Lessons from working with 600+ YC startups | Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator, Airbnb)

Gustaf Alströmer is a Group Partner at Y Combinator, where he has worked with over 600 startups. He’s also a fellow Airbnb alumnus and even started the original Airbnb growth team. In today’s podcast, Gustaf discusses common reasons startups fail and how he helps coach founders on avoiding these mistakes. He explains the attributes that the best founders tend to have, and signs that a company has potential. We also cover the growing space of climate tech, for which Gustaf has a huge passion and where he’s already had an incredible impact. He shares some key areas of innovation and investment in climate tech, some notable companies he’s helped fund, and where he sees potential going forward.
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Find the full transcript here: www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons...
Where to find Gustaf Alströmer:
• Twitter: / gustaf
• LinkedIn: / gustafalstromer
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky
Referenced:
• Airbnb tweet: / 1580330162725347330
• Startups Are an Act of Desperation: blog.eladgil.com/p/startups-a...
• The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups: www.paulgraham.com/startupmist...
• Do Things That Don’t Scale: paulgraham.com/ds.html
• Marc Andreessen: a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen/
• How to Talk to Users: • How To Talk To Users |...
• How to Get Your First Customers: • How to Get Your First ...
• Pachama: pachama.com/
• Request for Startups: Climate Tech: www.ycombinator.com/blog/rfs-...
• Climate Draft: www.climatedraft.org/
• Seabound: www.seabound.co/
• Fleetzero: www.fleetzero.com/
• Unravel Carbon: www.unravelcarbon.com/
• CarbonChain: www.carbonchain.com/
• Sinai: www.sinaitechnologies.com/
• Enode: enode.com/
• Statiq: www.statiq.in/
• Heart Aerospace: heartaerospace.com/
• The 100% Solution: A Plan for Solving Climate Change: www.amazon.com/100-Solution-S...
• Without a Doubt: How to Go from Underrated to Unbeatable: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
• Emily in Paris on Netflix: www.netflix.com/title/81037371
• Everything Everywhere All at Once on Showtime: www.sho.com/titles/3493875/ev...
• How to Apply and Succeed at Y Combinator, by Dalton Caldwell: • How to Apply and Succe...
• Y Combinator on KZbin: / ycombinator
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Gustaf’s background
(04:15) What made Airbnb so special
(07:21) How culture interviews and hiring founders contributed to Airbnb’s success
(10:31) Motivations for starting companies
(13:17) Why Gustaf helps founders understand their motivations
(14:13) Reasons you should not start a company
(16:03) The magic that happens at YC office hours
(20:45) Why founders in coworking spaces should schedule time to talk
(21:36) Questions Gustaf asks founders
(22:26) Common reasons startups fail
(26:23) Getting over the fear of rejection
(27:57) The importance of solving for pain points and why you should watch users
(34:21) The value of having a technical co-founder
(37:42) How founders without technical expertise have succeeded
(40:46) Attributes of the most successful founders
(44:57) Why it’s hard to predict success and how YC advises against failures
(46:59) Indications of potential for success
(50:03) Speed vs. quality
(51:11) Confidence vs. humility
(52:48) Execution and tactics vs. strategy
(54:36) Autocratic vs. collaborative-driven founders
(56:27) Why you should focus on product first
(59:03) The economic incentive for investing in climate tech
(1:02:16) The clean-tech bubble of 2008
(1:04:59) Why you don’t need to be super-scientific to work in climate tech
(1:06:51) Areas of climate tech and promising companies
(1:12:27) What’s going well in the climate-change space
(1:16:49) Lightning round
Production and marketing by penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [e-mail].

[@Prograffable]

This content is free, least I can do is watch an ad. Tons of experience in this pod

[@alexakten]

as a semi-technical founder without a lot of expertise in agriculture, this is so inspiring to hear on my climate tech startup journey to help farmers! thank you so much for this, so many valuable lessons

[@anafigueroa5971]

This is amazing! Thanks for the detailed notes. ❤

[@chameleon_bp]

The best interview i have seen that summarises what makes startups successful from a VC perspective. Love it. Thanks!

[@aymanz83]

One of the best talks, fair, insighful and have a lot of information. Great one

[@cavidismayil6559]

Thank you brother, it really helped. Such a nice presentation and everything.

[@vishnukannan3736]

This was such a nice episode. Thank you!

[@javi_park]

a goldmine of wisdom!

[@franciscoizaguirre9069]

Loving these Lenny - keep it up!!

[@ehibble]

I've never subscribed quicker in my life.. Lenny you're getting some great names on the show : )

[@rmccool]

Good episode and solid advice. Thanks!

[@brandon6490]

This is so addictive while finishing my app to test, thanks for the amazing insights.

[@soumyagupta4910]

Learned so much from this conversation. Thank you both!

[@Motivation2Invest]

Great Questions Lenny, keep it up 👍

[@chan90s]

Leeny, this is gold

[@arunkutube]

very exciting episode, thanks

[@americanonobrasil2128]

Lenny just found your channel and am binging your videos. This one in particular is off the charts, can't believe I have access to this for free. Thank you for your work!!!!!

[@LennysPodcast]

Thanks for watching!

[@aurabless7552]

Another great episode! as a ESG grad, glad to see companies like YC driving climate tech by combining product development and ESG together =)

[@sicktastictv]

As always, an amazing interview. I love learning from Gustaf.

[@rizvy99]

SALMON FISH>>>>SOLOMON AIR CHASING>>>>AND THE SALMON IN LUNCHEON NOVEL OF ROTTERDAME< UNILEVER COMPANY JEWS GAME

[@CoolioAsMiles]

Thanks for the shared knowledge! Great value! Unfortunately I believe non-tech founders can be underrated in their ability to value the importance of tech and the ability to execute. Yes, there are outliers. However, I believe in time the best founders of the future will be less technical. But will have a much more creative philosophical skill set. No right no wrong, just build and create no matter what skill set you have. Cheers all!

[@RahulBadesra]

Helpful video guys! And good insights - loved the idea of founders meeting hours! So helpful to get a good feeling ! And absolutely customers are such a key ..

[@kcygt]

very nice episode.

[@BarryFranks]

When he talks about family and how he thinks about some of his Airbnb coworkers - I think it’s perfectly acceptable to grow into relationships with colleagues that feel much closer than just a co-worker dynamic. However, it’s not acceptable for leaders to presume their company is a “family” and all those who join are family.

[@harambeboy]

Lenny office got dat upgrade

[@adive5590]

Lenny, love the podcast. I’m a product designer and it’s helped me out a lot. Loved this episode especially. I’ve watched hundreds of Y Combinator videos, and its been a game changer over the years. What kind of camera do you shoot your video with? It’s crispy.

[@LennysPodcast]

Canon EOS M50 Mark II

[@lespinal]

@@LennysPodcast I love how you keep eye contact with the audience. How do you achieve that? is it through watching at the lense? or do you keep your camera close to the monitor?

[@LennysPodcast]

@@lespinal I've been upgrading my setup little by little, and to do that, I got a teleprompter thing that lets you sit the camera behind a screen and the monitor reflects on to a piece of glass. It's pretty wild.

[@user-kq1tg2cm8k]

Working with people like Gustaf can improve you as a person and as an entrepreneur

[@xavieroneill]

This is clearly an aristocratic tribe few have access too.

[@toemsakpolsri1073]

I have experienced that hard of doing startup...

[@sanjaymohan4156]

Gustaf the type of guy to talk to customers before a date with a 10 he met

[@rizvy99]

SALMON FISH>>>>SOLOMON AIR CHASING>>>>AND THE SALMON IN LUNCHEON NOVEL OF ROTTERDAME< UNILEVER COMPANY JEWS GAME

[@JackMthembu]

I founded a company with little technical skills but I was able to build a MVP and get some good traction to validate my startup. Can I still get a CTO come on board as a Co-Founder and what is fair equity for them?

[@zetsui0411]

8c 48good indicator of succcess progress on weekly or biweekly timescale 4850 try to get people not to fail 5130 if you aint confident why should investor be? 55c

[@jasonwillems9959]

We all want to be a part of a greater purpose , that's why we gravitate our positive experience with successful products at the end of the day that's the game plan.

[@tyreselove9393]

I find it Hard to believe that after seeing “500+ startups” you’ve never seen ONE company use an outside contracting firm ??? 🤔 make it make sense. Great interview and insights besides that one question.

[@LennysPodcast]

These are companies that got accepted into YC, and they generally don't accept startups that rely on contracting firms to build the product.

[@MB-hz7wm]

💯 32:30 - 33:45 😂

[@sguploads9601]

calendly made by contracting engenering

[@gustaf]

True - there is an exception for every rule

[@RobbenBanks153]

This guy really doesn’t know which startups will succeed or fail. I know from experience. Amazing how we put YC up on a pedestal

[@brandon6490]

Imagine being negative on such an amazing podcast, change your mindset or your mindset will change you. 🙂

[@fanaccount6600]

You should start a vc fund and become a trillionaire in a few years then!

[@blasterzm]

Lol, you don't either

[@johnapple3471]

Lets be honest, the whole climate thing is completely overhyped

[@alextodd1583]

😅😢🎉

[@Riteshsawantplays]

Too many ads lenny

[@LennysPodcast]

Oh interesting feedback! You feel two pre-roll (~2 mins) and one mid-roll (~1 min) is too many? That's pretty typical for a podcast in my experience.

[@nbme-answers]

​@@LennysPodcast "you know you found the right price when people complain but still buy" --pg

[@khaliljammal]

Not enough ads. Get paid Lenny!

[@LennysPodcast]

@@khaliljammal 🤣

[@Littlestephy29]

@@LennysPodcast I didnt think it was too many ads at all, in fact I could have seen 1 more and been fine

[@yaari4307]

podcasts are too long...... No one has 1:30 mins to watch videos

[@edward826]

Too bad about all the leftist talks... was interesting till all the political talks. Had to check out halfway the video