
Announcing Startup School 2019 - sandslash
https://blog.ycombinator.com/announcing-startup-school-2019/
======
Vanderson
I got a lot of value out of SuS, I highly recommend participating if you are
in any stage of your business.

The sum of the whole experience is worth more than the individual parts. It
seemed many of the businesses didn't participate much, perhaps because (a
guess) they didn't seem much immediate value in things like progress reports
or group meetings. (over half my first group and a significant percent of my
later combined group didn't participate at all, and almost no one did so
consistently)

But, there's an overall effect on your motivation and perspective that I think
is important for people that are considering doing this, but aren't certain.
It helps you take action (even small amounts can be vital) on important
business processes that you wouldn't otherwise focus on.

I treat it like college where you get what you put into it, and it can be a
lot.

As a side note, I think it really helped some startups see the reality they
were getting into by trying to start their particular business. Maybe good or
bad, but reality is a strong motivator to either cut your losses or get busy.

~~~
kcorbitt
Agreed! Also worth noting that Startup School is very startup-like itself, and
we're constantly trying to provide more value. As an example, we're moving to
more dynamic grouping so you won't get placed for video calls with founders
who aren't engaging with the program. Hoping that will create a better
experience for everyone!

------
kevin
Hey HN, this is Kevin Hale, one of the partners at YC. I'll be hosting this
year's Startup School alongside Adora Cheung. We learned a lot from last
year's class and the Startup School team is really excited about this next
iteration. Over the next few weeks, we're going to talk about some of those
changes in more detail--about the data that drove those decisions and the new
software we made to improve the experience for founders.

If you have any immediate questions about the course, please do let us know.

~~~
Hoasi
Loved your _How to Build Products Users Love_ lecture a few years back, thank
you Kevin.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz_LgBAGYyo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz_LgBAGYyo)

------
mark_was_here
Just a bit of heads up in case you would like to join from Europe and don't
have plans to be there "on the ground" \- DON"T DO IT.

I did it last year and it was all heavily focused on "lets catch our next
billion dollar unicorn" for our investors. People that don't live for idea
"lets move to dream country USA" just waste time while participating.
Additionally, Y decided several times to "change the rules" just for the sake
of it. They basically can not handle amount of people that have a dream to
start something and it all ends up to: 1.) put them in groups, 2.) let them
report "progress" to us 3.) let them watch videos.

Granted, there some interesting materials but all of them you can ALREADY find
online or in startup/scaleup books that we are all reading and recommending.

My 2c, take it how ever you wanted. For me it was waste of time and quite of
bit of irritation around Y. However, met some great folks that were also
trying to start something in my group.

~~~
Vanderson
Yep, your points 1-3 were exactly what I thought was going to be a waste of
time as well. But what I have found about all good processes, they simply
aren't magic. No business got made simply by watching videos or talking on the
internet with some strangers.

I found SuS to be more like a framework or a guide for my own work, not an end
result in itself. I applied what I learned, not expecting to get much for
free, and it was invaluable for me.

Did you participate in ever group meeting? I took notes, asked the other
people questions, and this was both instructive and encouraging. Did you watch
every video? I did, and learned stuff from hardware businesses I never would
have learned just watching videos on software focused discussions.

Most of all, almost everyone speaking really seemed to walk the talk, not just
have good theories. The last video (that I recall) was about health, physical
and mental, and it was enlightening.

I hope you consider trying again, and look at it from a different perspective.

Yep, they like their unicorns, and I suspect my business will never get
funding, but that's not why I participate, it's useful for me to change my
perspective. Maybe take on some of the traits of highly successful businesses
and apply it to my own.

~~~
mark_was_here
Thanks for finding time to write this reply, I really appreciate that. I'm
glad to hear that process was useful for you and that you learned a lot.

Just to answer your questions, yes I did watched all videos (also every single
one from previous years) and I also participated in every single group
meeting. That is the part I liked from my first note where I said I met some
smart people and had nice chats.

However, all that I could do (and will continue to do) with random startup
groups in my city. and/or online I just don't see any value from Y in that
entire process. I was hoping they will at least help in some way to jump start
my dream but like I mentioned they focus only on top profit promising startups
and especially ones that are US based or willing to move to US because of it.

~~~
Vanderson
If I had a local group to meet with, then I would be more inclined to do that.
And I would likely find more use/support from a local group. It's good you
have this option.

One odd thing I got out of group meetings was seeing partly where people
failed to live up to their own goals. (a bit of a warning to myself)

If what someone is looking for is actual funding, I completely agree that SuS
is a waste of time for about 95% (or more?) of the people joining it.

------
suyash
Question: Hi, I'm a solo person and have few ideas of startup in my mind,
would you recommend me applying at this stage? While filling out the
application form it's asking for Company Name and plan which I am unclear
about at the moment.

Also anyone has any tips on filtering multiple good ideas to finding the best
for for startup? Thanks!

~~~
AndrewWorsnop
>> Also anyone has any tips on filtering multiple good ideas to finding the
best for for startup? Thanks!

I'm in the same boat, I'm going through the resources in the SuS library here:
[https://www.startupschool.org/library](https://www.startupschool.org/library)

~~~
allenleein
Imagine you are an investor If you can only invest all your $ on one of "your
ideas", which one would you choose.

------
mindcrime
I did it last year and found the exercise very valuable. I definitely
recommend taking part. Yes, things were changing a lot right up to, and
through, last year's event. I don't see that as a negative, but rather as the
YC folks having the willingness to flex and adapt to circumstances. Could
things have been smoother in some areas? Probably. Will they be so this year?
Probably.

------
dhruvsodumb
I was interested in the lectures from last year so I dug around and found them
all here: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-
uHSnFig5NVnJ_cLWM7...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-
uHSnFig5NVnJ_cLWM7dLuMQRDeekoX)

~~~
sandslash
You can also find all of the content from past lectures in the Startup School
library:
[https://www.startupschool.org/library](https://www.startupschool.org/library)

Last year's lectures can also be found in podcast form:
[http://backtracks.fm/ycombinator/startup-
school/feed](http://backtracks.fm/ycombinator/startup-school/feed)

------
twotwos
I have a small business that is now operating in two EU countries and in the
US, we have grown with zero marketing budget 100% through word of mouth, our
customers asked us if we could serve them there and we did, it's an overlooked
niche and the last thing we want is to attract competition, I mentioned that
as YC is everything we need right now but we don't want any publicity and we
definitely don't want to expose our business to others, with that in mind,
would we still be able to take part?

~~~
gxespino
Why are you so worried about competition?

~~~
twotwos
I've read what Paul Graham wrote about not worrying but why attract it if we
don't have to? For YC the startups work on stealth mode until demo day, and
that makes sense to me, we can expand to more markets keeping a low profile
and push until we have a solid expansion model that works.

------
lucasverra
my intake from last year.

Very helpful. We manage to participate for 1/2 of it, and we realised that we
needed more work in the inside (product market fit, elaborate a clear value
proposition, one liner) than in the outside (marketing and landing pages)

I'm mostly talking about office hours, and forum (not that much youtube
playlist). Actual real people caring about what you have to say on camera.
Challenging you and giving you the space to get out of your head. Great
ressource.

Do not miss it. Doing it again on another level :)

------
maz1b
Looking forward to it! I participated last year and wish I was in a group
where the others were more invested. As the moderator, it was just my startup
(MedAngle) and another one where the founders participated actively.

For those who say that SUS isn't helpful, I disagree and say that it is what
you put into it. If you actively study the videos, and make an effort, it's a
valuable experience. We've used some of the lessons from SUS, and are seeing
great results.

------
anshumanmishra
I'm facing problems signing into my profile that I created a few weeks ago
(from my desktop). Basically, I'm signed in on that machine and am unable to
sign out from there. OTOH, I'm unable to sign in from my laptop or any other
machine using my associated YC account.

I know this is not a support forum for SuS; just curious if any one else is
facing problems signing in from multiple machines. I've been at it for the
last half an hour or so.

~~~
sandslash
You can sign out of your account via
[https://account.ycombinator.com](https://account.ycombinator.com).

~~~
anshumanmishra
Thanks!

------
yurylifshits
Exciting! For everyone registering or thinking to apply, I just created an
unofficial SS19 chat community here:
[https://openland.com/invite/g1kxeF9](https://openland.com/invite/g1kxeF9)

We ran similar chat communities for YCombinator applicants in the last few
cycles. It is amazing to see how generous are YC alums and applicants with
their time for helping each other.

------
lucasverra
Found a bug on firefox.
[http://recordit.co/ibdaPv4XYW](http://recordit.co/ibdaPv4XYW)

Give FF some needed love :)

~~~
kevin
Ah, good catch. Thanks for sharing a recording of the bug.

------
jammygit
In the description, it says that there will be support for helping founders to
find cofounders. What will that look like? It seems risky to partner with
somebody you met in a forum

~~~
sandslash
We'll be sharing more on how that works in the near future, but essentially
we've built a few features to help you connect with other founders in the
community. You're under no obligation to partner with someone -- we just
wanted to give founders the tools to connect with one another.

However you decide to continue interacting with the founders you meet is
entirely up to you.

------
tanin
I'm joining Startup School this year; I'm building lilit.dev (Java code
intelligence on your browser), and it's in private beta right now. So, great
timing for me.

See you all!

~~~
jw2013
Looks pretty legit. Keep it up!

~~~
tanin
Thank you. Are you joining as well? Would love to learn about your startup :)

~~~
jw2013
shoot me an email if you wanna chat: (dedacted since we have chatted) :)

------
fortydegrees
I participated last year with a startup which I got pulled away from due to
another offer. I have since started work on a new startup which I want to
apply to SS2019 for.

I have re-applied/'signed up' with my old profile, and it looks like this has
submitted the 'old' company. I am going to edit the details of this form on my
profile. Will this get reviewed as a new company, or should I create a new
profile and thus a new company and apply again?

~~~
sandslash
Yep, you are correct in that you can just edit the details of the form through
your profile. No need to create a new profile/company/apply again.

~~~
fortydegrees
At which point will my profile be assessed? After the deadline, or at some
random point between now and then? Hoping to have it completed by tomorrow -
just don't want to be worried that it's already submitted and statically
waiting for a review..

~~~
sandslash
This year we're opening Startup School to all active startups -- all you have
to do is sign up / re-enroll, and you're in. As long as you have your profile
updated by July 22nd, you should be set.

~~~
fortydegrees
Ah, sorry, failed to understand this. Great! Looking forward to it - thanks
for the work you put in!

------
ishwarn
The Q&A link does not work here:
[https://www.startupschool.org/help](https://www.startupschool.org/help)

------
wdr1
Is it cool to sign up to basically audit the class?

The curriculum looks interesting, and while I find startups interesting, I
don't have any plans to start one anytime soon.

~~~
bdibs
There's a whole signup just for auditing!

[https://www.startupschool.org/register](https://www.startupschool.org/register)

------
snake117
Is there a way to preview all the questions on the application beforehand? Or
at the very least allow to save our progress so we can return and finish them
later?

For most of the questions I know what I want to write, but I like to revise my
answers over the course of a few days so I can make them more clear and
concise.

Looking forward to this! Thank you to everyone at YC and Startup School :)

~~~
randomchars
You can edit your all your responses after you've submitted the form. (Even
your company name.)

------
gxespino
I signed up but am slightly nervous about the program timeline vs where I’m at
with my startup. If I’m actively iterating on the product with paid customers,
it doesn’t make much sense for me to spend a few hours watching videos on how
to generate good ideas.

I’ll always be asking myself “is this the best use of my time right now?”

~~~
sandslash
Totally understand where you're coming from! As such, watching videos is not a
requirement to complete the course -- though we highly recommend it.

You can watch the videos at your leisure, or just watch the content that
applies best to you and your startup.

~~~
gxespino
Good to know

------
Sherl
Is 'Audit Startup' is similar to watching all the YT Playlist or more to that?

~~~
sandslash
Auditing the course will give you access to parts of the SUS software as well.
You'll be able to access the weekly progress update tool and forums -- you
just won't be added to a group for weekly group sessions.

~~~
pcmaffey
Will you get the vendor credits?

~~~
sandslash
Unfortunately deals and credits are only available to startups actively
participating in the program.

------
deepGem
Wow, cannot recommend this highly enough.I participated last year and will be
participating again this year. The advice is to the point, brief while highly
encouraging. No BS. At least this was my experience in our group.

------
TyLogos
In my case i don't have much ideas but would love to participate and
contribute to a startup. Is there anyway one can meet people looking for co-
founders/technical people in this class ?

~~~
uname_hidden
what is your skills background?

~~~
TyLogos
Software developer with 2.5 years of experience. I built a good variety of
things from basic website to decently complex software.

------
novaleaf
What kind of a time commitment is Startup School? (hours/week, etc)

~~~
kevin
At the minimum, to be considered active: you need to submit a weekly update
about your progress every week (probably 5-15 minutes max).

Every week we release about an 1 hour of video content for you to watch.

Every week, there are group sessions with other SUS founders for you to talk
about your startup. These should be about 30-60 minutes.

We provide discussion questions before your group sessions to give you topics
to think about. Between 10-30 minutes of prep depending on how seriously you
take it.

If you come to a SUS meetup in person, those are probably 2 hour events.

As you can see, it's probably a max of 2-3 hours a week in regards to time we
ask of you. How much time you dedicate to your startup is up to you.

~~~
bdibs
How are the group sessions handled? Video conference, Slack, something else?

~~~
kevin
We have a video conf system we offer on Startup School website, but teams are
welcome to organize something else if they can all agree.

------
idlewords
Why is the first field the application asks about gender?

------
airocker
Can companies from last year apply again?

~~~
sandslash
(Steven from the Startup School team here.)

Yes, absolutely! You can re-enroll via the link found on your dashboard or by
going here:
[https://www.startupschool.org/courses/5/register](https://www.startupschool.org/courses/5/register).

~~~
taytus
Hello Steven,

We participated last year. When I click on that link it takes me directly to
the dashboard. Does it mean we are all set up?

Thanks!

~~~
sandslash
Correct, you're all set! We'll look into making that a little more clear in
the software.

~~~
Vanderson
Yes please do, I had to go through the login/logout/login process thinking I
had missed something. Maybe something as simple as that banner being a
different color (the dark gray is a common "notice" color, but not for signing
up) and also maybe span the width of the screen. (ie, just in the corner
didn't seem important or required attention.)

------
ausjke
i stopped at the point when i was mandated to upload a personal intro video to
youtube. just not used to that at all.

~~~
mr_puzzled
Is this true? If it is I think it should be an optional step. Can someone else
confirm this since I didn't start the application process step.

Edit : I just went through the signup process with this account and I did not
come across the personal video requirement. Where did you come across it?

Startup school mods : can you please delete my startup school application, I
was testing out the signup flow. Sorry for the trouble.

------
100-xyz
Where do we apply? Log in is not working.

~~~
sandslash
You can sign up directly at startupschool.org, under 'Sign Up'. Here's a
direct link in case you're having issues:
[https://www.startupschool.org/register](https://www.startupschool.org/register).

------
throwayEngineer
I tried doing this last year, but I missed the first week due to spam filter.

I still feel bad about taking a spot

~~~
kevin
Startup School is now open to all. Taking spot doesn't take away from anyone
else now.

------
master_yoda_1
la la la

------
sbhn
Me me me, can i join

Edit: HN status quo decided again that i should be down voted. I guess that
means im not welcome at your start up school

~~~
scotth
I think it probably means you should read the article — everyone can join.

~~~
sbhn
Well let that be a warning to everybody then. HN knows what you read.

------
taylorhou
got accepted instantly. either they are accepting every applicant by default,
there's a bug, they were analyzing what I was typing in real time and my
responses checked off boxes to an acceptance, they're accepting HN folks who's
account age is pretty old which signals something?, or I'm going to get a
"we're sorry we made a mistake" rejection. o_O

~~~
sandslash
This year we're opening Startup School to all active startups -- all you have
to do is sign up, and you're in.

~~~
MarkMc
That's great news! But please make this policy more explicit on the Sign Up
page.

