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YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#91

Post by carusooneliner »

DenisM wrote: post #77
carusooneliner wrote: post #71

My cofounder and I took this course last year. About the format of the course and efficacy: - assigned mentor: we were assigned a former yc startup founder as mentor. the mentor had 30 minute 1-1s with us once a month and gave us useful advice on a wide range of matters. - weekly homework: choose a single metric you'll measure through the duration of the course and report the metric and growth weekly. The metric coul…

>30 minute 1-1s with us once a month Was that actually useful? I can't imagine them understanding (or remembering) anything about your company in that little time.

It was useful for us. What we got out of the 1-1s depended on our effort preparing for it -- how we communicated our value prop, how succinctly we described the problems we're having, etc.

Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#92

Post by conquistadog »

1996 wrote: post #67
conquistadog wrote: post #62

Very interested. How much about one's idea must be disclosed? Is there any protection for secret sauce?

Why do you care? ideas are worth little. Implementation matters most! Last week I talked with a competitor. I detailed my plans for the next 6 months. It commits me to follow them, and may incite discussion. There is almost 0 risk they can match the features or my timeline. I am quite productive, and there is no secret sauce. Just complexity, and interdependance. Can't have a baby in 1 month with 9 mothers. And shoul…

You make a fair point, but that advice is a very hard ask for some. Just looking for some reassurance.

Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#93

Post by lionhearted »

adora wrote: post #3

Hi, I'm Adora, a YC partner, and will be helping out with the course. Very excited to meet and work with everyone. Happy to answer any questions.

Hi Adora, the program looks great.

A question — how does setting up the group office hours timeslot work? Is there a selection or a way to mark preferred times? If it's standardized, roughly what time ranges are the hours held? (My cofounder and I will be in Asia during the program.)

Thank you!

Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#94

Post by lettergram »

niceperson wrote: post #81
lettergram wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're starting there is a huge advantage to holding yourself and others accountable. It helped push me to launch my startup and provided insights. Perhaps more importantly you make connections. Just yesterday I was speaking to someone from my startup school group, and I did startup school over a year ago. They provided feedback and I provide them feedback, we also found synergies and can introduce one another to…

This doesn't look good........ >Organize Your Companies Knowledge Company's Can I be your grammar Czar?

Thanks for the heads up, haven't really completed this website (you may see broken links too). Our prior site was https://projectpiglet.com - which was our POC. Related to introspection, we realized we had a better target market and are shifting.

Thanks for the input.

Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#95

Post by adora »

lionhearted wrote: post #93
adora wrote: post #3

Hi, I'm Adora, a YC partner, and will be helping out with the course. Very excited to meet and work with everyone. Happy to answer any questions.

Hi Adora, the program looks great. A question — how does setting up the group office hours timeslot work? Is there a selection or a way to mark preferred times? If it's standardized, roughly what time ranges are the hours held? (My cofounder and I will be in Asia during the program.) Thank you!

Your advisor will set the times. We'll try to match you with someone who can work with your timezone. (We had people from over 140 countries last time participate.)

Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#96

Post by JustSomeNobody »

jacquesm wrote: post #72
throwawayschool wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Adora, I am quitting my fulltime job to found my own startup in the fall, and I am working almost a fulltime per week on my own time to prepare the product for the future startup. 1. Can I still apply if I have a fulltime job in addition to working on my startup? 2. Must the company be established before the program starts, or can it be established a few weeks later? 3. Do you expect the product to be launched dur…

If I can give you one hot tip it is not to quit your fulltime job until you have something in terms of traction to ensure you're not killing your runway waiting through the 'valley of despair'.

Some employment contracts have IP clauses that make the claim that anything you create before, during or after hours while employed is theirs, so maybe it makes sense in that regards.

Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#97

Post by gakos »

sandslash wrote: post #78
gakos wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Adora, we audited the course last year and thought it was great. How similar will the content itself be?

Jumping in for Adora :) -- The content will revolve around similar topics, but we'll do deep-dives into content that we did not get a chance to last year (sales for B2C and B2B, building and managing technical teams, and design principles for example). We're looking to build upon all of the past pieces as you can see with the new Startup Library. We'll announce the final curriculum soon!

Awesome! Submitting our info.

Re: YC Startup School 2018: a free, 10-week, online course

#99

Post by ericzawo »

I've been working on my own media platform with friends and think this will provide a lot of value. I've worked for various media companies in the past as both an employee and freelance journalist and want to really make an impact with our brand. Hoping we get in!
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