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Thank you.
As a female founder of a YC startup (bottomless.com, YC W19), I totally resonate with this. While it is true that being a female in tech can be difficult, those difficulties don't even compare to how hard it is to get and sustain traction in a startup.
I mentioned this before, but I think jl's and pg's essays have been a bit hit-and-miss in the past few years. No doubt due to the fact that YC is no longer a scrappy incubator, but a venerable titan of industry. YC isn't like going to "summer camp" any more, but more akin to getting an MBA. For example, this quote by Jessica: "A good way to ensure that you make something people want is to make something you yourself…
The great thing about building something for yourself is at least you know it's a real problem. It may potentially be too small of a market, but at least it's a real problem.
Also, it's much easier to build something that you deeply understand. Sure, you want a lot of users feedback and talk with them all the time, but deeply understanding the problem really help you focus on what's important rather than building features that users ask but that aren't that important.
I mentioned this before, but I think jl's and pg's essays have been a bit hit-and-miss in the past few years. No doubt due to the fact that YC is no longer a scrappy incubator, but a venerable titan of industry. YC isn't like going to "summer camp" any more, but more akin to getting an MBA. For example, this quote by Jessica: "A good way to ensure that you make something people want is to make something you yourself…
"But remember that making something for yourself is just a heuristic to guide you in finding an idea. In the actual execution, you need to focus on users. You need to understand what they want, and be fanatically dedicated to making them happy." This point aside, I haven't written anything in 2 years, so it's possible I'm out of shape :)
From my own experience I would underscore Jessica’s point on an organic, strong relationship.
When your cofounder is a life-long friend, the effects are significant: you can emulate their thinking, you two have been through a lot in different scenarios, and make decisions that focus on the long term
The most effective advice is simple and to the point. Enjoyed reading this — indeed what matters is founders that get along, are skilled, and talk to their users. From my own experience I would underscore Jessica’s point on an organic, strong relationship. When your cofounder is a life-long friend, the effects are significant: you can emulate their thinking, you two have been through a lot in different scenarios, and…
> Don't worry about being a woman. Yes, it may be a little harder for you as a female founder. But it's not going to be so much harder that it will make the difference between success and failure. Startups at least have this advantage over the corporate world: they are already so hard that the additional difficulty imposed by being a woman is rounding error in comparison. As a female founder of a YC startup (bottomle…