Podcast appearances and mentions of Dalton Caldwell

Dan Siroker is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Limitless, a personalized AI powered by what you've seen, said, or heard. For his latest funding round, Dan took an unusual approach resulting in 1,000 preliminary offers with valuations as high as $1BN — and resulted in a $350 million Series A valuation. Prior to founding Limitless, Dan was the Founder of Optimizely, scaling the company to $120M in ARR and raising from some of the best in the business including Peter Fenton @ Benchmark who led the Series A. In Today's Episode with Dan Siroker We Discuss: 1. Serial Entrepreneurs are More Investable: Why would Dan always prefer to invest in serial entrepreneurs than first time founders? How do serial entrepreneurs approach team building and size of team differently? How do serial entrepreneurs approach focus and prioritisation differently? How do serial entrepreneurs approach pivoting differently to first time founders? What is Dan's advice from Elad Gil and YC's Dalton Caldwell on when to pivot? 2. The Secret to Fundraising: How to Speak VC Should founders always be raising? What is the right thing to respond to investors when they reach out to you outside of a round? What question are investors really asking when they ask, how much are you raising? How should founders approach valuation, what should they say when they are asked for it? How can founders create urgency in a funding round? What works? What does not? 3. How to Raise the Best Funding Round: Should founders engage with associates or only worth it with decision-makers? Why should founders always choose the investor who is on the early arc of their career? Why was Dan's first meeting with Peter Fenton the best meeting he has ever had with a VC? Why does Dan believe that taking the highest price is never the right answer? To what extent does having a true Tier 1 VC lead your round, change the game for your company? 4. Dan Siroker: AMA: How did becoming a father change the way that Dan operates? Why is Dan scared we might see technological progress stall for the next 20 years? Why did Dan not do YC the second time around with Limitless? What is the story of how Optimizely nearly bought Amplitude?  

Dalton Caldwell is Managing Director and Group Partner at Y Combinator. Prior to YC, he was the co-founder and CEO of imeem (acquired by MySpace in 2009) and the co-founder and CEO of App.net. During his time at YC, he's advised more than 35 YC unicorns, including DoorDash, Amplitude, Webflow, and Retool, and has worked across 21 different YC batches. He's also racked up more than 6,500 office hours with founders. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why founders need to adopt the mindset “Just don't die”• The most common reason startups fail• When to pivot, and characteristics of a good pivot• The concept of “tar pit ideas” and examples of bad startup ideas• Why investors say no to startups• The importance of market size in investment decisions• The pitfalls of founders over-delegating• Effective ways to talk to customers• 20 ideas Dalton is looking to fund—Brought to you by:• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-1000-yc-startups—Where to find Dalton Caldwell:• X: https://twitter.com/daltonc• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daltoncaldwell/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Dalton's background(04:41) The value of simple advice(07:04) Dalton's advice: “Just don't die”(08:39) Knowing when to stop(11:45) Deciding to pivot(14:26) Characteristics of a good pivot(17:53) Knowing when to pivot(19:03) Zip's journey and finding a market(21:22) Why Dalton says to “Move towards the mountains and the desert”(23:45) Tar pit ideas(26:49) Understanding why investors say no(29:14) The importance of market size(32:16) Avoiding over-delegation and hiring senior people too early(36:43) Why startups fail(40:30) Effectively talking to customers(45:17) Examples of startups hustling to talk to customers(48:01) Patterns of successful startups(52:05) YC's Request for Startups(55:37) Early days of Silicon Valley(01:05:33) Contrarian corner: growth hacking for early startups(01:09:28) Failure corner(01:11:15) Closing thoughts(01:12:22) Lightning round—Referenced:• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/• Tiger Woods's website: https://tigerwoods.com/• Co-Founder Mistakes That Kill Companies & How to Avoid Them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlfjs_eEEzs• Daniel Alberson's LinkedIn post about Y Combinator: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alberson_i-left-my-dream-job-as-a-product-manager-activity-7089677882431533056-jJ9H• Companies in Y Combinator W17 Batch: https://www.ycdb.co/batch/w17• Brex: https://www.brex.com/• Retool: https://retool.com/• Segment: https://segment.com/• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/• Whatnot: https://www.whatnot.com/• Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com/• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Rujul Zaparde on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rujulz/• Zip: https://ziphq.com/• Lu Cheng on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lu-cheng-973b7830/• Avoid these tempting startup tar pit ideas: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Ij-avoid-these-tempting-startup-tarpit-ideas• Airbnb acquires Localmind to create crowdsourced advice about neighborhoods: https://skift.com/2012/12/13/airbnb-acquires-localmind-to-create-crowdsourced-advice-about-neighborhoods/• Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/• Razorpay: https://razorpay.com/• Total Addressable Market: https://www.productplan.com/glossary/total-addressable-market/• Lenny Bogdonoff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rememberlenny/• Milk Video: https://milkvideo.com/• Lessons from working with 600+ YC startups | Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator, Airbnb): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-working-with-600-yc-startups-gustaf-alstromer-y-combinator-airbnb/• How the most successful B2B startups came up with their original idea: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-the-most-successful-b2b-startups• Collison installation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18400504• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• John Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbcollison/• Tony Xu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xutony/• Grant LaFontaine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantlafontaine/• Ryan Petersen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpetersen/• Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-on-building-product-sense-navigating-ai-optimizing-the-first-mile-and-making-it-through-t/• YC's latest Request for Startups: https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/ycs-latest-request-for-startups• ERPs: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#new-enterprise-resource-planning-software• Commercial open source companies: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#commercial-open-source-companies• New space companies: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#new-space-companies• A way to end cancer: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#a-way-to-end-cancer• Spatial computing: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#spatial-computing• New defense technology: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#new-defense-technology• Bringing manufacturing back to America: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#bring-manufacturing-back-to-america• Better enterprise glue: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#better-enterprise-glue• Small fine-tuned models, as an alternative to giant generic ones: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#small-finetuned-models-as-an-alternative-to-giant-generic-ones• Reid Hoffman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama• Sean Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkersean/• Owen Van Natta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-van-natta-444a7/• iMeme: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/imeme-generator/id1560021364• Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca• Picplz 1, Instagram 0 as VC firm Andreessen Horowitz chooses photo app rival: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS2587232395/• Gustaf Alstromer—How to Get Users and Grow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ikpoF2GH0• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0143118757• Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Sales-Go-Market-Handbook-ebook/dp/B08PMK17Z1• Founder-led sales | Pete Kazanjy (Founding Sales, Atrium): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/founder-led-sales-pete-kazanjy-founding-sales-atrium/• The Sopranos on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-sopranos• The Wire on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-wire• Columbo on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Columbo-Season-1/dp/B008SA89HA• Oura ring: https://ouraring.com/• Apple watch: https://www.apple.com/watch/• SiPhox: https://siphoxhealth.com/• Dalton & Michael on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-uHSnFig5Nd98Sc9I-kkc0ZWe8peRMC• How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ephzgxgOjR0• The Student's Guide to Becoming a Successful Startup Founder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5KCB2p6SB8—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

If you're a high school or college student with big dreams of starting your own company, this video is for you. Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel, two startup founders who started in the early 20s and are now top investors, sit down to share the hard-won advice they wish they had known back in high school. Whether you're already running your own startup or just have an idea you can't stop thinking about, Dalton and Michael cover the skills you need to learn now and how to set yourself up for success after graduating school. Why YC? https://www.ycombinator.com/why Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a Startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

In this first in-person episode, Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell reveal how startups can gain a competitive advantage by doing something deceptively simple. They share compelling stories of companies that built loyal relationships and achieved success by making personal connections with users. In contrast, they discuss the traps early-stage founders make by trying to emulate big tech. If you want to build a business that customers love and that thrives in the long run, this advice on why caring deeply about your customers is key. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Brought to you by Linear—The new standard for modern software development. | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments. | Pando—Always-on employee progression.—Gustaf Alströmer is a Group Partner at Y Combinator, where he's worked with over 600 startups in his 6.5 years there. He's also a fellow Airbnb alumnus and even started the original Airbnb growth team. In today's podcast, Gustaf discusses common reasons startups fail and how he helps coach founders on avoiding these mistakes. He explains the attributes that the best founders tend to have, and signs that a company has potential. We also cover the growing space of climate tech, for which Gustaf has a huge passion and where he's already had an incredible impact. He shares some key areas of innovation and investment in climate tech, some notable companies he's helped fund, and where he sees potential going forward.Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-working-with-600-yc-startups-gustaf-alstromer-y-combinator-airbnb/#transcriptWhere to find Gustaf Alströmer:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gustaf• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustafalstromer/Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/Referenced:• Airbnb tweet: https://twitter.com/gustaf/status/1580330162725347330• Startups Are an Act of Desperation: https://blog.eladgil.com/p/startups-are-an-act-of-desperation• The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups: http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html• Do Things That Don't Scale: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html• Marc Andreessen: https://a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen/• How to Talk to Users: https://youtu.be/z1iF1c8w5Lg• How to Get Your First Customers: https://youtu.be/hyYCn_kAngI• Pachama: https://pachama.com/• Request for Startups: Climate Tech: https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/rfs-climatetech• Climate Draft: https://www.climatedraft.org/• Seabound: https://www.seabound.co/• Fleetzero: https://www.fleetzero.com/• Unravel Carbon: https://www.unravelcarbon.com/• CarbonChain: https://www.carbonchain.com/• Sinai: https://www.sinaitechnologies.com/• Enode: https://enode.com/• Statiq: https://www.statiq.in/• Heart Aerospace: https://heartaerospace.com/• The 100% Solution: A Plan for Solving Climate Change: https://www.amazon.com/100-Solution-Solving-Climate-Change/dp/1612198384• Without a Doubt: How to Go from Underrated to Unbeatable: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1982147903?tag=simonsayscom• Emily in Paris on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81037371• Everything Everywhere All at Once on Showtime: https://www.sho.com/titles/3493875/everything-everywhere-all-at-once• How to Apply and Succeed at Y Combinator, by Dalton Caldwell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yiOcCPvyNE• Y Combinator on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ycombinatorIn this episode, we cover:(00:00) Gustaf's background(04:15) What made Airbnb so special(07:21) How culture interviews and hiring founders contributed to Airbnb's success(10:31) Motivations for starting companies(13:17) Why Gustaf helps founders understand their motivations(14:13) Reasons you should not start a company(16:03) The magic that happens at YC office hours(20:45) Why founders in coworking spaces should schedule time to talk (21:36) Questions Gustaf asks founders(22:26) Common reasons startups fail(26:23) Getting over the fear of rejection (27:57) The importance of solving for pain points and why you should watch users(34:21) The value of having a technical co-founder(37:42) How founders without technical expertise have succeeded(40:46) Attributes of the most successful founders(44:57) Why it's hard to predict success and how YC advises against failures(46:59) Indications of potential for success(50:03) Speed vs. quality(51:11) Confidence vs. humility(52:48) Execution and tactics vs. strategy(54:36) Autocratic vs. collaborative-driven founders(56:27) Why you should focus on product first(59:03) The economic incentive for investing in climate tech(1:02:16) The clean-tech bubble of 2008(1:04:59) Why you don't need to be super-scientific to work in climate tech(1:06:51) Areas of climate tech and promising companies(1:12:27) What's going well in the climate-change space(1:16:49) Lightning roundProduction and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Y Combinator group partners Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell discuss the importance of having honest and difficult conversations with startup founders. While having hard conversations can be uncomfortable, Michael and Dalton argue that this transparency is essential for founders to grow and ultimately, these experiences help founders have their own hard conversations that they've been avoiding with the people around them. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

What happens when the unconventional becomes conventional? Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell discuss how the startup world has changed from being dominated by outsiders and nonconformists to now attracting more mainstream conformists looking for status and money. They share stories of what the tech scene was like when they were in school - and how radically different it is today, while offering their advice around navigating a world that doesn't always reward nonconformists embarking on risky entrepreneurial journeys. Don't just think different, act different. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

If you're looking to maximize your startup's potential, start by setting the right goals. Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell provide tips and strategies for setting goals that will help keep you and your new business focused on success—plus provide examples of bad goals to avoid. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Thinking of a new startup idea? Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the types of ideas to stay away from—what we commonly refer to as "tarpit ideas." Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

With the YC S22 batch coming to a close, Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel reflect on the recent batch and their experience fundraising. The two group partners also clear up some misconceptions about Y Combinator based on feedback from founders. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the qualities that make a founder overly optimistic or far too pessimistic about their startup. Where is the right middle ground? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the problems with zero sum games within tech culture. Is your startup making a positive impact on the world or are your business practices a net negative in society? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the best approaches to developing a healthy lifestyle that ultimately helps you run and grow a successful startup. Funders, take care of yourselves out there. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on the midwit meme, how it applies to startups, and the best example: Elon Musk. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on software hacks that don't scale. Companies discussed include Google, Facebook, Twitch, and imeem. Watch the first video on doing things that don't scale here: https://youtu.be/4RMjQal_c4U Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on common pitfalls in the advice from different types of investors and why you, the founder, are ultimately responsible for the success of your company. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about Paul Graham's essay "Do Things That Don't Scale" and what it really means for founders. Read the essay here: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about the importance of understanding incentives and doing research when it comes to building a world-changing startup. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about OpenSea, Gusto, and the importance of building simple products that solve a real problem. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about where the ideas for Airbnb, Coinbase, and Stripe came from. Then they discuss what you can learn from these founders. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on the importance of talking to your users, why successful founders are ok with rejection from potential customers, and how protecting your ego by not talking to your users can kill your startup. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about solutions in search of a problem, whether or not to follow your passion, how to figure out what to work on, and how to motivate yourself. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel talk about investor terms and incentives. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell are back for episode 2 of Rookie Mistakes to discuss common mistakes founders make when fundraising, and how to avoid them. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

In the first episode of Rookie Mistakes, Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss co-founder mistakes. To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back? Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the best approaches to managing the many setbacks startup founders can face over the lifetime of starting and running a business. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss Paul Graham's essay "Default Alive or Default Dead." They share strategies to cut your company's burn rate and keep your startup alive to see another day. Paul Graham's essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/aord.html Trevor Blackwell's startup growth calculator: http://growth.tlb.org Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the struggles of working at FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) and how to strategize leaving a big tech job to become a founder at a startup. Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel take a look at Paul Graham's essay "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" and share tips on how to be more effective and productive on the journey to creating a billion dollar business. Read PG's essay here: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Miguel Armaza is joined by Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell, Managing Directors and Group Partners at Y Combinator (YC). YC is one of the most successful startup accelerators and venture capital funds, and since March 2005 has helped over 5,000 startup founders build and launch companies like Stripe, AirBnB, DoorDash, Dropbox, Reddit, and the list goes on and on… This was a fascinating conversation and Michael and Dalton talked about lessons learned from their years of experience with YC, what they look for in a founding team, and why they are so passionate about helping entrepreneurs. We also touched on their decision to expand beyond the US to back entrepreneurs from all over the world, and the fascinating network effects this has created. Dalton and Michael also shared lessons learned from working with over 200 Fintech companies, including Brex, Stripe, and Coinbase. And some of the Fintech trends they are excited about. Finally, we could not end this conversation without talking about the state of diversity in the industry and hearing what Michael has to say about it Plus a lot more golden nuggets of information! Michael Seibel Michael Seibel is the Managing Director, Early Stage and Group Partner at YC. He was the cofounder and CEO Justin.tv and Socialcam. Socialcam sold to Autodesk in 2012 and under the leadership of Emmett Shear, Justin.tv became Twitch.tv and sold to Amazon in 2014. Before getting into startups, he spent a year as the finance director for a US Senate campaign and in 2005, Michael graduated from Yale University with a BA in political science. Dalton Caldwell Dalton Caldwell is the Managing Director, Architect and Group Partner at YC. He was the cofounder and CEO of imeem (acquired by MySpace in 2009), and the cofounder and CEO of App.net. He has a BS in Symbolic Systems and a BA in Psychology from Stanford University. About Y Combinator Y Combinator is a startup fund based in Mountain View, CA. In 2005, Y Combinator developed a new model of startup funding. Twice a year they invest a small amount of money in a large number of startups. The startups move to Silicon Valley for 3 months, and the YC partners work closely with each company to get them into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each batch culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present their companies to a carefully selected audience of investors. Y Combinator has invested in over 3,000 companies including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Reddit, Instacart, Docker and Gusto. The combined valuation of YC companies is over $300B. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Tim is CEO and co-founder of a company called Cloosiv (YC S19).   Cloosiv is a company looking to offer smaller coffee shops a mobile ordering solution that can compete with those of the mega coffee brands.    Tim had an idea when he was working at Apple, he was looking at the Apple Store app and customers could walk into the store without ever talking to anyone and buy something. This sparked Tim to build something like that for other markets, which kicked off a journey to the coffee shop market.   He became a management consultant at the North Highland Consulting firm, and they invested 300k into the winner of a startup idea. Tim was that winner and they gave him 300k to start his business. Tim found his cofounder James on UpWork to help develop the app.    Tim had to unlearn how to be a management consultant, generally, companies pay large dollar amounts and "paid for perfection". But as a startup founder Tim mentioned he had to test, removing those own expectations.    Tim's first idea was to create a unified payment app and mentioned he would stand outside stores at the mall and ask questions to the customers walking around. Tim met with the founders of DoorDash and Instacart to learn about mobile ordering. Coffee shops have never had an app that was just for them.   Tim applied to Y Combinator 4-5 times over and over again getting rejected, but Tim never gave up. Dalton Caldwell called the Cloosiv founders delivering the bad news about not getting in and Tim applied again after making progress.   In one trip to San Fransisco and through a fortunate series of events came to a meeting with Sam Altman, who made some introductions, one being Lachy Groom who was an early employee at Stripe, previously head of stripe issuing, core payments product. Lachy was one of Cloosiv's first investors. Laura Behrens, Founder & CEO at Shippo joined as one of the early angel investors.   Square is now Cloosiv's payment partner, coffee shops tend to have very little free table space and their app can run simultaneously as the Cloosiv app on an iPad.   Tim and the Cloosiv team manage a coffee shop's inventory of coffee ordering real-time working towards a platform for a coffee shop to build their brands.   More about Tim here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/griffintimothy/   More about Cloosiv here - https://www.cloosiv.com/

We've cut down the sixth week of lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast.First a lecture from Tim Brady. Tim’s a partner at YC. His lecture covers the importance of building a good culture early and shares six things that you can do now to help create a solid foundation for your startup.Then a lecture from Dalton Caldwell. Dalton is a partner at YC and he’s also the head of admissions. His lecture covers pivoting and his advice on how founders should think about it.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/***Topics00:00 - Intro00:38 - Tim Brady on Building Culture1:13 - Culture is behavior and the right behaviors support a good business 4:38 - Six things new startups can do now5:00 - 1. Be proud of the problem you are solving7:31 - 2. Create a long term vision that others will follow9:36 - 3. List your values then model the behavior12:34 - 4. Align your culture with your customer14:49 - 5. Discuss the importance of diversity to your company16:43 - 6. Put a hiring process into practice. Plan to evolve it.18:24 - Dalton Caldwell on Pivoting18:53 - The term "pivot"20:20 - Why pivot?21:33 - Good reasons to pivot22:35 - Good reasons not to pivot23:13 - Why people take too long to pivot26:01 - Anecdotes27:22 - Product market fit28:34 - How to find a better idea30:40 - It's ok to not work on an idea that requires venture capital31:34 - Venture vs. non-venture scale ideas 32:52 - When is the best time to pivot33:48 - More pivoting thoughts 35:07 - Idea quality scores37:11 - Brex39:51 - Retool 41:37 - Magic43:22 - Segment45:16 - Dalton's summary

YC Partner and Head of Admissions Dalton Caldwell talks about pivoting for startups and shares his advice on when and how founders should consider it for their companies.

Ryan Hoover is the founder of Product Hunt which was in the Summer 2014 YC batch and was acquired by AngelList. He also invests in startups through his Weekend Fund.Dalton Caldwell is a Partner at YC where he runs admissions.Ryan is on Twitter at @rrhoover and Dalton is at @daltonc.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.***Topics00:27 - Ryan's intro00:52 - Dalton's intro1:27 - Forming Product Hunt and applying to YC5:17 - Product Hunt's growth rate when they applied to YC6:27 - Raising money for the right reasons9:42 - Maker communities11:27 - Why raise money for Product Hunt?13:12 - Having buzz during the batch18:12 - Brex changing their idea during YC20:17 - Pivoting into something you know well21:32 - In retrospect, how would Ryan have advised himself around monetization?28:27 - Trying to build out other verticals34:27 - Don't act like you have infinite runway35:57 - Creating urgency and developing products within AngelList40:17 - Tips to launch on Product Hunt45:07 - What Dalton looks for in applications46:57 - Giving people the opportunity to start48:47- What motivated Ryan to leave his job before Product Hunt

YC Partner Dalton Caldwell gives insight into how YC admissions works and what makes for a successful YC experience.Clarification on the Application video: Founders can splice together a video if they're not all in the same place; you do not need to be in same place to do the video.Lecture SlidesLecture TranscriptVideo Link

Juan Benet is the founder of Protocol Labs (YC S14). They're working on IPFS, Filecoin, and Coinlist. Dalton Caldwell is a Partner at YC.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is building a Snapchat competitor Pandora aims to compete with Spotify and Apple Music with two new paid tiers. Dalton Caldwell's interview from 2010 in regards to music licensing - https://techcrunch.com/2010/10/20/imeem-founder-dalton-caldwells-must-see-talk-on-the-challenges-facing-music-startups/ Brad bought an Amazon Echo this week and is integrating it into his home Google has a new OS called  “Fuchsia” Paragon Software, maker of NTFS for Mac and EXTFS for Mac, has made a kick-ass disk utility that’s better than Apple's Review from Macworld macOS Sierra Code Confirms Thunderbolt 3 and 10Gb/s USB 3.1 Transfer Speeds in Future Macs Siri’s error rate has been cut by a factor of two by Apple’s Machine Learning Siri is reportedly held back by the quality of microphones in iOS and Apple Watches Pinterest acquires Instapaper from Betaworks Twitter now has “night mode” on their official iOS app. Apple acquires health startup Gliimpse 

Former General Magic executive Joanna Hoffman, former Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia and Y Combinator partner Dalton Caldwell talk with Recode's Peter Kafka about thier past entrepreneurial efforts that failed. They explain why they failed, with reasons ranging from unready technology to Supreme Court intervention, and how they moved on in different ways. Central to the discussion: How these entrepreneurs and others define what success means for them and whether that definition changes over time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 12 of Startup School Radio: Host Aaron Harris interviews Y Combinator partner Dalton Caldwell. Also on the show: Brandon Rodman, cofounder and CEO of Weave Communications.

Show Notes In which we talk about App.net closing down, how even good business models do not guarantee successful businesses, and the future of paying for things on the internet—especially whether social media will ever be the kind of thing people are willing to pay for. Chapters Intro (0:53) Follow-up: Fixed and Marginal Costs (0:53–1:44) What Happened to ADN? (1:44–7:26) Paying to Socialize (7:26–17:41) Free or Not Free (17:41–23:00) Conclusion (23:00–24:47) Music “Mountain Song”, from Lion’s Den by Little Chief. Used by permission. “Winning Slowly Theme”, by Chris Krycho. Used because we don’t need permission to use our own stuff! Links App.Net State of the Union – in which Dalton Caldwell (founder of App.net) announced publicly the layoffs and future of the service.

Adam Stacoviak talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net after Founders Talk #45.

Adam talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net. Since we barely scratched the surface of the planned conversation around what he’s doing with App.net in part 1, Dalton agreed to come back on the show for a part 2 to discuss the back story of App.net!

Adam talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net. Since we barely scratched the surface of the planned conversation around what he’s doing with App.net in part 1, Dalton agreed to come back on the show for a part 2 to discuss the back story of App.net!

Adam talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net. This is a hefty part 1, mainly focusing on the road traveled by Dalton to get to App.net. We barely scratched the surface of the planned conversation around what he’s doing with App.net. We end this call by teeing up the topic of discussion for part 2.

Adam talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net. This is a hefty part 1, mainly focusing on the road traveled by Dalton to get to App.net. We barely scratched the surface of the planned conversation around what he’s doing with App.net. We end this call by teeing up the topic of discussion for part 2.

Adam Stacoviak talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net after Founders Talk #42.

Adam Stacoviak talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net after Founders Talk #42.

Adam Stacoviak talks with Dalton Caldwell the Founder of App.net after Founders Talk #42.

Dalton Caldwell, CEO and co-founder of App.net, is Jeffrey Zeldman's guest in Episode No. 84 of The Big Web Show, sponsored by Happy Cog™.

Dalton Caldwell, CEO and co-founder of App.net, is Jeffrey Zeldman's guest in Episode No. 84 of The Big Web Show, sponsored by Happy Cog™.

Dalton Caldwell is the head of App.net (sometimes called ADN for App Dot Net), which some think is a Twitter competitor, but it isn't quite. It seems to be a typical venture-backed startup firm, but it is not quite that, either. There's a lot more under the surface of App.net, including neutrally hosted services, ecosystems aimed at software developers, and crowdfunding, among other topics, which we talk about in this episode. App.net is offering a limited number of free-tier accounts, introduced last week and explained in the podcast, to listeners of The New Disruptors. Follow this link to sign up. If the link says there are no invitations left, please send me an email (click Contact above) or message us through our Twitter or App.net accounts. Sponsored by Kiwi is a full featured App.net client in a super simple package built just for OS X. Riposte for App.net: A Brave New App for a Brave New Network. Free.

This week Patrick and Myke conduct one of their 'rambling' episodes, with topics ranging from working out to being precious with your time. Show Notes: - Men's Journal: Everything You Know About Fitness Is a Lie - The Pen Addict: Episode 43 - Adding To Cart Now - CMD+SPACE: 031 - Free Accounts and Developer Incentives, with Dalton Caldwell and Bill Kunz   Sponsors: This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels3' at checkout to get 10% off your first order.

This week Myke talks to Dalton Caldwell about some of the recent changes to App.net, including the new free accounts and the Developer Incentive Program. He is then joined by Bill Kunz to discuss his App.net client, Felix.

This week Myke is joined by Dalton Caldwell, CEO and Founder of App.net. They discuss the experience of launching this service, how it has evolved and what the future has in store for App.net.

Frank and Dalton discuss hitting app.net's funding goal, the future of the platform, what's on the horizon for third-party developers, and Dalton's favorite coffee.

SF MusicTech Summit IX on September 12, 2011 in San Francisco Moderator: Lee Martin, SoundCloud (Experimental Development); Danielle Morrill, Twilio (Director of Marketing); Dalton Caldwell, App.net (CEO); Brad Serling, Nugs.net (Founder and CEO); Bram Cohen, BitTorrent (Founder & Chief Scientist); Taylor McKnight, SCHED.org (Founder)