#144 - Startup School Week 3 Recap - Anu Hariharan and Adora Cheung

Y Combinator

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?