! Definitely changed my mindset🙌🙌🙌

[@breaktherules6035]

EXCELLENT insights!!!THANK YOU so much for sharing!

[@diegoallcore]

This is undoubtedly high quality content sir

[@rukewveofobrukweta7939]

am happy hearing this, thank you

[@innvotronics8104]

Wow, such great insight and advice, thank you.

[@diegoocasiano]

All my life, I believed that Michael Seibel is a robot, but seeing him sick proves that he is human

[@georgeadem5395]

one of the most insightful videos I've ever watched.

[@roxannecampbell4700]

This was a fantastic video. Thank you so much 😊

[@Lyronos]

Great answers. I like Michael Seibel's opinions o the subject because he provides great value.

[@andu896]

Thanks Michael!

[@Chris-el4hd]

My commentary - 5:50 - I totally agree. I didn't think about it until you rephrased it. Fitness comes more naturally to me, so thats why I see success here more than anywhere else in my life. .. I have to find communities that resonate best with me.

[@HandcartRule46]

Great talk as always 👍

[@leonsvideos]

Micheal is the 🐐

[@codewithfongoh]

Thank you so much for this.

[@shawnbhatti4212]

Thanks Mike this was super insightful.

[@victoralabii]

I’m glad to be your 5th subscriber!

[@deanmathews2005]

Very good advice for startups, but also great advice for any business!

[@ragrago]

Brilliant!

[@rhonaldjr]

Great advices as usual 👍

[@rudhisundar]

Thank you Startup Guru!

[@owensigurdson8610]

Really incredible talk.

[@tkjohnson9200]

this has been very reassuring.

[@alexf7414]

Great advice.

[@digolearn2115]

Thank you sir

[@ShopperPlug]

This is so true.

[@taurusneil]

Great advice..

[@Troll3rHD]

this is incredible

[@kiwa8801]

DAMN EVERYTHING YOU ARE SAYING is what was happened to me, I was talking advice from a bunch of people that had ZERO KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE, I only found out about start ups a few months ago?? That's like me walking into a old people retirement home and saying, do you know about NFTs and blockchains and what wallets to use??? And I'm frigging 36 years old, living in Auckland New Zealand

[@tamasveingartner4976]

my advice: it's better to use a handkerchief instead of sniffling.

[@MrGuitarguru95]

32:21 the funny thing is that what Justin Kan, Michael Seibel, & Emmet Shear built turned into a successful reality TV show with the amount of premium YT content they put out

[@ToySeeker]

Michael 💯

[@conocerseasimismo]

This was live on you tube?

[@bmejia220]

Ooh boy I may become offended by this video by the title 😂. Love Michael and his wisdom.

[@bigbanknewyork3655]

Nike says Just Do It. As a startup, I say Just Survive. If you can make it to year 2 you've got a very good chance at success.

[@fooflateka]

Great shpiel

[@pakoalouimarikika988]

Greetings from Vanuatu in the south west pacific ocean

[@Skateboardshopusa]

Hi Micheal Are.you.still.doing live videos?

[@talentsherpa]

What is the name of the woman Michael referenced toward the end of this video?

[@nyny]

dang the last message. The scenesters are why I never go near any of this

[@nbme-answers]

2:30 start

[@brettblaster]

Based on

[@antondrozdov7607]

36:30 progress over time matters the most, imo.

[@BertolliCorp]

34:19 👍🏻👍🏻

[@andreabaragiola9321]

Good info and sniffing noises

[@tabmax22]

When you say 2% of 16,000 get accepted into YC and only 2% of them scale and become successful, what are you defining as successful? Unicorn? Not everyone is trying to build the next Google, what if a company exits in 5 years for $15-20m, would that be considered as successful by YC's standard?

[@DelphinusMAch1]

It would be a small win for YC since they invest $0.5m for 7% which implies a valuation of $7m. A big win would be a YC company exiting for $100m or more

[@amanshukla757]

30:02

[@predcr]

Sir how does a successful startup should deal with politicians and gangsters.

[@ThinkWithSteven]

15:00

[@despitecovid283]

This might not be relevant but I wish the US immigration would keep up with the attractive vibrant world of innovation and entrepreneurship in the US. You guys made me pursue entrepreneurship but immigration is killing my dream. I've worked on my project since 2018 and found amazing progress with it on a visitor visa. Until covid hit and immigration have been a PITA. Competition is now in my market and I don't know if I'll be in the lead anymore. It really really really sucks and is heartbreaking.

[@Cube920429]

Have you tried applying for O-1 visa? If so, how did it turn out?

[@despitecovid283]

@@Cube920429 I did. I have awards/recognitions but not investment and I'm the majority owner of my startup - which means I'd be considered "self sponsored" with the O1. This is why the O1 wasn't an option for me.

[@despitecovid283]

@@Cube920429 why do you ask? Are you considering the O1?

[@Cube920429]

@@despitecovid283 I am apply for next yc batch and I read about O1. Have you applied for yc? I'm sure they have ways since they have so many international founders.

[@despitecovid283]

@@Cube920429 I never thought of asking them. Yes I'm applying to YC as well. I'll try asking even if I don't get in. Thanks for the idea 💡

[@nbme-answers]

2:47 the main killer

[@apatriotone]

Sounds like the difference with the difference with high end YC and average YC companies is greed and unrealistic performance expectations.

[@highonadv9214]

starting multiple ventures at a same time how good is it

[@ph_hacker_d]

You increase the likelihood you’ll fail by doing that

[@thanatosor]

Investors = Cash machine Founder need visions to change the world .. alone.

[@temjenkrazy]

The very less amount of views of this 'Gold Class' free video material proves what the majority of the world's population are spending their life's on.

[@OnionKnight541]

BLOW YOUR NOSE BEFORE DOING THE VIDEO

[@george_davituri]

💡🇬🇪

[@bigbanknewyork3655]

So many startups funded by big VCs and 90% still tank. Just because you signed with Alabama doesn't mean you're going to the NFL.

[@CertifiedMuhammad]

ii

[@despitecovid283]

I did my research and market tests and connections on the US market. It's so frustrating, this immigration wall. URGH!!!!

[@caliboosted]

Where you trying to come from ?

[@_skyyskater]

How are you able to be this cogent at 5am? That's the secret that what I want to know.

[@NicholasCanova]

Is "99.99% of startups fail" not an exaggeration? Isn't it more like 95 - 99%? If the metric of success is $1B company, than perhaps 99.99% of companies fail by this metric. It seems like there are other positive outcomes (smaller exits, cash flow positive businesses) that likely happen more often than 0.01% of the time, no?

[@milosmilovanovic3929]

great talk, the sniffling was annoying.

[@mariojohnson4695]

Allergies maybe, shit happens!

[@hjeromest9457]

Just think of it as if he was crying out of this amazing advice. It’s even more touching!

[@thomasshakelton]

OK he will try to not be sick the next time thanks for taking the time for this great feedback 😅

[@asit_dixit]

Joke "I would like to convince you not to start a startup"

[@wisemintapp]

It's really concerning to hear from a SME that speed and growth will dictate your interest (35:00). Some people have a family and responsibilities but are highly skilled/knowledgeable in their field. They simply don't have the bandwidth to execute their dream inside a year. You make it sound like these people should be branded with a scarlet letter. It's a BS metric IMO born out of a group that is dominated by people that lack the challenges of many middle-class parents that are SMEs.

[@ROTEESCo.-tt3hd]

Sir Siebel, please speak when it is 5 am and your mood is creepy! You spat out so many unpleasant truth, that I lost the track of. Please, do not try to be nice. You are awesome, when you don’t give a shit and speak straight.

[@boringmanager9559]

students asking for advice on how to persuade investors and the response is to forget about investors and solve the problem without financing. ☠ It goes to show even the best of us sometimes don't see the picture clearly. But for real, anybody else would be roasted for such an advice. They asked how to get money even if their resume is empty, not whether or not they should. Good dodge or the question. Sure, go figure everything out on your own, then come back