Best startup lessons from Y CombinatorㅣMichael Seibel
Key ideas
Seibel, a Twitch co-founder, argues that founders should commit years to a problem, run toward what scares them, and compete differently from larger rivals.
From a machine transcript of the audio. Quotes link to the moment they are said.
- 1
Give a problem two years
Seibel says founders should be willing to spend two years on a customer and problem they care about before expecting it to work, since that period is when they become experts. Seibel adds that the right product only shows up by putting something in front of users, who will surprise you.
- 2
What Seibel looks for in founding teams
Seibel lists three things: founders who can build at least the first version themselves, founders who already know each other well enough to survive a startup together, and impressive progress for the time spent. Seibel also describes having to learn how much a team matters compared with an idea, and to stop assuming a business's eventual size can be judged by looking at it.
- 3
Treat fear as a direction
Seibel puts most founder mistakes down to fear or to being too smart: avoiding users, not selling, not firing someone, or refusing to question early assumptions when facts contradict them. Seibel says feeling fear is unavoidable, and that the uncomfortable items on a to-do list should go first.
- 4
Fight big competitors differently
Seibel uses the American Revolutionary War, where the British had the better army, to argue that a startup cannot win by copying a larger rival. Doing things that don't scale is part of that approach: with four callers an hour you can offer customer service that a company with 100,000 callers an hour cannot, and learn from those customers.
- 5
Money and investor opinion are not proof
Seibel recalls Justin.tv about two months from running out of money, spending about $1 million a month against about $750,000 in monthly revenue, until a plan made it profitable. Seibel says many top venture capitalists declined to invest in Twitch while large internet companies bid to buy it, and concludes that investors often make mistakes. Seibel also expects founders to relearn that money is not the most important thing in making a product work.
In Michael’s words
“You should be able to work two years on something before it's working. If you're not willing to work two years on something, you probably shouldn't work on it at all.”
Michael Seibel·Best startup lessons from Y CombinatorㅣMichael Seibel·Watch at 7:29(opens the original in a new tab)“Usually I tell people that their fear is a great signal because it tells them what to run towards.”
Michael Seibel·Best startup lessons from Y CombinatorㅣMichael Seibel·Watch at 12:26(opens the original in a new tab)“But when we're trying to figure out how to make an amazing product, we want our customers to know that we love them, and we want to learn as much as possible from them.”
Michael Seibel·Best startup lessons from Y CombinatorㅣMichael Seibel·Watch at 14:02(opens the original in a new tab)About this entry
- Published
- Sep 14, 2022
- Channel
- EO
- Type
- Video
- Length
- 19:14
- Language
- English
- Added
- Nov 2, 2026
- Source last checked
- Nov 2, 2026
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Draft. Written by us with AI from a machine transcript of the video’s audio (Whisper) and checked against it. Machine transcripts can mishear; each quote links to the moment so you can hear it. Not yet rights-reviewed.
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