INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ryan HooverContributorShare on Twitter
Ryan Hoover is the founder of Product Hunt and host of Product Hunt Radio
More posts by this contributorProduct Hunt Radio: Finding the world lost Einsteins and putting an end to agingProduct Hunt Radio: Online
communities and the dark side of the webIn this episode of Product Hunt Radio, I&m visiting Y Combinator San Francisco headquarters to talk
to two of the people who are integral to Y Combinator — Kat Manalac and Michael Seibel.Michael is CEO of Y Combinator accelerator program
He has been through YC himself a couple of times — first in 2007, as co-founder and CEO of Justin.tv — and again in 2012 as co-founder
Justin.tv later became Twitch and sold to Amazon, and Socialcam was sold to Autodesk.Kat is a partner at Y Combinator and one of the people
who convinced us to apply to join the program back in 2014
She has been at YC for five years, where she focuses on founder outreach, helping companies perfect their pitches, and much more
Prior to joining YC, she was chief of staff to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian and also worked on brand and strategy at WIRED.In this episode
we talk about:The evolution of Y Combinator — it changed a ton since Product Hunt went through the program four years ago
They&ve been working on several programs for founders — things that Michael wishes existed when he went through the program.Michael and
Kat advice for founders, including counter-intuitive tips they&ve learned after working with literally thousands of startups.A key mistake
that trips up new founders when pitching their company, as well as advice for founders seeking a technical co-founder.How YC has scaled the
organization as a 50-person company with its 4,000 (and growing) alumni.Of course, we also chat about some of their favorite products,
including a virtual assistant that will do anything, a $1,500 smart mirror that will get you fit, and a beverage that will get you
high.We&ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen
to your favorite podcasts.
