Startups that have one red flag usually have several. E.g. a startup with a made-up idea is more likely to have apparently unrelated problems, like a wildly uneven equity split, or founders who haven't worked together before.
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I think the reason is that there's one path that leads to a successful startup (domain experts building something they know needs to exist) and if you're not on it, you're crashing through the bushes off to the side of the path. More than one branch will hit you in the face.
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Do you have to be a domain expert on day 1?
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Usually, yes. Otherwise how do you know if your idea is good?
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Paul, Love all your essays - have read them many times YC original thesis was on college students building startups - they're domain experts in what they want/use In other areas hard to be domain expert without work ex Would love to learn who/why your perspective changed?
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We got our perspective changed immediately when people applied who'd already graduated.
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It’s also a sign of whether you’ve been around the startup ecosystem long enough, or have a mentor/advisor that has been. Not realizing the importance of keeping things simple, or the criteria investors look for in the early days.
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Id disagree,Jeff Bezos wasn't selling books before amazon,nor did brian chesky own a motel
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Selling books was not the domain Amazon was in. The important part about "internet bookseller" is the first word, not the second. And Bezos was an early convert to the potential of the web. Similarly, early Airbnb had little overlap with what hotels do.
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Not sure all radical pivots (e.g., the game company that became Flickr) were on this path...
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Instagram cofounder Kevin had about 10% equity as per
@sarahfrier book No Filter. Dropbox had uneven equity split as well and so did Shopify. Here is a list of other companies with uneven split.https://www.saastr.com/at-the-top-saas-companies-most-co-founders-are-not-equal-and-thats-ok/ … -
*Mike had 10%
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