ABOUT THIS EPISODE

144 – Startup School Week 3 Recap – Anu Hariharan and Adora Cheung

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

First, a lecture from Anu Hariharan. Anu is a partner at YC. Her lecture covers nine common startup business models and the metrics investors want to see for each.

Then, a Q&A with Anu and Adora Cheung. Adora is also at partner at YC. During their Q&A they’ll answer questions from Startup School Founders on how investors evaluate startups.

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/

---

Topics

00:00 – Intro

00:39 – Anu Hariharan on Nine Business Models and the Metrics Investors Want

1:44 – Enterprise

4:09 – SAAS

8:55 – Subscription

11:33 – Transactional

14:44 – Marketplace

19:04 – E-commerce

21:14 – Advertising

23:12 – Hardware

23:44 – Common mistakes

25:35 – Anu Hariharan and Adora Cheung on How Investors Measure Startups Q&A

26:07 – Team, product market fit, and market opportunity

27:10 – What if the founder doesn’t have experience in the are in which they’re building a product?

28:19 – How do investors know you’re moving fast?

29:40 – Local vs remote

30:40 – Evaluating solo founders

31:45 – Clarity of thought

33:35 – International founders

35:17 – Solo founders

36:21 – Should I fundraise?

38:33 – How does an investor evaluate a company with a heavy MVP?

39:36 – How do you avoid investors who say “it’s too early for us”?

40:06 – Is it sensible to engage with investors before product market fit?

40:26 – How do you find the perfect investor?

41:21 – What are the best approaches for minority female founders to gain visibility within VC?

42:36 – How do investors come up with valuations?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download