YC’s CHEAT SHEET 👇
I read it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
And, every damn time, I get fired up.
I started mentoring founders a few months ago.
Not a single call goes by where I don’t reference something from this list.
It’s just pure gold.
Here it is:
01. Launch now
02. Build something people want
03. Do things that don't scale
04. Find the 90/10 solution
05. Find 10-100 customers who love your product
06. All startups are badly broken at some point
07. Write code - talk to users
08. "It's not your money"
09. Growth is the result of great product not the precursor
10. Don't scale your team/product until you have built something people want
11. Valuation is not equal to success or even probability of success
12. Avoid long negociated deals with big customers if you can
13. Avoig big company corporate development queries - they will only waste your time
14. Avoid conferences unless they are the best way to get customers
15. Pre-product market fit - do things that don't scale: remain small/nimble well at any given time
16. Startups can only solve one problem
17. Founder relationship matter more than you think (they might be killing you)
18. Sometimes you need to fire your customers
19. Ignore your competitors, you will more likely die of suicide than murder
20. Most companies don't die because they run out of money
21. Be nice! Or at least don't be a jerk
22. Get sleep and exercise - take care of yourself
Which of these would you tattoo on your forehead?
Me: 02. Build something people want
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👋 Hey, I'm J.Y!
I'm the co-founder of BuddiesHR, the #1 Employee Engagement Software that lives in Slack.
I post 1x a day about my journey and share what I've learned along the way.
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