Why This Is The Perfect Time To Start A Startup

Last month, YC hosted Startup School East, a one-day event in Boston for university students. As part of the event, the Lightcone Podcast did their first live stage recording specifically tailored for the students.
When you're young and there are seemingly endless directions you could pursue in life, the hosts of the Lightcone Podcast make the case for why right now is the perfect time to start a start up.
Chapters (Powered by bit.ly/chapterme-yc) -
00:00 - The Lightcone Podcast
01:25 - Intro
04:17 - Advantages of young founder in college
05:15 - Experience working at a company
08:44 - Energy level
11:04 - Set high bar and avoid bad habits
14:34 - Long game and crazy goals
16:41 - Work life balance
17:57 - YC Stats
19:49 - Wrap up

[@chapterme]

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00 - The Lightcone Podcast 01:25 - Intro 04:17 - Advantages young founder in college have 05:15 - Working for Microsoft cost me $200 million 07:19 - Did any experience in Microsoft help you with your startup? 07:54 - Working at Intel 08:44 - Energy level working at a company vs startup 11:04 - Founders who have not worked set high bar for success and avoid bad habits 12:44 - Your startups going from 0 to 1 13:28 - Technology impact on society 14:34 - Things to look out for: Long game 15:26 - Setting your goals crazy high 16:16 - Example: Alex from Scale 16:41 - Work life balance is complete bullshit 17:57 - YC Stats: Triple the number of more college students. What's changed? 18:53 - Idea maze 19:49 - Wrap up

[@devstuff2576]

College dropout from Havard/Yale/Stanford/(insert Ivy league college here) , from a rich family who didn't need college in the first place. There I finished the title. Now let's watch.

[@PseudoProphet]

I hate it when elites say College doesn't matter.... But it's always the first thing they ask you about, whenever you meet them For a job or business. 😂😂

[@bork5230]

It’s because the hard part about elite colleges is getting in. Not completing them.

[@tech.startups]

@@bork5230 Facts!

[@akpost8780]

@@bork5230 The University of Chicago has entered the chat.

[@Nolimit276]

Dropping out of an Ivy leauge is very different than dropping out of a regular university. You guys wouldn't even look at people who didn't go to an ivy.

[@consumedata4544]

YC love the aesthetic of people who didn’t go to college/dropped out. Yet their application process is hyper-focussed on “What school did you go to?”

[@ycombinator]

“Hyper focused” is really inaccurate. If anything I focus on the demo. -Garry

[@noorlancer]

Garry himself cooked u

[@donventi3567]

​@ycombinator I plan to start my startup after college because I don't come from enough money to do it without a good paying job. If I had the funds I would do it in a heartbeat. My startup idea in my opinion is stark but without a good mvp and a decent client base, funding is nearly impossible.

[@kevinschmidt2210]

@@donventi3567 But when will you get started on planning to start your startup?

[@ckmichael8]

​@@ycombinatorare yc more focused on us founders these days? i am unfortunately not from US and only graduated from an asia top school but I really need a chance for an interview, but it seems that not much good news for international applicants recently..

[@winkletter]

So if I'm hearing this right, the main advantage of a college student is their fundamental capability to be convinced that they should work like a pack mule and bet their future on a risky venture in the hopes that they too can become an example of survivorship bias. :)

[@lucasyoung5376]

Yes, but unironically.

[@ugabuga8791]

No one is saying you have to start a freaking billion dollar startup. Of course that's risky and requires extremely hard work. If you want less risk / don't want to work extremely hard, then get a normal job. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[@winkletter]

@@ugabuga8791 Keep in mind that this program is not simply free advice. It's a recruitment drive for Y Combinator. Most of the students they convince to quit school will fail at startups, not win. But if YC can own a stake in at least a few of the companies that do succeed, they'll have downside coverage. Unlike the students who quit college early dreaming of starting a trillion-dollar company.

[@slack128]

As a 41 year old dev seeing all these youth-focused videos kind of bums me out

[@beepdotboop]

Sameeee /sigh

[@hugodemenez]

I am 24 yr old but it hits the same…

[@sujantkumarkv5498]

​@@hugodemenez same here, 22 and hits hard

[@carloslfu]

Nah, you have an edge guys!

[@mushkea123]

Its a cycle that repeats over and over with every generation

[@EcomCarl]

It's inspiring to see how YC Startup School East empowers young founders, highlighting that some of the most transformative tech companies started without prior work experience 🚀. This serves as a powerful reminder that the entrepreneurial journey doesn't have to be delayed for the sake of traditional career paths.

[@theyoutubeacademic2763]

It was a great event to be there in person!! Thanks for putting this together!

[@yadurkurup220]

Waiting for my interview , hopeful ❤, good insights.

[@igorbeaver4692]

So why there are so many alumni in the recent batch with titles ex-facebook, ex-ms, ex-lift and so on? Almost half of them as I checked

[@siddhantsingh3411]

because unsurprisingly they are also the ones working the hardest of any of us.. You see the titles now, but they did not have a title growing up. No one is stopping us from grabbing that title.

[@KN-wb6un]

Entrepreneurs aren’t geniuses or something special in general they just tend to come from resources/privilege and being ex big tech is one of many indicators of having resources.

[@barobhaiya]

I have applied to YC 4 time, have been rejected each time. But when ever I spend time listening to them. I learn something new each time. Thanks for putting this up.

[@pablotroyse1329]

What great chemistry from this group

[@eqfira]

It is not about college dropout it is freedom to have control what we are doing in right manner no matter you are in college or not

[@emileeid6347]

Thank you For this video Y Combinator your an inspiration to me and many others for giving knowledge and inspiration on start-up life and work balance great motivation I am as a Tech & AI Enthusiast and a CS student .

[@musicmavericks3790]

Thank you YC!!

[@powerHungryMOSFET]

already many students dropping out because of no jobs and companies not looking college degree anymore

[@howtoactuallyinvest]

Thank God. Student debt is fucking criminal in 2024 when information has been free for decades

[@inquisitorofthegodemperor8434]

@@howtoactuallyinvest Yep and especially when that information from KZbin is WAY more current than the materials college provides - teaching the past vs teaching the now and the future

[@karlaerronbauer591]

Insightful Video

[@arincrumley9046]

You guys are amazing.

[@Trex2006]

loved it 🥰

[@vallab19]

AI Inspirational start-up talk.

[@marcelriedeman9286]

where can I find info about YC events?

[@ramitkoul]

This is insightful!! 💯

[@Dxma-os5ln]

Curious whether gpt4 omni has consolidated YC focus to dedicate more money and effort to AI companies or made you think again

[@mPajuhaan]

When you follow patterns, it is less likely to find outliers. Dropouts in 2005 were unexpected founders; by 2024, they are common!

[@george_davituri]

maybe it's getting more common

[@sukhdevmishra8631]

I love it ❤

[@aryanjha3530]

Is YC focussed on sectors with physical product anymore? Looks like hardtech and manufacturing are going to take a back seat for the upcoming cohorts.

[@ycombinator]

Check out the other episode we recently published: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6OndmWba56XosU

[@karanshah-qw9df]

Coming to your point of college students directly starting up , do you think they know enough about the problems to be solved? I see many college grads with their limited work experience, typically come up with consumer ideas which according to YC are usually 'tarpit' ideas. Can you tell more about how fresh college grads can think about actually mature ideas (coz i don't want to waste my precious years drowning in tarpit)

[@hubbyhubs-hm8xb]

What made you guys decide to unlist the video?

[@george_davituri]

When I dropped out I was not intended starting a company, I had some other reasons. Wish it to be other reason, something like creating AI unicorn to that time. small note: the more far you are located from USA, it's super hard to catch up with the latest innovation trends, hot topics, despite social network. Sometimes even unis teach outdated stuff. Betting on AI ☺

[@chriswilfrid]

Do YC accept Compound Startup?

[@rishavsarkar7729]

Do you only accept ivy league drop outs? What are the other requirements, honestly?

[@ycombinator]

No we accept lots of people with no pedigree

[@schowdhary051180]

It reminds me of Sumantra Ghoshal's "Smell of the Place" when it comes to the experience of working for giants.

[@noahloyd9]

One day, one day

[@user-lb2gu7ih5e]

By YouSum Live 00:00:13 Perfect time for young founders to start a startup. 00:02:00 College students have a significant advantage in the startup world. 00:02:41 Five trillion-dollar tech companies started by founders with no prior work experience. 00:11:55 Importance of starting early to build a world-changing company. 00:14:40 The exponential power of compounding growth in startups over time. 00:16:01 Work-life balance is not crucial for startup success; dedication is. 00:18:32 The current era offers abundant AI ideas for young founders to explore. 00:19:02 Guidance in navigating the startup journey akin to finding a path through a maze. 00:20:00 Funding 10% of attendees from previous talk. 00:20:14 College students ideal time to start startups. 00:20:22 Returning with partnership to inspire again. By YouSum Live

[@videozippydirector8764]

I've an idea that I believe will Address various problems faced by Indian citizen and will revolutionize the Transportation sector in tier 1 and tier 2 cities. But I've absolutely no idea where to start from,what to do, how to do it? Can Someone guide me through the process?

[@hadeethdaily7300]

My KPIs for the startup are - - Revenue target of $100 Bn in next 10 years - 30% profit margin - 85% Utilisation - CFB - 7/7 rating - Quality - 100% FTR - Spending $1 Bn on helping poor and needy people. - Spending $1 Bn on spreading peace and helping countries to stop conflicts - Spending $1Bn on training unemployed youths for future-ready - Spending $1Bn on welfare scheme of my employees. - Spending $1Bn on people who take care of their retired parents.

[@ANYTHINGHH]

This seems Interesting.

[@j1o23kfgall]

looks like the hype of startup is back

[@hoangtran-ek8mn]

Not the hype, it will be the future

[@j1o23kfgall]

@@hoangtran-ek8mn ok, impending crash soon

[@tzenmatteo]

@@j1o23kfgall at least you understand

[@naikajean5834]

Does YC accept startups based in other countries than the US?

[@Last-Code-Bender]

The next billionaire will be a high school. Dropout

[@gotemlearning]

What was the edgy thing he said lmao

[@ycombinator]

🤐

[@s.7980]

Work life balance is bullshit if you want to a build something people want. That’s very real and true advice.

[@vivekjyotibhowmik8008]

Yes i also feel so ❤

[@K_badosh]

loved it, can you somehow improve the audio??

[@ADOCATO]

I think people should think off how they can make it super easy to work with llm

[@larryabecid2819]

Which college? Are the best places

[@hadithitv7517]

Very many people know yc but very few people understand what it is

[@softcoda]

I’m in my late 30s. Is it too late? I’ve got so many great tech and AI ideas.

[@ycombinator]

It’s not too late.

[@stephenstanton6860]

I really love YCs content but this to me just kinda sounds like the message is to not be in school, don’t work a job, and the younger you do this the more likely you are to succeed. When the statistics for entrepreneurs really says the opposite. Maybe I missed the message here but that’s what I’m getting

[@milosjovanovic803]

I have applied for YC summer batch 24, still didn't receive any response. Will YC at least send me the auto rejection email if you guys will not accept my application?

[@SylvesterMolokoane]

They said replies will start coming in May 29th.

[@milosjovanovic803]

@@SylvesterMolokoane I thought that is the last day to hear back from them?

[@mimi21746]

@@milosjovanovic803 😂😂

[@ilyaspark5299]

​@@SylvesterMolokoane you're wrong, the rejections are coming on May 29th, but a lot of people already getting interviews and getting accepted.

[@milosjovanovic803]

@SylvesterMolokoane I still didn't got any response, which means they will send me an automatic email by tomorrow :(

[@SuperKillaki]

YCs number 1 JTBD is make/keep startups sexy.

[@optik2k665]

Losing my desire to get into YC slowly, more of losing hope, unless i put something related to AI in my product :) It's kind of discouraging for people working real hard on real products, but YC only accepting GPT wrapper companies

[@ycombinator]

YC accepts all kinds of companies. What are you working on?

[@journeytothevoid2899]

@@ycombinatorwe’re working on an A.I Powered BlockchainGPT built from our already existing Staking as a Service, Nymbus Capital LLC. Applied for S24

[@meetsta]

@@ycombinator We're still waiting for YC to review our application. We're building a personalized community space for college students by training and integrating modern small language models.

[@optik2k665]

@@ycombinator Software for field service businesses, but focused on UX and simplicity

[@optik2k665]

@@ycombinator A software for field service businesses. there's no AI till now but planning to use AI for auto measuring landscapes.

[@MiguelReynolds-mw2mx]

This is a fantastic message to empower entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, and economic development. We live in challenging times, so more than ever, curiosity, grit and collaboration are essential to solve real problems to real people. I am one of those that spend all my life creating companies and despite all the challenges, being able to have unlimited dreams make it rewarding.

[@charliesultana9309]

What i dont like is that it feels like they don't mention that they have vested interest in people working super hard and attempting to start a trillion dollar company. The fact is that big corps have their drawbacks, but they can also provide you with 1.some savings, so it's easier ot take risks and 2. something on your resume, so you can get a job down the road.

[@lorenzolarghi287]

My friend.. go to college, study hard, work harder and eventually try to start something. You can’t innovate if you don’t master something. You could have luck with some dumb ai wrapping, but there’s always space for luck, while education happens best at young age. Never compromise on knowledge.

[@shaheryarkhan7131]

College degree have no relation with new inventions or change the world. You can build something without college degree.

[@EvergreenAlex-Nworie]

how ignorant

[@kevinschmidt2210]

Naaaa! The next AI billionaire will be a Baby Boomer! They have been on the internet since the beginning of the dialup days, and have been involved with writing code since the punch card days. Nobody knows more about the industry than they do. Plus, they are comfortably retired and don't have to worry about money or wasting time working at a survival job. Actually, the only entrepreneurs who have an advantage are those with really good ideas for a startup. Everyone else will fail, regardless of their initial advantages.

[@mimi21746]

Entrepreneurs barely start out as experts.

[@kevinschmidt2210]

@@mimi21746 That is stating the obvious and just another reason why the next AI billionaire will be an older, much more experienced Baby Boomer.

[@Arch88241]

I am following YC from past 6 months , i am resident of bengaluru India, i have 6 ideas to start my SaaS but i am just 12th passed preparing for jee advanced which is on 26th may of 2024 , but i have no hopes on getting iit, but i am very enthusiastic to start a SaaS , i am into coding from 6th standard i know frontend and cpp i also have one inter collegiate certificate where i got 1st place in coding& debugging competitions, but i am lacking from mentors and funds, everybody know who asian parents react for college dropout i dont wanna waste my nxt 4 years in some private college which have out dated curriculum, please ​@ycombinator provide me some assistance and guidance 😊. Hoping that my vision come true. Thank you for the rich contents.

[@mantiswill]

same here lol wanna connect?

[@abdibrokhim]

definitely its about me. I have applied for 2024 batch. and i hope to be accepted and ready drop out college to shape the future world

[@mercykyallo8607]

I wonder if YC takes African start ups. 🤞🏾 we applied.

[@Darth_Bateman]

I would NOT lead with that if I was you and JUST focus on the tech and the story of your team, they can't empathize and will likely lean towards "no" the moment you use that.

[@mimi21746]

@@Darth_Bateman exactly, you said the unsaid. Never talk about race, geography, gender... It's a victim card.

[@jimmykimani26]

Hi, applied too. What's your start up about? @mercy

[@mercykyallo8607]

@@Darth_Bateman well what if everything check out but our location ? just asking,

[@mercykyallo8607]

@@jimmykimani26 It’s a meet up platform 🙂🙂

[@Vaishnav-Mankawade]

Title of video changed?

[@joseperez-ig5yu]

Next trillion dollar company will have been inspired by AI!🎉😅😊

[@roberthammond3177]

Big corporations are creativity killers. It’s a weakness that young, nimble, and fast startups can exploit.

[@ozioma]

The captive animal analogy is great until you realize that successful founders will eventually become those doing the capturing and energy-sucking....

[@stuffystuffy8683]

Harj is one of the only that I find authentic.

[@jbulatao]

I believe that any time can be a good time to launch a startup, but it heavily depends on the problem you're trying to solve. Is the problem relevant today? Another key consideration is the founders. Are the founders prepared? Do they have founder-product fit? Essentially, the timing boils down to two main questions: Is the problem relevant today, and are these the right founders to solve it?

[@peternagy3227]

How to get into ai, and be in the cutting edge within 6 months?

[@climentea]

6:24 they all sit the same on the chair - looks like a glitch 😅

[@madhav3591]

I’m an immigrant and quit my job at Tesla to build an AI agent for manufacturers. Applied to S24 and hope to be a part of such a vibrant group of crazy people (founders) like myself

[@Nimisha369]

Is it AI or Aggregating information?

[@friedpizza262]

And understanding how it connects together and how to use it effectively, without human intervention. That's intelligence.

[@Nepali-entrepreneur2024]

I will make millionaire dollar company In nepal by 2030

[@happychickenrainbow]

I got the inspirational message: quit college and join YC! I am a little young, but in a few years . . . .

[@Last-Code-Bender]

College will be redundant if you have AI at your disposal

[@tzenmatteo]

scale dumping.. you're welcome

[@mantiswill]

wont a good agi eat up any startup?

[@onelucian]

wish YC could take solo-founders more seriously. been browsing cofounder matching for half a year now, there's no one that comes even close to being fit for what I'm building. being a first-time founder that didn't work for any big company makes it even harder to paint a promising first-impression wish you could just use an LLM to tell you who to choose. make an experiment. see if it chooses the next unicorns. I bet you'll be surprised. we all know the outliers are extremely weird/unconventional/contrarian -- optimize for those

[@mantiswill]

what are you building?

[@biggestdummie]

Wow those stage lights are super annoying.

[@invest2115]

Can a 40 year old divorcee do a startup or you have to be 18-24 years old?

[@Rajibuzzaman_STEM_Rajibuzzaman]

U WILL FUND U

[@mcdonaldslover52]

AI boom was exciting up until the point where everyone realised that compute is king. Now its just a pointless endeavour because any startup without billions in funding is going to be eaten alive by the big 4 models that are already ahead

[@ycombinator]

Big 4 can’t ship but you, a startup, can

[@devstuff2576]

They literally ship new versions like a week ago

[@george_davituri]

create for concrete use case, and use chatgpt 4 as wrapper for your service. and you will be good, you don't need billions for it

[@george_davituri]

create for concrete use case, and use GPT 4 as wrapper for your service. and you will be good, you don't need billions for it

[@LLJW-je4js]

Ofc, you can. You're not competing against those big corporates, you're competing against product managers at those companies

[@Faustordz]

Heard!

[@Midori_282]

What is her name?

[@chriswilfrid]

Garry Tan for President! 🇺🇲 From us from Malaysia!🇲🇾 We are so proud of you!

[@jasondou5746]

Garry is such an amazing natural seller!

[@mimi21746]

But a very poor realist compared to Dalton and Michael Seibel

[@prophetic369]

If you guys have the way I 1 have the idea it is a great idea that woukd really help the world.I I have to be honest I never get sick EVER pretty much and I haven't felt good for the last two days so I am not going to explain to much on a comment I don't mean to sound flaky and you can trust me if you are interested i never feel sick its been years. Please respond

[@ThePolaroidPicture]

This made me way less interested in YC, unfortunately.

[@RahulBansal14]

Hit me up, If you are looking for a tech co-founder.

[@tanvimehta]

Beg to differ, one really has to have exposure and a deep hatred for corporates in order to be a better entrepreneur. .. just kidding :D :D

[@boypotus]

Poor analysis

[@chan90s]

I'm working on AI COO assistant - Have your clone. Plug your knowledgebase and you have your clone/assistant. No personal runway though. If anyone can help me with me to pay my bills, I can keep working on this

[@plupboutuye2104]

Understandably that AI is at the forefront of startups right now, but the startup sphere is REALLY lacking in hardware and hard tech.

[@larryslobster7881]

yappers

[@vulning2905]

Shipping constipation Amazing Joke

[@Mastermalik6410]

1st comment

[@mulalomasindi6839]

Is the anyone in 20 , who which to start billion dollars startups with me

[@davidestfanous9362]

good show, but no value