#151 - Startup School Week 10 Recap - Ali Rowghani on How to Lead and Kevin Hale and Adora Cheung on Startup School 2019 by the Numbers

Nov 6, 2019

Guest

Adora Cheung

Ali Rowghani, a Y Combinator partner with a rich background at Pixar and Twitter, shares insights on effective leadership, emphasizing that great leaders prioritize authenticity, clear communication, and trust. He defines the essence of leadership as engendering trust within teams. Meanwhile, Kevin Hale and Adora Cheung reveal key statistics from Startup School 2019, showcasing its growth and success. They stress the importance of concise startup descriptions and regular progress updates, highlighting their role in achieving acceptance into Y Combinator.

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ANECDOTE

Wilson's Speech Prep

Woodrow Wilson needed two weeks to prepare a 10-minute speech.
He highlighted the importance of preparation for concise communication.

ADVICE

Judging People

Develop good judgment about people, especially when promoting leaders.
Meet diverse individuals, even those you can't hire, to refine your judgment.

ADVICE

Integrity and Commitment

Maintain strong personal integrity and commitment as a leader.
Hold yourself accountable to the transparency test.

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We've cut down the tenth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.

First, a lecture from Ali Rowghani. Ali is a partner at YC. His lecture covers how to lead.

Then a lecture from Kevin Hale and Adora Cheung. Kevin and Adora are both partners at YC. Their lecture breaks down this year’s Startup School by the numbers and they share tips on what helped companies most.

Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.

Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

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Topics

00:00 - Intro

00:36 - Ali Rowghani - How to Lead

1:36 - Ali's background

2:56 - There's no single archetype for a great leader so be yourself

5:16 - Great leaders think and communicate clearly

9:56 - Great leaders have good judgement about people

12:56 - Great leaders have strong personal integrity and commitment

13:46 - The transparency test

14:41 - The best way to measure great leaders is in terms of the amount of trust they engender in the people that work with them

15:21 - The science of trust

16:08 - The art of trust

16:36 - Optimize for trust

17:40 - Kevin Hale and Adora Cheung - Startup School 2019 by the Numbers

19:24 - Startup School grew during the course

20:24 - Did SUS make a difference?

21:14 - 106 SUS companies were accepted into YC

23:17 - How can you replicate their success?

23:44 - Be clear and concise

26:59 - Edit your company description

28:04 - Weekly updates submitted

28:39 - Top 7 biggest obstacles for SUS companies

29:04 - Top 7 KPI movers

29:59 - Top 7 user insights

31:04 - Average startup weeks to launch

31:54 - Average hard tech or biotech startup weeks to launch

32:54 - % of weekly updates from launched startups

33:34 - Group sessions

33:59 - Companies got better at explaining their ideas, selling themselves, and getting others excited

35:09 - Founders like qualitative feedback

36:09 - No shows

37:19 - Morale

37:49 - Technical, launched, full-time, revenue generating, non-flaky, non-solo founder startups that talk to users are happier

41:14 - Summary