What I've Learned from Users

September 2022

I recently told applicants to Y Combinator that the best advice I
could give for getting in, per word, was

Explain what you've learned from users.

That tests a lot of things: whether you're paying attention to
users, how well you understand them, and even how much they need
what you're making.

Afterward I asked myself the same question. What have I learned
from YC's users, the startups we've funded?

The first thing that came to mind was that most startups have the
same problems. No two have exactly the same problems, but it's
surprising how much the problems remain the same, regardless of
what they're making. Once you've advised 100 startups all doing
different things, you rarely encounter problems you haven't seen
before.

This fact is one of the things that makes YC work. But I didn't
know it when we started YC. I only had a few data points: our own
startup, and those started by friends. It was a surprise to me how
often the same problems recur in different forms. Many later stage
investors might never realize this, because later stage investors
might not advise 100 startups in their whole career, but a YC partner
will get this much experience in the first year or two.

That's one advantage of funding large numbers of early stage companies
rather than smaller numbers of later-stage ones. You get a lot of
data. Not just because you're looking at more companies, but also
because more goes wrong.

But knowing (nearly) all the problems startups can encounter doesn't
mean that advising them can be automated, or reduced to a formula.
There's no substitute for individual office hours with a YC partner.
Each startup is unique, which means they have to be advised
by specific partners who know them well.
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