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Questions you’ll (probably) get asked at your YC interview

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Re: Questions you’ll (probably) get asked at your YC interview

#22

Post by kevingao1 »

ianl wrote: post #19

In general, answer the question directly and be honest. Trying to use bullshit marketing speak similar to what is taught during an MBA is a turn off and limits their ability to access whether or not you know what you are talking about. At least, thats what I get from this article and every single essay I've read that was authored by PG.

Agreed on all above. Think it's important for them to know you've thought deeply about your space and the problem you're solving/product you're building. All of this comes naturally if you love, and are committed to, what you're doing.

Re: Questions you’ll (probably) get asked at your YC interview

#23

Post by pg »

ianl wrote: post #19

In general, answer the question directly and be honest. Trying to use bullshit marketing speak similar to what is taught during an MBA is a turn off and limits their ability to access whether or not you know what you are talking about. At least, thats what I get from this article and every single essay I've read that was authored by PG.

That's good advice. We're interviewing 21 groups a day, and we have to converge on a decision in 10 minutes, so there is nothing more important than speaking plainly. Trying to decode marketing-speak exhausts us.

I think people use marketing-speak to seem more impressive, but on us it has the opposite effect. The phenomenon is very much like the artificial diction that inexperienced writers so often adopt, and which does nothing but get in their way.

I know it's bad form to quote oneself, but I can't put it better than this:

"When you're forced to be simple, you're forced to face the real problem. When you can't deliver ornament, you have to deliver substance."

(http://paulgraham.com/taste.html)

Re: Questions you’ll (probably) get asked at your YC interview

#24

Post by pg »

These are all things we care about, but they are probably not the most common questions we ask. E.g. we already know about the equity split because we ask about it on the application form, so we only bring it up during the interview if we noticed something odd about it.

The thing we care most about in interviews (at least of things one can change) is how engaged the founders are with users. How do they know people actually want what they're building? Have they talked to real, live users? What have they learned from them?

We don't care super much how big the initial market is, so long as the startup is making something that (a) some subset of people want a lot, and (b) if that market is not itself huge, there is an easy path into bigger neighboring ones. Basically, we're looking for startups building Altair Basic.

Re: Questions you’ll (probably) get asked at your YC interview

#25

Post by dtran »

pg wrote: post #24

These are all things we care about, but they are probably not the most common questions we ask. E.g. we already know about the equity split because we ask about it on the application form, so we only bring it up during the interview if we noticed something odd about it. The thing we care most about in interviews (at least of things one can change) is how engaged the founders are with users. How do they know people ac…

A good corollary question to "How do you know that people actually want this?" is "How are people solving this problem now?"

If founders respond that there aren't really any current solutions, then it usually means that either a) They aren't making something that people really want, or b) They haven't talked to enough users.

If it's a problem people actually have, then they must be coming up with crazy hacks or solutions that are much more tedious/inaccurate/expensive/generally more painful than the one you're coming up with. Very rarely is there simply not some kind of existing solution.

Re: Questions you’ll (probably) get asked at your YC interview

#26

Post by kevingao1 »

pg wrote: post #24

These are all things we care about, but they are probably not the most common questions we ask. E.g. we already know about the equity split because we ask about it on the application form, so we only bring it up during the interview if we noticed something odd about it. The thing we care most about in interviews (at least of things one can change) is how engaged the founders are with users. How do they know people ac…

Thanks PG. Could not agree more on getting users as early as possible, and getting as much feedback as you possibly can from them.

In our example, we produce and sell incomplete ebooks, knowing full well we may get a few refund requests, precisely because it's invaluable for us to know how to convert a paying customer, and to ask those customers for feedback.

Re: Questions you’ll (probably) get asked at your YC interview

#27

Post by pg »

dtran wrote: post #25
pg wrote: post #24

These are all things we care about, but they are probably not the most common questions we ask. E.g. we already know about the equity split because we ask about it on the application form, so we only bring it up during the interview if we noticed something odd about it. The thing we care most about in interviews (at least of things one can change) is how engaged the founders are with users. How do they know people ac…

A good corollary question to "How do you know that people actually want this?" is "How are people solving this problem now?" If founders respond that there aren't really any current solutions, then it usually means that either a) They aren't making something that people really want, or b) They haven't talked to enough users. If it's a problem people actually have, then they must be coming up with crazy hacks or solut…

This is such an important test that we have a question about it on the application form. I learned about this heuristic from Sequoia, who care a lot about it. They call it "proxy for demand."
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